When you hear the words “behind the scenes,” the first thing you probably think of is movies, tv shows or maybe theater. We often forget the “behind the scenes” work that is going on all around us.  The definition of this phrase is “out of sight of the public at a theater or organization.” There it is, an organization, that’s the part I want to talk about.

It's everywhere in the world. Take for example my wife’s job. She is a director of a very successful childcare center. Most parents walk in and see her working away in her office and greeting everyone that comes in that day.  Every kid knows her, and every parent knows her. She’s not a teacher (not all the time, anyway) and everything she does is “behind the scenes" from payroll to staffing, marketing, social media, early closures, curriculum, human resources, accounting and so much more that I could list. What people see is not what should define them. 

GCSAA is an organization with as much “behind the scenes” works as you will find. As a golf course superintendent or staff member, you see emails, magazines, conference, your field staff representative and a bill for your dues every year. What you don’t see are the many employees that look out for your interest daily. We have departments for everything, and we all strive for the same goal. Our mantra is “Everyone Paddles,” meaning we move in the same direction, together, as a team. Many of these employees will never meet most of our members, but they care all the same. This is most evident when we host the leadership symposium, delegates meeting, board meetings and committee meetings every year. When you are at headquarters, you get to meet everyone. You would be in awe of the amount of work being done and you will leave feeling very good about your membership and its value.

How about you, the golf course superintendent? How much behind-the-scenes work are you doing? You try to get most things done ahead of the golf rush daily. Golfers think you just grow grass and mow the grass.  We all know that isn’t true. If you are like me and come from a northern climate, they might think you sit on your hands all winter. Again, that’s not true either. Things are better than they used to be when it comes to the member’s knowledge of what we do, but it could be even better moving forward. That brings me back to the GCSAA. That’s what we do: we advocate, we educate, we promote and we shed light on you behind the scenes.  Sometimes you don’t think it or feel it but, I SEE YOU; WE SEE YOU and we like what we see. Thanks for all that you do for this wonderful industry!