February 2017 Message from the President
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February Message from the President

 We're one week past the PGA Show, and by all quantifiable measures, it was an unqualified success.

The month long PGA Show 2/1 Special came to an end yesterday and I am delighted to announce that 75 club makers took advantage of it.  Clearly our PGA Show presence, Regional Chapter Meetings, Webinar Series, Resource Library, Sponsor Deals, PR and other efforts are providing value to our members. Good ideas, hard work, and the willingness to try new things keep propelling the Guild forward in our mission of raising our craft and promoting our members. Thanks to our members' support, we have never been stronger financially even as we continue to invest in new initiatives.

Distinguished Service Award winner (DSA) Ed Weber is busily editing hours of videos he shot at our well attended Demo Day, and Meeting Room. Three workshops ("Moving your business to a commercial level", "How to use the Guild Web Site", and xCaliber Xtreme Engineering) will soon be available in our ICG Resource Library. Inspiring Hall of Fame award speeches (Benoit Vincent, Henri Johnson, Roger Cleveland, Bob Bettinardi), DSA (Ray Tomaszewski), Clubmaker of the Year (Frank Viola, Gerald Friz, Jim McCleery, John Wade) speeches, as well as Room and Demo Day highlights will be available under our public About The Guild section. The highlight of our four day event may well have been 2017 WorldWide Clubmaker of the Year Frank Viola's acceptance speech which was attended by close to 100 people. Well done Mr. Viola!

So what's next? Regional Chapter meetings will continue to play an ever increasing role in professional development via interactive workshops and certification specials. While we are a virtual organization, face to face meetings are important. The eye opener for me was attending the Great Lakes Chapter (GLC) of the ICG Meeting in September, 2015. 22 members met for 3 amazing workshops (recorded videos are in our Resource Library) and a little golf. The ICG Board next encouraged and supported the Europe Chapter's first meeting (Mallorca, Spain) which saw 38 members attend. The Spain Chapter of the ICG had their first meeting attended by 25 members (see Resource Library videos). Last year's Europe Chapter's meeting in St Andrews was a great success (again recorded workshops are in our Resource Library), and Europe VP Gerald Friz is organizing their next meeting in Stuttgart, Germany from September 15-17.

Any of the 50+ attendees of the Florida Chapter meeting dinner this past Thursday knows they are about to take off. The Guild will support their next meeting (May) with video recording. ICG Treasurer Ray Tomaszewski is working with the GLC to have a St Andrews type meeting outside of Cleveland. Again, the Guild will offer possible underwriting of facility expenses. Asia VP Eric Ng is working on organizing an Asia Chapter meeting.

February will also bring up a vote on Bylaws changes (our first update since we began in 2009). And Best Member Surveys will be sent to those who have paid for it. Dollars raised via this designation will be marketed to supporting this list.

In concluding, I encourage our members to attend Chapter meetings, sign up for Certification specials, and run for COY awards. You will benefit professionally and financially. Take advantage of all the resources on our web site, start participating in our forums, and sign up for Frank Viola's live webinars where you can engage in Q&A with golf's leading industry experts. Finally, please volunteer. We need help in many areas, including publishing our newsletter, web admin, organizing new Regional Chapters, translation, adding questions to our test bank, and new ideas. Oh, and we need folks to run for BOD positions coming up in our March election.

Jacques Intriere

ICG President

[email protected]