IGCEMA Virtual Trade Show registration open

We're less than a month from the biggest gathering in the golf course management industry — the 2011 GCSAA Education Conference and Golf Industry Show in Orlando — and as you might imagine, GCM will be all over the event, bringing you coverage from every corner of the Orange County Convention Center in just about every format you can imagine.

But today, let's look a little further down the line to late March and another burgeoning event on the industry scene — the second annual International Golf Course Equipment Managers Association Virtual Trade Show, which this year is being presented in partnership with GCSAA. The event is scheduled for March 23-25.

The event is unique in that it allows both superintendents and equipment technicians around the world the chance to interract with representatives from some of the top companies in the equipment industry without ever leaving the comfort of their home or office. The entire event — from educational sessions to the trade show to a handful of networking opportunities — is conducted in cyberspace, through the power of some pretty cool technology.

I took a spin around the product last year, and found a lot to like in how it connected suppliers with customers who might not otherwise be able to attend GIS or regional trade shows, and how it gave those same customers a chance to take advantage of educational opportunities that they might not ordinarily have a chance to experience.

Registration for this year's IGCEMA Virtual Trade Show opened today (there's the news hook you've been looking for!), and since GCSAA is proudly involved in this year's event, let me say this in my very best salesman voice .... HEAD OVER AND SIGN UP TODAY!