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Blogs, Twitter, Facebook^r can any of it

really help a superintendent do a better job?
Justin Ruiz, CGCS

056-063_June1CLSocialN.indd 57 5/24/10 3:40 PM

 Communication is an important skill for any golf course superintendent. The
world of communication has evolved from the days of calling an operator to connect
you to your neighbor's phone to sending texts, e-mails and instant messages from
your mobile phone.
In my seven years as a superintendent, I can't count how many meetings we've
had about how to improve communication. Communicating with members is es-
pecially tricky. Keeping golfers updated on what's happening out on the golf course
is difficult.
Social media can make communications with golfers more efficient. It can also
help change the perception of the public by quickly touching large numbers of people.
I have tried to enhance my communication skills by jumping feet first into the
social media pool. I began by creating a golf course maintenance-themed blog. Then
I started using Twitter.com. Eventually I tried out the professional networking site
Linkedln.com and the social networking site Facebook.com.
Some of it was a waste of time. But some of it has proved to be invaluable.
Justin Ruiz, CGCS, superintendent at The Rim GC
Beauty of the blog inPayson.Ariz.
My first foray into social media was in creating a blog specific to my course and
my job. A blog is a personal website easily updated using blogging software readily
available on the Internet. maintenance of native areas. All of these
I've been working on my blog, "The Rim Golf Club Turf Maintenance Blog" at posts have gone a long way toward bet-
www.therimgolfclub.blogspot.com, for more than a year. I looked through several ter explaining the work my crew and I
free blogging sites to find one that suited me. I settled on Google's blogging site are doing.
Blogger.com. In addition, your blog may capture
I wanted to play around with the site and see if I could get the hang of it before an audience much bigger than just your
announcing the blog to my membership. The software is quickly learned and quite membership. I add "tags" to my posts
simple. The biggest challenge for me was what to blog about — I was unsure if that enable search engines to select my
anyone would be interested in the thoughts and work of a "turf nerd." But I soon blog when someone using those key-
learned that members were interested in what I had to say about course conditions, words searches for information. My goal
the weather at the course and projects we were preparing to tackle. As positive com- is to get my blog in the public eye to
ments started rolling in, my confidence grew. show the average person what superin-
Blogging now is as easy to me as sending an e-mail. I get a lot of information tendents do every day.
out — with pictures — that the members can view (see example, Page 62). I an- The blog's biggest value is in getting
swer what I know will be frequently asked questions before they're asked. Some of information out to all my members, not
my posts have been about water issues in Arizona, Poa invasion on the course and just the greens committee. I highly rec-
ommend this tool as a starting point of
your social media experimentation. A
blog doesn't replace face-to-face com-
munication, but it certainly enhances
communication.

Twitter — instant
communication
Connecting through social media is
definitely easy. Many people send text
messages every day on their phone. A
text message is a quick, 160-character-
or-less message. You have to cut to the
chase in 160 characters.
Twitter messages — called "tweets"
— also are that simple, actually sim-
pler, because each one has a 140-char-
acter limit. They're basically a text mes-
sage that reaches a group of people who
choose to receive your messages.
At an elevation of 5,000 feet, The Rim GC features beautiful views of the Mogollon Rim. Photos courtesy of The best way to learn about Twitter
Justin Ruiz, CGCS is to try it yourself. Go to www.twitter.

58 GCM June 2010

056-063_June1CLSocialN.indd 58 5/24/10 3:40 PM

 tuuitter
Flow meter at pump station fell apart.
The paddle sensor just fell off. Prob-
ably find it out on the course clogging
a head. 5:48 pm Oct 13th, via txt
About an inch or two short on the
cable from the flow meter to the con-
nection in the panel. Anyone know if
you can splice and be ok? 7:57 AM
Oct 14th from txt
irigationprc
would not anticipate any issues with
adding a splice to that short of a dis-
tance 9:05 AM Oct 14th from web
in reply to JustinRuizCGCS
irigationpro ©JustinRuizCGCS
Hope you find the paddle before find-
ing a brown patch from a clogged
sprinkler! 9:44 AM Oct 14th from
web in reply to JustinRuizCGCS
derekmoffitt ©JustinRuizCGCS
should consider magnetic flow meter
in future if using Rain Bird Smart
Pump. More accurate at all flow lev-
els. 9:55 PM Oct 14th from web
in reply to JustinRuizCGCS
Got it working good. Thanks for the
help ©irigationpro. 11:32 AM Oct
14th via txt
Greens are lean and quick. The
members are very happy about the
speeds. We are around 12 right now.
10:28 AM Oct 15th via txt
New blog post — Storm damage
recap: www.therimgolfclub.blogspot.
com 11:03 AM Oct. 16th via txt
facebook
056-063_June10_SocialN.indd 60
Ruiz says that Twitter has helped him be a better superintendent. Getting questions answered quickly and
making connections are two of the benefits he's enjoyed.
com and register. Use your name, then
follow a few people or companies — me,
GCM, BASF, Rain Bird, Toro — they're
all on there.
I know what you are thinking:
"Who cares what I ate for breakfast or
how I got cut off by some guy during the
morning commute?"
The social media bandwagon is what
you make of it. I use Twitter strictly for
professional reasons, nothing personal.
You might be surprised to learn that if
you post on Twitter saying, "Right now
we're using the Graden on the tees,"
other users can pick up on the word
"Graden" and suddenly they're inter-
ested in your tweets. By using that one
word — "Graden" — you might pick up
fellow GCSAA members who are using
Twitter.
Or, say you post that you will aerify
greens next week. Members or guests
who play your course will be interested.
Twitter is powerful in that users can also
choose to have the messages go directly
to their phone as a text message. Instant
communication! Can you imagine typ-
ing, "Next week we will be aerifying
greens and tees," pushing a button, and
having that message instantly reach the
phones of your members? That's the po-
tential for you of Twitter.
As with blogging, Twitter won't
make newsletters and mass e-mails ob-
solete; it will complement them.
You will be surprised who follows
you on Twitter, and there are rarely lim-
itations on which people or groups you
follow. In my experience there's an un-
spoken rule with Twitter users that "if
you follow me, I will follow you."
I follow some environmental friendly
groups and they follow me. They may
not elect to have my tweets go to their
phone, but they still see my tweets.
When I talk about how we save water
and post links to articles that I have
written about water savings, I get infor-
mation into the pocket of the public.
I've also had success by posting a
quick question and having my followers
send me ideas. I was working recently
on my pump station. I was replacing a
flow meter and had a quick question on
the possibility of complications when
splicing the communication wire. With
nothing to lose, I posted the question
on Twitter (see sidebar). Before I fin-
ished the project, I had some help at
my fingertips from @Irigationpro. This
irrigation professional from the Mid-
west tweeted me back that I shouldn't
worry about splicing such a short length.
Question answered, by an expert.
Twitter has done a lot in helping me
be a better superintendent. I highly rec-
ommend joining Twitter and getting
your voice out there.
Making connections on
Linkedln
Linkedin.com is a professional net-
working site. It gives you a network of
superintendents across America only an
e-mail away. It's like having the GCSAA
conference and show year-round.
I am linked to many superinten-
dents, architects, professors, company
owners and vendors in the United States
— even throughout the world. On
Linkedln you'll find people who have
tried various chemicals on their courses
5/24/10 3:40 PM

I http://www.therimgolfclub.blogspot.com/
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Golf Industry Show,
2010
-> It was a great week in San Diego at the Golf
Industry Show. I have gone to the conference and
show for a number of years now and I have always
gone for the great education opportunities offered,
This year with the new schedule coupled with the
innovative superintendent presentation, I was un-
able to take as many classes as I usually do.
The two days set aside for the trade show gave
me more time to roam the floor and talk to the ven-
dors and view the newest technology offered in
our industry. I was able to look at new products for
controlling fungi on the course. I was able to learn
about interesting products like fully biodegradable
grease and hydraulic fluid — products that can re-
duce our carbon footprint.
The innovative superintendent session was also
a great place to learn real-life issues that superin-
tendents were dealing with and the solutions that
they had come up with. Being a presenter myself
I was able to connect with these superintendents
and get an understanding of their issues and how
they dealt with them.
Overall the show was a week of filling my mo-
tivation bucket. It is nice to be surrounded for a
week by superintendents who share the drive for
conditioning, and the passion of being better at
what they do. When you can be in the company of
people who share your passion for a week, it does
nothing but stoke the fire that burns in your belly, to
solve more problems, and top the previous year's
accomplishments, with even better feats.
If you have any question about my trip to the
GCSAA Golf Industry Show please feel free to con-
tact me.
Justin Ruiz, CGCS
justinr@therimgolfclub.org
056-063_June1CLSocialN.indd 62
that you may have been considering for
your course. You'll find professors who
have done research on a product you
want to try.
Once they're in your network, sim-
ply click on their profile and send them
a message, which goes to their e-mail.
We all know that the superintendent's
golden rule is to help one another in any
situation. The people in your network
are no different. No question is bad, and
everyone is there to help.
You can use this site not only for in-
dustry questions or answers, but also to
post jobs or hunt for jobs. When some-
one wants to know more about you,
they look at your profile, which is your
resume. It's great for finding good appli-
cants and for networking with potential
employers.
Using Linkedln, I've asked questions
concerning course problems of company
owners, irrigation architects and fellow su-
perintendents and have been able to make
better decisions. Without fail, I've had
someone reply. Everyone is happy to help.
I recommend this site for any professional.
The folly of Facebook
In this new world of social media,
however, I'm still on the fence about Face-
book. I use this site rarely, and when I do,
it's mostly personal, not professional.
Facebook is a social media site where
friends old and new connect or recon-
nect. Users share photos, moods, plans
and general silliness with each other.
I've tried to get value from it, but its
most common use seems to be a place
that connects old high school friends.
I have little faith that Facebook can
have professional value, however, many
businesses, including GCSAA, are on
Facebook.
Companies and clubs may use Face-
book to gain "friends," "customers" or
"members" and keep people updated on
their clubs. The site could be a good al-
ternative for a club that doesn't have a
website — its members and/or custom-
ers could follow the club on Facebook to
see pictures and get updates.
Although Facebook often is a place
for things like, "Take this quiz to see
which character from Star Wars you
most resemble," almost everyone I know
has a Facebook account. I want to get
golf management information out to as
many people as possible, so although
I haven't yet found the true power in
Facebook, I'm still sticking with it.
Follow me
For those of you saying, "I'm not
computer savvy," or, "That sounds way
too complicated for me," think again.
You probably send e-mails every day or
shoot a text to your friend every once
in a while. That's how easy these social
media sites are.
A simple sign-up with your e-mail
address and your favorite password and
you are ready to go. Next time you're
trying to reach out to your members or
industry contacts, try these websites.
You won't be disappointed.
And remember — it's normal not to
know what to say at first. I didn't think
anyone would want to know what I was
doing on the golf course until I started
receiving comments and gaining fol-
lowers. It's surprising how many people
want to know about the job of the super-
intendent and the work done maintain-
ing a golf course.
And who knows? By educating the
general public through social media, we
could improve the public's perception of
our jobs and the work we do.
As for me, look me up on Twitter
and follow me @JustinRuizCGCS or
on Linkedln under Justin Ruiz, CGCS,
or read my blog at www.therimgolfclub.
blogspot.com. Once you get involved,
you'll wonder why you didn't start a
long time ago.
Justin Ruiz, CGCS, a 12-year, Class A GCSAA mem-
ber, is superintendent at The Rim Golf Club in Pay-
son, Ariz.
Leu rebel
Award candidate
This article is eligible for the 2010 Leo
Feser Award, presented annually since 1977
to the author of the best superintendent-
written article published in GCM during the
previous year. Superintendents receive a
$300 stipend for articles. Feser Award win-
ners receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the
Golf Industry Show, where they are recog-
nized. They also have their names engraved
on a plaque permanently displayed at GCSAA
headquarters.
5/24/10 3:41 PM