This year was no different in our area. The weather was unusual at best and created conditions under which turf grass suffered. As a result at least a couple of guys were relieved of their position.

Now I need to be clear that I am certainly no judge of the skills of any particular Superintendent as I don’t pretend to know much if anything about growing grass. And, of course, I am not privy to the conversations and facts that led to any one person’s dismissal. However, I can speak to the individual’s character, dedication, and work ethic as I have seen it. And, once again this year, I am baffled at decisions that were made.

Budgets are tight, no question, but really in the scope of a golf course operation is a reduction in payroll by replacing an experienced person with a lower paid person, truly material? I just cannot imagine that there are ultimately savings after the change over but maybe it works. I can tell you in our business, it would take quite a while for a new person to get up to speed with a lost seasoned veteran, and what costs are associated with mistakes and inefficiencies during the learning process?

Over my many years of watching “silly season” moves, I hope that I might be of encouragement to those of you who are currently “between jobs” and those who might find themselves in that situation in a future “season”. I believe that, without exception, all of the people who I have been close enough to, to have had information, are all doing quite well. Some ended up in better positions within their chosen field while others moved to a different side of golf, and others yet left the golf business altogether.

It’s hard to offer optimism when it is clear your world is fine and the one you are trying to encourage is very down. Things will work out. Make use of all of your contacts. Don’t fail to do this out of embarrassment. Job changes are now a fact of life. There is little to any loyalty left, at any level. Keep your mind open to any and all opportunities or ideas. You will be just fine if my experience is any judge.

There was a time when traveling by air was a treat. People were dressed up. Now it is not unusual to be sitting next to some guy who should have bought two seats in a wife beater shirt. I’m sorry but sitting next to someone whose underarms are that close is not my idea of pleasant travel.

My earliest recollection was entering through the tail end of the plane and negotiating a fairly dramatic incline to my seat. I also remember Mom telling me to swallow when my ears were hurting. Those were the days when the Stewardesses (a long forgotten sexist title) were selected for their beauty (again sexist) but honestly, I think the airlines have gone a little far in their fear of discrimination. I have been on flights where a flight attendant had trouble getting down the aisle. Or, how about the ones who should have retired years ago? I was on an international flight a bunch of years back where all four of the attendants in my cabin had to be in their twilight years. They honestly could not have helped anyone stow a bag in the overhead bin, let alone be helpful in the case of an emergency.

Isn’t it hard to believe that it wasn’t that long ago when you met travelers at the gate, there was no security of any kind, and there wasn’t a shopping mall with food court?

It’s really sad that our world has so drastically changed. Air travel now requires planning beyond just a destination and arrival time. Now one must remember no liquids, no sharp objects, charges for checking luggage, upper bins bulging with luggage of those who are smart enough to avoid those charges by gate checking, and wearing just enough clothing to avoid a charge of indecent exposure, including slip-on shoes. I can go on. No more do we leisurely stroll on to the plane. Now everyone gets up at the first boarding announcement in hope of finding space in the overheads. Remember when an on-board meal was not a tiny bag of peanuts?

And, finally, I swear one day, I am going to walk through the plane and record the price each person paid for their ticket!

Me:  So you have a new idea for golf? Why do you think it is a good idea?

You: I am not aware of anything like it in the industry. Everyone tells me it is great.

Me: Is it related to golf course maintenance or to be used on a golf course?

You: Yes.

Me: Can you tell me about it?

You: No, not without a non-disclosure.    (see Part One)

Me: Okay. Let’s dance around it a bit.

1. Is it for maintenance or the golfer’s use?
2. How many would a golf course purchase if it’s a good product?
3. Do you have a patent pending? A prototype? Design drawings?
4. Do you have an idea of what you think an end user would pay for it?
5. Do you have any idea as to what it would cost to make?
6. What are you looking to get out of this idea? Outright sale? Royalty? Or, some other arrangement?

At this point, I again appeal to their interest in simply trusting us not to steal their idea. Most times they do and I am proud to say that we have never and will never steal someone’s idea. In fairness, there might be someone out there who thought we did; only because we were not believed when we told them that this was an idea we had been contemplating or seen before.

So now, our inventor has decided to trust us and identifies his idea. As soon as/if it sounds familiar I will interrupt and talk about what I think it might be. If it’s not familiar and just might have some potential, the next conversation involves compensation. This goes where it goes based on objectives of inventor. (We truly wish that the inventor did have patent protection at this point because then the negotiation starts with what he/she wants.)

Rather than get into this in detail, please allow me to offer some thoughts on expectations.

We are in a small industry. With only 35,000 +/- customers in the world, you can easily predict the total potential sales if every customer bought the maximum, which of course is not going to happen. To determine what is available to you as a royalty or in projecting an outright purchase price, we need to consider likely market price (how much would a customer likely be willing to pay for this) and the cost to produce it. Remember, any royalty or amortization of a purchase is considered a cost. Do the numbers work? Can Par Aide achieve a reasonable margin? Is the product so good that we can live with less?

Finally, it all boils down to trust. Whether it is us or some other person/company, you have to trust them.

My purpose here is to provide a primer over this and the next blog on what I will ask if you contact me with a new product idea. First, in spite of what your attorney insists upon, we will not sign a non-disclosure. Quite frankly, you are just going to have to trust me/us. Why? Because we have over 50 years of thinking about new product ideas. We cannot jeopardize our investment in those ideas by blindly signing a non-disclosure that essentially duplicates an idea we are or have toyed with. By the same token, if you tell us enough about your idea that we are quite confident that it is truly different, we will consider signing. Your best protection: a patent. This puts you in the driver’s seat. However, don’t you know it, there is a problem here as well. I cannot tell you how many folks have paid the money to file a patent on a product that has no chance of being successful. Again, it boils down to trust. You really need to trust someone in our industry to share your idea.

I have a simple philosophy. We are in a small industry. No matter what you come up with, I cannot make enough money on stealing your idea, as I will lose in cheating you. You know how fast word spreads in a small industry.

Nothing enrages me more than one of these inventor “services” that patent your idea for you. I have seen many people get taken by this and then find that there is no market for their idea or product. Do you think the “service “cares? Nope, they made their money. And, a good patent to the end can, and usually, runs up to $10,000. You better sell a lot of whatever you have.

You have an idea for a product you have never seen. Your friends all tell you it is a sure thing. So now what?

Like a cliffhanger, check out Part Two.

Anyway, through a nice friend, I had the opportunity to spend a couple days in car guy heaven. This show is not open to the public and is not an easy ticket. For good reason; with already around 100K industry people there, adding the public would create a huge logjam of humanity.

My goal in going there was to check out the car kits. These are the ready to assemble kits to create your own 32 Ford or Cobra or any number of other classic designs. While you can get these kits assembled for you, I think for most it is the challenge of doing it yourself. After I spent a good bit of time questioning a rep there and asking in as many ways possible if a total klutz could make his way to the finish line, I decided that one day I am going for it.

I already have an engine that I rebuilt with a LOT of help, a transmission that I took from one of my cars, and even a couple of Saturn bucket seats (a $50 find on Craig’s List), heck I am almost there. Except for that one nagging question – are the instructions really clear with lots of photos?

Here are some photos from the SEMA show.