Photo parade: 2017 STMA Conference

Attendees mingle around the signage welcoming them to the 2017 STMA Conference at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort and Convention Center, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

The state of North Carolina was well represented at this table during lunch with (L to R) Scott Strickland, director of stadium operations, Durham Bulls, Kenny Carrick with Raleigh’s Eastern Turf Maintenance, Casey Carrick, CSFM and director of athletic grounds & turf management, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, AJ Congelli, associate sports turf manager, University of North Carolina, and Phillip Mathis, Eastern Turf Maintenance.

Even Mickey Mouse made an appearance at this year’s STMA conference… molded into the butter at the annual luncheon.

As far as they know, Travis Gannon, Ph.D., North Carolina State University, and AthleticTurf.net’s Associate Editor Grant B. Gannon are not related, but they hope to see each other again at the 2018 STMA Conference/ Gannon family reunion.

Who doesn’t love checking out and bidding on the various prizes available at STMA’s annual silent auction?

John Ledwidge, grounds manager, Leicester (England) City Football Club, poses with one of the Infinicut walk-behind mowers he uses on his pitch back home. The technology was recently acquired by Cub Cadet.

Kevin White, athletic field manager, University of Portland (Ore.), Jeremy Nelson, City of Portland (Ore.), and Barry Jameson, lead grounds maintenance at Taft (California) Union High School, enjoy some food, drinks and great conversation at the Welcome Event sponsored by Toro and Covermaster.

Those that sat in the back of the hall during 2017 keynote speaker Laura Katen’s speech might have thought they were safe from participation. Keaton had other ideas walking among the many tables setup and calling on unsuspecting volunteers.

A beautiful ice sculpture crafted for the Opening Event Wednesday night.

Rich and Paulette Behan, Nordic Plow, have come to five STMA Conferences, and say they love the amount of foot traffic they get at their booth each year.

(Far right) Liam Philpotts, general manager, U.S. Fleet, explains to a group of attendees how the company’s Beamrider technology works.

Steve Dugas, CSFM at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, takes a load off at the end of a long day of hitting the exhibition room floor.