The Club Managers Association of America (CMAA) will withdraw from its role
as a presenting partner in the annual Golf Industry Show following the Feb. 10-11, 2010 show in San Diego.
The announcement came after a decision by the two other presenting partners, the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) and the National Golf Course Owners Association (NGCOA), along with other participating partner organizations, to move the 2012 Golf Industry Show in Las Vegas instead of New Orleans as previously scheduled.
According to an Oct. 21 letter sent to members by CMAA President Michael Leemhuis, a number of the organization’s members and vendor supporters had been unhappy with the decision to join forces with the owners and superintendents in the annual show. He said which they felt “diluted the focus of the show away from a private club’s full range of needs.”
The other factor cited in the CMAA decision to withdraw after 2010 was the impending decision on the part of the GCSAA and other show partners to move the 2012 show from New Orleans to Las Vegas. CMAA officials said that the financial penalties for cancellation of New Orleans convention and hotel facilities could conceivably be as high as $300,000, and the organization was unwilling to expose members to those expenses.
In explaining the move from New Orleans, the GCSAA cited endorsement of Las Vegas as a show venue in surveys conducted with its members and exhibitors. Given the substantial downturn in Las Vegas convention and visitor traffic in recent months, it is also quite likely that GIS organizers were able to negotiate very favorable rates there for convention facilities and hotel space.
While CMAA will continue its role as a presenting partner at the GIS in February in San Diego, it will return to staging its own separate World Conference in 2011 in Orlando, Fla., and going forward to New Orleans in 2012. The GIS also will be held in Orlando in 2011 at the Orange County Convention Center, but the CMAA’s World Conference will be held at one of their Marriott partner facilities, on dates to be determined.
CMAA first joined the GCSAA and NGCOA annual conferences as a third presenting partner at the 2007 GIS in Anaheim, Calif.
Additional participating partners include the Golf Course Builder Association of America (GCBAA), American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA), the National Golf Foundation (NGF) and the United States Golf Association (USGA). All will remain as participants in the GIS in the future.