From the editor By Mike Jiggens www.turfandrec.com Reader Service Print and digital subscription inquiries or changes, please contact Anita Madden, Audience Development Manager Tel: (416) 510-5183 Fax: (416) 510-6875 email: amadden@annexbusinessmedia.com T The return of live, in-person events vaccinated Canadians. One of Canada’s first indus-try events to annually kick start each new year is Landscape Congress, which is typically held in early January in Toron-to. Canada’s largest horticultur-al trade show and conference has adopted a hybrid approach for 2022, however, with the trade show itself returning to a live and in-person happening while the conference, includ-ing its array of education sem-inars, being offered virtually for a second straight year. Over the course of the exact same three days as Congress’ virtual conference is the Can-adian Golf Course Manage-ment Conference in Toronto – a co-production of the Can-adian Golf Superintendents he Canadian turf-grass industry’s trade show and conference circuit is set to kick off for another season in January, with some events returning to live, in-person affairs and others holding on for another year to COVID-19-friendlier virtual of-ferings. While industry conferences south of the border returned months ago to in-person events, Canada has taken a more cautious approach be-fore swinging its doors wide open. Already in the U.S., we’ve seen delegates flock to such events as the Snow and Ice Management Association (SIMA) series of gatherings in late summer and the GIE+EX-PO – to be rebranded next year as Equip Exposition – confer-ence and show in October in Louisville, Ky. The latter event, in fact, exceeded both its 2019 and 2018 attendance numbers. These events likely had little in the way of Canadian rep-resentation as attendees from north of the border would have had to fly to those U.S. destina-tions. Now that the border has opened up for Canadian land traffic to cross into the U.S., this will likely change things moving forward. Canadian attendance at the coming Golf Industry Show, slated for February in San Diego, is apt to be strong as international travel confi-dence continues to build amid the swelling numbers of fully @TurfandRec Attending a trade show virtually is not the same as being there in person. Association and the Ontario Golf Superintendents Associ-ation – which is being pre-sented live and in person for the first time since just before the pandemic began. The Western Canada Turf-grass Association has also an-nounced it is returning to a live, in-person conference in mid-February in Penticton, B.C. Organizers of the Ontario Turfgrass Symposium, on the other hand, have opted to keep their event going virtual for another year, according to the OTS website. @TurfandRec Whether these organiza-tions have chosen to take baby steps on their way toward full re-openings – perhaps in 2023 – or they’re ready to go now, we’re seeing a gradual return to what we had taken for granted before 2020. The number of active COVID cases is still creeping upwards in some areas, but the number of fully-vaccinated Canadians is also on the rise. Those who wish to attend any of these industry events in person will have to prove they’ve been fully vaccinated. Only time will tell how well these in-person conferences will be attended. There is likely a mixed bag of would-be attendees who are either anx-ious for a return to their pre-pandemic experiences or who are willing to wait it out another year and see how things stand by then. It’s been 21 months since the pandemic hit – almost enough time to forget what “normal” is or what it used to be. Meet-ing up with familiar faces (if they can be recognized behind their masks) in familiar set-tings will probably be thera-peutic for many, not to men-tion productive in terms of networking opportunities. Attending a trade show virtu-ally is not the same as being there in person. Industry profes-sionals want to be able to “kick the tires,” get under the hoods of mowers and other heavy equip-ment, and physically place their hands on the wares exhibited. That can’t be done virtually. Nevertheless, CGSA, OGSA, Landscape Ontario and WCTA should be celebrating success-ful conferences in 2022. Mail: 111 Gordon Baker Rd., Suite 400 Toronto, ON M2H 3R1 Editor Mike Jiggens mjiggens@annexbusinessmedia.com National Advertising Manager Rebecca Lewis 519-400-0322 rlewis@annexbusinessmedia.com Nashelle Barsky 905-431-8892 nbarsky@annexbusinessmedia.com Account Coordinator Mary Burnie 519-429-5175 mburnie@annexbusinessmedia.com Group Publisher Todd Humber thumber@annexbusinessmedia.com COO Scott Jamieson sjamieson@annexbusinessmedia.com Printed in Canada ISSN 1186-0170 PUBLICATION MAIL AGREEMENT #40065710 SUBSCRIPTION RATES Published 7 times a year – Jan/Feb, March, Apr/May, June/July, Aug/Sept, October, Nov/Dec Canada – 1 year $35.00; 2 year $45.00 3 years $55.50 (plus applicable taxes HST 86717 2652 RT0001 Occasionally, Turf and Recreation will mail information on behalf of industry related groups whose products and services we believe may be of interest to you. 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