Register Now for a Spring Retreat in Springfield, Missouri!

Tentative Schedule | Hotel Info | Registration
Sponsorship Opportunities | Exhibitor Information

Start the spring season off right in the "The Queen City of the Ozarks!" PGMS will be heading to Springfield, Mo., April 7-8 for the first stop in the 2011 Regional Grounds Management Seminars & Site Visitations Series and we want YOU along for the ride.

Designed to provide grounds managers with the hard-to-find opportunity to gain knowledge, ask questions, and network with their peers, this interactive program will feature education seminars on must-know topics as well as behind-the-scenes tours of area grounds management programs. This Regional Seminar & Site Visit qualifies for the SGM program, click here for more information.

Tentative Schedule:

Thursday, April 7, 2011

• 7 - 9 a.m. - Hotel Restaurant (Terrace Grill): Complimentary breakfast buffet is available for those who stayed at the hotel the previous night
• 8 - 11 a.m. - Registration - University Plaza Hotel Arkansas Room
  
• 11 a.m. - Welcome
  - Welcome - Robert Balek, Greater Ozarks Branch President
  - Introductions - Joe Jackson, CGM, PGMS National President
  - About PGMS - Monica Higgins, CGM, Past PGMS President
  - About PGMS Certifications - John Van Etten, CGM, Certification Chair
  - About the Regional - Robert Balek, Greater Ozarks Branch President
  - Thank Sponsors & Exhibitors - Barbara Lucks, Greater Ozarks Branch Treasurer
  
• 11:30 a.m. - Keynote Speaker - Hunter Beckham of SWT Design Group - "An overview of the Sustainable Sites Initiative and the Novus Headquarters Campus
  Pilot Project in St. Charles Missouri" (Visit www.novusint.com/en/About-Novus/Sustainability/SITES-Pilot-Project for more about this project. Visit www.swtdesign.com/ for more about SWT Design. Visit www.swtdesign.com/people.php?person=hunterBeckham for more about Hunter Beckham.)
  
• 12:15 p.m. - Box Lunch on Bus(es)
• 12:45 - 1:45 p.m. - Highland Springs Country Club - Tour of Springfield's premier country club and golf course. The Superintendent will give us an exclusive inside tour of this privately owned and operated facility.
• Refreshment Break at Highland Springs (Sponsored)
• 2 - 3 p.m. - Speaker: Steve Winslow, L.A., Industrial Sales (Rainbird Distributor for this area). Topic: Smart Irrigation, Water conservation through irrigation
• 3 p.m. - Board Transportation to Nathaniel Greene Park
• 3:30 - 4:15 p.m. - Tour Nathanael Greene Park and Close Memorial Gardens.
  Ben Kellner - Springfield-Greene County Parks Supervisor
• 4:15 - 4:30 p.m. - Springfield Botanical Center - Speaker: George Deatz, Friends of the Garden. Topic: Origins of the Springfield Botanical Center (Sponsored by Show Me Yards & Neighborhoods)
• 4:30 - 5 p.m. - Speaker at the Springfield Botanical Center: Jodie Adams, Director Springfield-Greene County Parks. Topic: Sustainable Grounds Management Practices in Springfield-Greene County Parks
• 5 - 6 p.m. - Networking Reception at the Botanical Center (Sponsored by Show Me Yards & Neighborhoods)
• 6 p.m. - Return to hotel. Dinner on your own.
  

Friday, April 8, 2011
All Friday morning activities will occur in the Nebraska Room at the Convention Center.

• 7 a.m. - Registration
• 7 - 9 a.m. - Hotel Restaurant (Terrace Grill) - Complimentary breakfast buffet is available for those who stayed at the hotel the previous night
  
  EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS
• 8 - 8:45 a.m. Dr. Brad Fresenberg - Sustainable Turf. Topic: Reducing Pest Potential in Lawns with Good Cultural Practices
• 9 - 9:45 a.m. Dr. Chris Starbuck - Sustainable Ornamentals. Topic: Working toward the beautiful, functional and low input landscape
• 10 - 10:45 a.m. Josh Behounek, Regional Urban Forester, and Skip Kincaid, Urban Forester St. Louis, Davey Tree. Topic: Tree Inventories, Tree Risk Assessments, and Management Plans
• 11 a.m. - noon - Sustainability Panel Discussion - "A Landscape Architect, a Land Developer, a Horticultural Supplier, a Landscape Contractor and a Grounds Manager Walk into a Bar." Representatives from organizations working toward sustainability in their grounds-related fields give an overview of their efforts and then have a Q&A with attendees. Panel speakers include: Barbara Lucks, Panel Leader, City of Springfield, Materials Recovery / Education Coordinator; Dan Chiles, former Springfield Mayor Pro-Tem and City Council member; Terry Whaley, Executive Director, Ozarks Greenways, Inc.; Loring Bullard, Executive Director, Watershed Committee of the Ozarks and Watershed Center at Valley Water Mill and; Doug Neidigh, Drury University, Ozarks Center for Sustainable Solutions, Ozarks Green Score
  
  
  WALKING TOURS
  Because of our commitment to sustainable practices, these tours will be on foot. All tour sites are contiguous to the University Plaza Hotel, for a total walking distance of about one mile, probably less.
  
• noon - Box Lunch with Exhibitors
• 12:30 p.m. - Leave Convention Center - walk across the street to Jordan Valley Ice Park
• 12:35 - 12:45 p.m. - Presentation at Jordan Valley Ice Park - The Five Minute Passion (Joe Fearn, CGM, Jordan Valley Park Grounds Manager)
• 12:45 - 1:30 p.m. - Walking tour of Jordan Valley Park - Focus of tour: Sustainable Grounds Maintenance operations practices in action (Joe Fearn, CGM, Jordan Valley Park Grounds Manager)
• 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. - Cross the street from Jordan Valley Park to Hammons Field for presentation and tour - Focus of tour: Sports Field administrative and operational challenges and opportunities (Tour Guide Pending: Brock Phipps, Grounds Manager). Refreshments at Hammons Field "Press Box"
• 2:45 - 3 p.m. - Walk outside Hammons Field to Trafficway Urban Plantscape - Focus of tour: Challenges of Urban Streetscaping (Joe Payne, CGM, City of Springfield Public Works Supervisor for Grounds and Landscapes)
• 3:15 - 3:45 p.m. - Walk one block from Trafficway to University Plaza - Focus of tour: Renovating Landscapes for Sustainability (Robert Balek, Grounds Manager). Sponsored refreshments at University Plaza Atrium
• 3:45 - 5 p.m. - Cross the street from University Plaza to Missouri State University - Campus Grounds administrative and operational challenges and opportunities (John Clark, Assistant Facilities Manager for Grounds)
• 5 p.m. - Return to Hotel. Dinner on your own
• 6:30 p.m. - PGMS Board Dinner

TOP

Hotel Information:

University Plaza Hotel and Convention Center
333 John Q. Hammons Parkway
Springfield, MO 65806
417-864-7333

Room rates:
$92 King or Double
$127 for King Suites

*Please make sure to mention you are with PGMS when making reservations.

TOP

Registration:

$115 for PGMS members
$150 for non-members

Online registration is now closed. Please register onsite.

Click here to download the registration form.

TOP

Sponsorship Opportunities

Sponsorships are available. Click here to download the sponsorship information form.

TOP

Exhibitor Information

Exhibitor space is available. Click here to download the exhibitor information form.

TOP

PLATINUM PARTNERS IN PROFESSIONALISM
GOLD PARTNERS IN PROFESSIONALISM
SILVER PARTNERS IN PROFESSIONALISM
BRONZE PARTNERS IN PROFESSIONALISM