THE PC TEAM DAVE SALTMAN
MD. Rumour has it that he was seen in the office on 3 consecutive days! Shame really, as we were just in the process of renting out his desk. After his experiences with the modules at the Millennium stadium all the jigsaws in his house have been consigned to the bin.
JOHN RICHARDS
Operations Director. As befits someone of his advancing years, he is coasting along quite nicely. Getting de-m
happy as he awaits yet another trip down under to visit his daughter. Has offered to do articles with some of the Pitchcare members in Oz providing he can get himself away from the beach!
LAURENCE GALE
Joint Editor. Currently, trying to raise money for local charities with sponsored silences. After just one week he is very close to raising a fiver. We recently discovered that his hero as a child was Norman Wisdom. Why does that not surprise us!
PETER BRITTON
Sales & Production Director. All smiles last month when his golf handicap dropped into single figures -iit lasted all of one week -O
medal putting him back where he belongs. Still desperately trying to get over the stigma of having to wear a yellow shirt at Saltex.
ELLIE TAIT
woman, I have needs” was, apparently, her only argument.
ALASTAIR BATTRICK
Web Developer. New experience for him recently – he actually broke out in a sweat; when he was told that he would have to pen an article for this and future issues of the magazine. Is that in my job description? he was heard to ask. It is now.
SHARON TAYLOR
Company Accountant. The most energetic member of the team. Trains and jumps horses at competitions and trials around the country. She is actually very good, and we are very proud of her; but we don’t tell her in case she asks for a rise!
Features and Editorial:
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PR and Marketing guru. Ellie had her first editorial day out with Laurence (the whirlwind) Gale for the Robot Review... and is still recovering. Avoided having to wear a yellow blouse at Saltex -“
“ I’m a October’s mob
A GROUNDSMAN myself, I have a belief that expert information should be imparted easily to current and future generations of Groundsmen and Greenkeepers. Pitchcare provides an opportunity for people within the Industry to pass on their wealth of knowledge and time served experiences. The Pitchcare magazine and website have proved to be great mediums to disseminate information and the website message boards are the perfect place to ask questions and get your problems solved quickly. With nearly 10,000 questions and answers already posted, a great many people have received immeasurable help. Whilst on this subject, I notice that the message boards have come in for some public criticism, and I’m slightly bemused as to why. Yes, there is the occasional halfwit, determined to wind others up and be destructive, but the vast proportion of the members are only too delighted to provide useful advice to fellow members. At Pitchcare we have always believed in the importance of education and training so earlier this year, in conjunction with the ECB, we organised a Media Training course. Attended by senior professionals its aim was to give the delegates the knowledge and experience needed to participate in television and radio interviews.
The course came about as result of enquiries from Pitchcare members who were unable to find relevant training in this specialist area. The course was well received by participants and sponsors, and there are plans for another in the New Year. We have provisional dates in February 2006, so please
contact me,
dave@pitchcare.com for more details. Again as a result of enquiries from members we have teamed up with one of the industry’s most respected trainers, Frank Newberry, to run a course on Essential Management Skills. This new course is aimed at helping those in a supervisory or management position to acquire a range of vital management skills and put them into practice successfully in the workplace. I’m pleased to say that places on the first course were filled quickly and we’ll be announcing new dates on the website soon, so keep an eye on the new ‘education and training’ section. We have continually listened to our members and, where appropriate, look to implement suggested ideas. The drive to improve education is one such avenue. We have pursued the rights of our members, and lobbied for more control on player warm ups, goalkeeper scratch marks, and now the banning of bladed boots from winter sport. There is continuing debate on the benefit of trade shows, with some wide ranging views. With the announcement from the larger companies that they will now be exhibiting at alternate shows, the future looks uncertain. In other industries, trade shows have been streamlined as exhibitors find rising costs prohibitive. Many traditional consumer shows are now bi-annual. These days companies look to other marketing methods to spread the word and make sales. It seems increasingly unlikely in this competitive world that our sector can continue to sustain two major annual shows. Ultimately exhibitors have to look at their bottom line and major expenses, such as exhibitions, could become a thing of the past. Finally, there is some debate on this winter’s weather. The forecasters are suggesting that we are in for the coldest winter for at least a decade, the same forecasters that said this year was going to be as hot as ’76. I’m not a forecast sceptic, and regularly rely on calls to the duty forecasters prior to games; these prove to be invaluable. Forecasters are professionals, just like you and me, who use their depth of knowledge and expertise, coupled with the latest technology to make calculated decisions. More often than not, they are spot on. I hope to run a series of articles explaining the finer aspects of meteorology in the future.
Best wishes, DAVE SALTMAN Managing Director
WELCOME TO
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