I had the pleasure of attending the Reinders 27th biennial Turf Conference March 11-12 at the Waukesha Expo Center in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
The event welcomed approximately 600 attendees from the sports turf, golf, grounds, lawn care and landscaping industries. Reinders treated attendees to donuts and refreshments in the morning, as well as a buffet lunch catered by Machine Shed restaurant. The tradeshow portion of the event featured more than 45 industry exhibitors.
“Every Turf Conference is unique, but this year it felt even more special,” said Dave Berg, turf business manager at Reinders. “As we move into the future, we are reminded of our goal to be more than a green industry supplier. We strive to be a reliable partner to our customers in the Midwest and beyond.”
More than 30 seminars featured a robust lineup of speakers including SFMA President Alpha Jones, CSFM; Ben McGraw, Ph.D.; Thomas Nikolai, Ph.D.; Jim Kerns, Ph.D.; Ed Nangle, Ph.D.; Paul Koch, Ph.D.; Kelly Meemkenz; Amanda Latham; Gary Gleichman; Jared Hoyle, Ph.D.; Brad Jakubowski; Chuck McKenna; Dave Louttit; Leah Weaver, Ph.D.; Wayne Horman; Gabriel Lopez; Eric Piffer; Mike Skopik; Jim Cassidy; Rob Cunningham; Andrew Collier; Dave Wilbur; Manuel Jordan; Larry Collins; Phil Dwyer, Ph.D.; Chris Lettau; Carla Pipping; Matt Duncan, CSFM; Joe Holt; Nick Hongisto; Matt Kurth; Jason Eberhard, Ph.D.; Riley Stenzel; Jon Healy; Sonny Johns; Ben Boeding, CSFM; and Paul Miskimen.
The education sessions and networking opportunities were top notch, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere, camaraderie and information sharing. My thanks to everyone at Reinders for their hospitality.
Reinders founded the Turf Conference in 1973 to serve as a platform for expert education and to facilitate direct communication between suppliers and customers.
“We received a lot of positive feedback this year,” said Jackson Orin, Reinders marketing manager. “We work hard to plan this conference, so it’s incredibly rewarding to hear that people have been coming for 20 years and that each one is better than the last.”
Less than a week after the Reinders Turf Conference it was announced that SiteOne Landscape Supply acquired Reinders. More on that in our Industry News section (see page 42). However, Reinders already announced that its 28th Turf Conference will be held in March of 2028, continuing the tradition.
– John Kmitta