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When most people think about a conference for irrigation professionals put on by an irrigation company, they think of … well, irrigation.
They assume the conference’s program and the related conversations that take place there would focus on pipes, fittings, controllers, sprinkler heads and all the technology that it takes to run modern irrigation systems.
And yes, while the fifth edition of Weathermatic’s SmartCon partner conference in San Antonio, Texas, this February featured plenty of opportunities for the 300-plus irrigation pros in attendance to talk shop, that’s not really what this event is all about, according to Weathermatic president Lex Mason.
“We wanted to approach SmartCon as a business builder,” Mason explains. “When you ask for someone’s time — two days like this — to come together and get out of the normal routine, you have to give them more than just technical talk about irrigation. We wanted to stretch things and also give them tools that can improve the value of their business with the strategic initiatives that they choose to launch.
“For example, Jeff Harkness gave an incredible talk on what the impact on someone’s business can be when they have a high-profit, high-performing irrigation division versus what happens when they don’t. Not just from a cash flow perspective, but from an overall business value perspective. That’s just an example, but we wanted to bring together the content that really could help people at all levels of an organization.”
That emphasis on creating an event that was about much more than the water running through pipes and sprinklers was apparent to the attendees who took time to travel to South Texas for SmartCon 2026.
“I describe (SmartCon) as a business strategy conference,” says Robert Olsen, president and CEO of Goldenstate Landscapes in Camarillo, Calif. “There are a lot of conferences that are focused on technology and tools and things like that. I think this one’s really about getting your mind straight about how to guide, build and manage an irrigation business correctly. It’s really a business leadership meeting.”
Amidst the business presentations that offered insights on everything from sales strategies and labor to acquisitions and customer service, there was still time for product talk and discussion of the innovations Weathermatic is bringing to the market, including an AI-powered irrigation manager called Link.
And even though his focus may have shifted from product to process over the years, Olsen admits it’s the technology that first brought him to SmartCon back in 2022.
“When I started my company, I always pushed us to be really cutting edge with irrigation technology, and I had been feeling that we were falling behind on that,” Olsen says. “I was looking for a way to improve on what we were doing, and that’s when I discovered SmartLink (Weathermatic’s remote irrigation management technology). I thought that was really the path to getting us back on track.”
As much as attendees took away from the proceedings in San Antonio, they also gave back plenty, most notably through Weathermatic’s philanthropic initiative called “Save Water. Give Life,” which raises funds to drill clean water wells for communities in crisis around the world.
The effort is already well on its way to reaching company founder and CEO Mike Mason’s goal of drilling 500 wells, and at SmartCon, attendees contributed more than $10,000 to support three new wells in Peru. Keynote speaker Richard Rawlings — star of the Discovery Channel show “Fast N’ Loud” and creator of the Gas Monkey brand — was so moved by those donations that he chipped in enough to cover another three wells.
“Today, you saw a group of wonderful CEOs and leaders from some of the top landscape contracting firms in the country come together to donate three water wells. That’s profound,” Mike Mason says. “There are children there that were hanging on by a thread that now are going to have clean, safe drinking water. Their lives are going to be transformed. It’s really exciting.”
