Jim Blayney; courtesy of Chad Braun, inset
Preventative maintenance represents a proven way to protect the pricey mowers, sprayers and rollers stored at golf courses. Chad Braun has learned that pictures and videos posted on social media can inspire his peers to be proactive about thwarting potential equipment snafus.
A 26-year industry veteran, Braun is in his third year as the equipment manager at Town & Country Club, a venerable private facility in St. Paul, Minnesota. His @CBraunEm Twitter feed provides a professional glimpse into the inner workings of an elite maintenance facility.
“I take a lot of pride in our fleet and how it operates,” Braun says. “I like to spread that out on social media. It’s really not that difficult to highlight how we run our operation.”
Whether it’s preventing hydraulic leaks before they occur or replacing parts, Braun’s thoughtful imagery and videos — all originating within tidy shop surroundings — demonstrate the power of social media as an educational tool for equipment managers. His work has earned him a 2023 Super Social Media Award in the Best Overall Use of Social Media category. The annual awards honor the best of turf on social media. All 2023, 2022 and 2021 winners will be recognized at the 12th annual Golf Course Industry TweetUp — #GCITweetUp23 — scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8 at Aquatrols Booth #2373 at the GCSAA Conference and Trade Show in Orlando.
In advance of #GCITweetUp23, we spoke with Braun about the impact of social media on equipment managers.
What type of network have you developed with other equipment managers through your use of social media?
Twitter has probably been the most instrumental in meeting other techs and equipment managers around the world. It’s obviously much more than just the United States. I would have to say I have met a ton of people of people on Twitter and we end up meeting at conferences. Trent Manning’s Reel Turf Techs podcast has been amazing. That was basically born off Twitter and there are probably 40 to 45 guys on a WhatsApp group that we have conversations with who can answer technical questions.
What advice would you give equipment managers looking to effectively use social media for work purposes?
What I tell people is that Twitter is basically your business card. It’s how people are going to see you. If you’re not being professional on there, that’s going to reflect poorly. I tell people, always be mindful of what you put in your tweets, especially in your pictures. Look at your pictures real closely, and make sure everything that’s in there should be public. I have seen a few people posting pictures of sprayers upside down in ponds and that type of stuff. That’s not something that we want to do. Think of the potential impacts of the stuff you put on Twitter and be professional.
What do you see the future of social media being in the turf workplace?
I try to post meaningful tweets. There are some people out there who just tweet to tweet, and they have thousands of tweets, half of which don’t really have a lot of content to it. I like to put thought into what I put out there. I don’t know if I’ll change anything on that. Some of the tweets that I have included videos in … and I have gotten direct messages from people saying, ‘That is what we want to see, actual videos versus pictures.’ That was interesting to hear and I’m going to try to do that more in the future — include little tips and tricks in video fashion versus writing it out and taking pictures.
Guy Cipriano is Golf Course Industry’s editor-in-chief.
