TPI LAUNCHES NEW MEMBERSHIP PORTAL
TO COINCIDE WITH NEW TPI MEMBERSHIP MODEL By Casey Reynolds, PhD
If you have attended a Turfgrass Producers International (TPI) annual business meeting in the last two years or so, you may recall that TPI hired a membership management consultant to review our current membership model and offerings. Te final results of that report were discussed at the 2024 TPI Annual Business Meeting last February in Orlando, Florida.
One of the key highlights that came out of this process was our desire and need to engage more members in TPI activities, benefits, and publications. As an example of this, indulge me for a minute while I share a quick backstory. When I was hired as Executive Director in 2017, I remember looking for our TPI President’s phone number in our Membership Directory. Spoiler alert, it wasn’t in there… Why? Because someone else at their company was the primary rep, who of course was listed in the directory.
Te current primary rep model that has served us well for over 50 years isn’t necessarily wrong, and in fact, many associations use a similar model for company-based memberships. However, just go to any TPI conference, and it’s not uncommon to see several members from an individual farm or supplier company. Tere are many long-time members of TPI who are not only deeply involved in their company but are passionate about TPI as well, and we want to make sure they are all fully represented in TPI benefits and publications.
Contrary to company-based memberships, some associations use an individual-based membership model where each person in a company has their own membership. So which model is the better fit for TPI? Both? Neither? Maybe a hybrid of the two? Tis is one of the many things that came out of the final report from our membership management consultant.
Ultimately, where we landed was to keep the company-based membership model that we’ve had since 1967, but to implement new tools and processes that make it easier for individuals at each company to be more involved in their TPI membership and to have more access to their TPI company profile and benefits.
As always, any employee at a TPI member company is by default considered a TPI member and will continue to receive member rates at conferences. However, instead of just the primary rep being our only point of contact, the new membership model and database allows each TPI member company to customize who is the primary rep, who receives emails, who is listed in the Membership Directory, who gets hard copies of Turf News, and so on. It also allows anyone in a TPI member company to update their entries to the Natural Grass Locator Tool or to supplier products and services.
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TPI Turf News January/February 2025
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