IOG Conference provides exclusive insight into New York Amenity Services

In a session that will appeal especially to amenity open space professionals and contractors, this year’s Institute of Groundsmanship’s Industry Conference promises an exclusive insight into the operations of New York City’s Parks and Recreation Department and the challenges it faces in maintaining 29,000 acres of open space.

The presentation will explain how the Department operations embrace more than 800 sports fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds, 550 tennis courts, 66 public pools, 48 recreational facilities, 17 nature centres, 13 golf courses and 14 miles of beaches. The team also cares for 1,200 monuments and 23 historic house museums, and looks after 2.6 million trees. These facilities also accommodate concerts, world-class sporting events and cultural festivals.

Other key areas that will be explored in the session include:

• Partnership funding
• Partnerships with health, education, third and private sectors
• The developing approach to health and education commissioning
• Community development, recreation and health, and
• Community gardens, food production and nutrition.

The presentation is just one of a series of IOG Industry Conference sessions that will get to the heart of the most challenging and topical issues facing the groundscare industry – ranging from multi-use stadia to climate change, and from encouraging youth through to education and training.

The Conference programme will open with an address by Hugh Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Sportwales chwaraeoncymru, and followed by a keynote by Ian Ritchie, Chief Executive officer of the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Then there will be a series of enthralling panel debates and presentations:

• The challenges of multi-use stadia - what are the real issues affecting surfaces in multi-use stadia? This panel debate will include Chris Hague (Parken Stadium, Denmark), George Mullen (sports surface contractor SIS) and Dan Duffy (Liberty Stadium, Swansea).
• Climate change - how will sports clubs look in 10 years time? Presented by Cranfield University’s Dr Iain James.
• From North America to Wales - a unique insight into the Denver Broncos’ training and stadium facilities – by team manager Troy Smith, who is also President-Elect of the Sports Turf Managers Association of America (STAMA).
• Out of the Ashes! Keith Exton, Head Groundsman at Glamorgan Country Cricket Club, will present an insight into a ‘day in his life’ during the build up to an Ashes Test.
• The perfect pitch – the Welsh FA has taken the first steps to performance quality standards, and Martin Ford and Len Smith of the IOG will present some of the lessons learned.
• A Day in the Life – one of the industry’s finest professional groundsmen, Jason Booth, will present an entertaining rundown of his life at Headingley Carnegie Stadium, outlining how he and his team maintain first-class playing surfaces for all–year round sport.
• Drop-in clinics focusing on Pests and diseases, Risks in the workplace, Training & Education and Funding & Facilities.

Plus there’s a tour of the SWALEC Stadium and the Celtic Manor golf resort and, in the evening, the prestigious IOG Industry Awards. For full details visit www.iog.org