2026 Annual Midwest Monthly Meeting/Wee One Fundraiser

Max Tsaparis is NewsNation’s certified meteorologist based in his hometown, Chicago. He holds the highest seal of approval from the American Meteorological Society and was one of the youngest members to complete the certification. Max is an Associated Press winner for his science outreach stories, and won the award for “Best Weathercast” from the Wisconsin Broadcast Association. Before working at NewsNation, he tracked historic flooding in Madison, Wisconsin, tornado outbreaks in Rockford, Illinois, and multiple tropical systems in Tallahassee, Florida. He is a graduate of Florida State University, where he studied meteorology, communications and math. When Max isn’t obsessing over the weather across the country, you can find him walking his two pit-mixes, Reuben and Monkey, playing the piano, or exploring the great restaurant scene in the Windy City.

Rider Harris is a Las Vegas-based AI consultant who has taught 10,000+ professionals to master ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and the company's internal AI tools through hands-on workshops and keynotes. As founder of GoBananas.ai, he helps companies turn AI investments into provable revenue gains. Rider will tailor his talk for golf course superintendents and cover the basics of using readily available AI platforms that superintendents can put to use right away. He’ll also cover some of the more complex uses of AI, including: maintenance scheduling, irrigation scheduling, spray applications, data visualization, cupping locations, and traffic patterns. He will also speak on the potential of AI for future management, including autonomous maintenance.