The Oven Brings Back A Cool Memory

FORT WORTH, TEX. – Before heading over to the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, a bunch of us flew here on Sunday with the folks at Nike Golf Canada.

On Monday, we’ll be checking out the Oven, Nike’s research and development centre that recently underwent expansion, including the addition of a massive short game area. It should be an interesting day.

I haven’t seen the Oven since it expanded, but going back there will certainly revive tales of one of the legendary stories in golf media circles that took place a couple of years ago.

As we prepared to depart from our last trip to the Oven, we were informed that a massive winter storm back home in Toronto had delayed and then cancelled flights, which left us all sitting in a hotel at the Dallas airport, not sure when we would get home. Read more

Is The Orlando Show Still Relevant?

You would think that after all these years, I would sign up for my credentials for next week’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando months before it takes place, but procrastinator that I am, I again left it until the last minute.

It’s not like it hasn’t been in front of me on a regular basis with regular communications about the show, ranging in topics from a concert being held there featuring the legendary band Kansas to the outdoor demo day before the show begins to all of the various exhibitors who are going to be on hand next week.

The show has been an annual rite for years and attending it has produced countless fond memories, both on the show floor and at golf tournaments and other events outside of the Orange County Convention Center.

The show used to be a grand extravaganza of lavish product introductions. A certain amount of that still goes on, but not to the same degree as say 10 years ago, when it seemed as if it was a constant parade of events for media trying to keep up with it all. Read more

Cherished Memories Pull You Through Tough Times

TAMPA—I had to be to the airport here three hours early because of post-Super Bowl security, so I had lots of time to continue reflecting back on the PGA Merchandise Show about an hour to the east of here in Orlando.

I know I did the same thing yesterday, but this time, my thoughts went beyond the 2009 edition of the show and stretched all the way back to when the overall economy was humming and golf was a pretty cool place to be, not that it isn’t that way now.

It’s just that back then, everybody and their cousin wanted to be in golf, which led to a lot of here-today-gone-the-next-year companies, many of which dominated the show and created all kinds of buzz over nothing because they soon folded their tents and went away.

Still, it was a fun time in golf. Movies such as Tin Cup, Happy Gilmore and Caddyshack put the game in people’s faces and stars such as Kevin Costner, Cheech Marin and Bill Murray, among others, were accomplices.

What you have in golf now is few pretenders, but mostly people committed to the game and the industry, those willing to gut out the tough economic times and take golf to a new peak of popularity, while making a few new entries into their lifetime of good memories. Read more

What Went Down In O-Town

ORLANDO — Some final thoughts while resting my sore back and feet after a week of cruising the floor at the PGA Merchandise Show at the Orange County Convention Center.

It comes as no surprise to anybody that the economy is far and away the story of 2009 and it wasn’t the media fuelling all the speculation among those in attendance at the show.

There was plenty of unsubstantiated rumours of golf courses being sold, golf companies on the auction block and people being relieved of their duties. If it’s true that where there’s smoke, there’s fire, then the game is in for a serious burn.

Of course, news last week that Ginn Resorts is ending all golf sponsorships, including the Ginn Open on the LPGA Tour, got tongues wagging about the economy. Unless something happens quickly, the LPGA Tour will offer just 30 events with $7.5-million less in purse money this year compared to 2008.

Ginn also dropped its sponsorship of former CN Canadian Women’s Open champion Cristie Kerr. Read more

Upbeat Mood for First Day of the Show

ORLANDO – Before departing from Toronto, somebody joked with me that I should try to avoid getting depressed by all the talk about the economy at the PGA Merchandise Show, which gets underway today at the Orange Country Convention Center.

Depression was hardly the reaction I had when I learned that my flight here would cost a mere $49. Don’t you just love Westjet? Before you say it, no they are not an advertiser, but how do you argue with that price, even though taxes and surcharges took the actual price well over $100?

The cost of doing business went down significantly with that sweet plum and it’s time to start appreciating those little victories a little more. If we don’t, we might all lose it with all of the dire predictions and doomsday scenarios that are fed to us on a daily basis.

I may be wrong going into the show, but I get the sense that the golf industry is prepared to take a positive approach to the economy. Of course, here in the United States, that may be the Barack Obama influence so shortly after his inauguration as President.

Somewhere in the middle of the doom and gloom and the sugary hype provided by the countless spin doctors here in Orlando this week lies the truth. Read more

PGA Show Aims to Put Product in People’s Hands

The PGA Merchandise Show may officially be a three-day affair, running from Jan. 29-31 at Orlando’s Orange Country Convention Center, but for many of the show’s attendees and exhibitors, it is actually four days.

The Demo Day at nearby Orange County National Golf Center and Lodge has quickly become a regular stop the day before the doors open at the Convention Center.

“It really is a four-day show. Demo Day has grown so much in what is now its seventh year and is so expansive in terms of the number of companies. That is a day in itself,” said Ed Several, PGA Shows Group vice president and general manager for Reed Exhibitions.

“What a pleasant surprise in terms of how well that has developed, just in terms of what it’s meant for the industry because it really has helped a lot of new companies get established and certainly, a lot of established companies introduce new products, so it really has become a great platform,” he added.

A new feature has been thrown into the mix this year, with the introduction of an area in which attendees can preview and try out new products, according to Several, who adds the day before the show has gotten even longer in recent years. Read more

Orlando Show Focuses on Economy

It may be tempting in these difficult economic times to cut expenses to the bone and maybe even pass on that annual trip to the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, but the way Ed Several looks at it, do you run and hide from the challenges or do you take them head on?

In his position as PGA Shows Group vice president and general manager for Reed Exhibitions, which runs the Orlando show, Several’s business has chosen to take on the economy.

The 2009 show takes place Jan. 29-31 at the Orange Country Convention Center in Orlando and traditionally, this country is well-represented with the second-highest number of attendees after the United States, usually around 1,500, and 50 Canadian-based companies exhibiting their products.

“We all can’t stop doing business,” said Several.

“The best thing is, by being able to talk with others in the industry, you’re able to get ideas and this is a great time to really take a look at your shop and see what new categories, new merchandising ideas and really what kind of promotions you can do that have been successful other places,” he added. Read more

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