Presenters
GLORI HYMAN, The Institute of Applied Agriculture, UMCP
Glori Hyman is an educator, speaker, leader, strategic planner, and outdoor enthusiast. During her 30 years of teaching at the University of Maryland’s Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA), she has helped students gain the communication skills needed to launch successful careers. In her current role as IAA Director, her goal is to challenge students to reach their maximum potential and to become the next generation of leaders in their fields. Recently, Glori has led the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources through its strategic visioning process and is helping to implement the five strategic initiatives that emerged. Having grown up on a produce farm in Glen Arm, Maryland, Glori says she relates to and connects with those who work in the greens industry and agriculture, and sincerely wants to help them grow professionally. In her free time, Glori enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband and four children, bike riding, canoeing, hiking, and gardening.
DANN HARRIS, Dann Harris Consulting
Dann has over 45 years of leadership and management experience. He has served as a Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales for two financial services organizations and has started and owned three businesses. Dann consults, trains, coaches and mentors business owners, executives, and managers of companies of all sizes. He has developed many customized programs for organizations that have helped implement processes that lead to measureable behavioral changes at all levels of employees. Dann and Susie have been married for 51years. They also have helped many families through their marriage mentoring ministry. They have two children and eight grandchildren. Dann is an excellent communicator and motivator who will capture and hold your attention.
STEVE KEATING, The Toro Company
Steve has been at Toro since 1996 joining from the Dale Carnegie Organization where he spent 8 ½ years selling, writing & presenting training in sales, customer service, public speaking, leading people, developing leadership skills and managing a business. He is currently Senior Manager of Sales and Leadership Development for The Toro Company working with Toro’s Commercial, RLC, Underground, Irrigation and International Businesses. In his role as Senior Manager of Sales and Leadership Development he is responsible for the implementation of The Toro Selling System and Leadership Development within all US and International distributors. He is also the developer of Toro Professional Sales Certification Process which was introduced in 2004. Steve has over 30 years of sales and sales management experience and he speaks dozens of times a year on topics relating to sales, customer service, management, team building, leadership and business management. He has a love / hate relationship with golf.... he loves it and it hates him!
Steve’s LeadToday personal blog with over One Million subscribers is one of the most read business blogs in the world. You can find it here: http://stevekeating.me
ANDREW WILSON AND DELPHINE TSENG
Bethpage State Park and Landseer Communications and Consulting
Andrew has been at Bethpage State Park for over 25 years and has served as Director of Agronomy since 2010. Andrew earned an English Degree from Fairfield University before graduating from Rutgers Professional Golf Turf Management Program in 2000.
During his time at Bethpage Andrew took part in the planning and preparation for the 2002 and 2009 US Open and as Director lead the Bethpage team for the 2012 and 2016 Barclays PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoff events. In May 2019 Andrew and his team hosted the PGA Championship on Bethpage Black with help from 100 volunteers from across the world. In addition to serving over 200,000 golfers per year Bethpage hosts local university students and professors, Girl Scouts, gardening and wildlife groups to improve and promote wildlife habitat and the role golf courses play in providing valuable recreation and green space for the local community.
Before Delphine became a golfer, she has been an avid environmentalist. Delphine first studied languages and literature at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, she then went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) for Science and Technology Studies. Her background gives her the ability to understand and translate different languages, from Chinese, German, and English, to numbers, data, and science. She understands that golf and sustainability are not mutually exclusive. She has been involved with environmental education for more than 15 years, and she has been interacted with more than 20,000 spectators at golf tournaments since the inception of Landseer. She named this company after her beloved dog, Mito, the most positive being she has ever known. Mito was a Landseer.
CLARK O'NEILL, Celtic Outdoor, LLC
Clark O’Neill is an award winning idiot, from Charlotte, North Carolina. He is an irrigation specialist and owner of Celtic Outdoor, LLC, a firm specializing in irrigation system management and landscape lighting. Clark was honored to have been recognized by the Carolinas Irrigation Association with the Dr. Ronald Sneed "Friend of the Industry" Award and Toro's Water Smart Partner Award. His presenting style is unique and his subject matter might accidently cause you to ponder really unimportant things. Clark lives just outside Charlotte North Carolina with his wife, Susan, three horses, a flock of chickens, a goose named Lucy and an extremely spoiled Irish Setter named Jack.
PAUL JACOBS, The United States Golf Association
Paul joined the Green Section in June of 2016 as an agronomist in the Northeast Region. He is currently based out of the Easton, Pa., office and conducts Course Consulting Service visits in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Canada. Born and raised just south of Detroit, Jacobs began playing golf at a very young age. His passion for playing golf led to a diverse career in turf maintenance which began in Michigan. Since then, he has worked at Tucson Country Club in Tucson, Ariz., Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, N.Y., and most recently at Bel-Air Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif.
Paul studied at Michigan State University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in crop and soil science.
SHANNON GRIFFIN, Silberstein Insurance Group
Shannon joined SIG in 2017. She brings 20 years of broad based HR experience. Shannon performs human resources-related duties at the professional level in the following functional areas: employee relations, labor relations, benefits administration, performance management, onboarding, policy implementation, recruitment/employment, and compliance. She also consults with top executives on strategic planning and serves as an extra resource between management and employees. Shannon graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from SUNY Oswego. She also earned her Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification and serves on the board of the Carroll County SHRM chapter.