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Twenty Years? OK, so creating TOCA in 1989 may not be as important as the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Or demonstrations in China by students at Tiananmen Square. Or the war in Kuwait. Or Ronald Reagan leaving office with a budget deficit of ONLY $155 billion. Or the Dow dropping 190 points one day on Black October (that’s a normal day in the global world we live in now). Or the Supreme Court ruling that burning the American flag in protest is protected by the First Amendment. Or A. Bartlett Giamatti banning Pete Rose for life from baseball (and the Hall of Fame). Or the Earthquake in San Francisco. Or Game Boy being created.
I, on the other hand, would rather think of 1989 as the year TOCA was created and a steering committee of Pat Jones, Cindy Code, Elliott Maras and yours truly spent a couple days in Minneapolis putting the organization’s foundation together.
So as we near 2009, the TOCA board of directors chose San Juan, Puerto Rico, as the site of our 20th annual meeting. And the meeting will be focused not on where we’ve been, but where we’re going.
Although the agenda is not fully approved, you can be sure the meeting will focus on new technologies for communicating to our various audiences, new ways to work in an environment where people aren’t full-time employees anymore, or they work from home, juggling career and family in different ways than decades ago. We may explore what relationships with editors and companies might look like in the future. We might even help you find ways to work leaner and smarter. Who isn’t facing a future where you’re required to do more with less?
What else might be in store? How about a rainforest tour? Golf at a scenic oceanside course? A tour of old San Juan? A rum tasting reception (it helps when Bacardi has a major facility in San Juan)? We’ve even got planned an opening night reception at the Hacienda that will provide scrumptious food, fu-fu drinks and breathtaking views of the ocean.
And with the meeting ending Thursday night, what a great chance to combine business with pleasure and bring your significant other and/or family down to enjoy all that Puerto Rico has to offer.
Regardless, the 20th anniversary will be something special. And before you start worrying about airfares, think about this: It’s cheaper to fly from Minneapolis to San Juan than from Minneapolis to Chicago these days. That’s just one example.
You only get to experience a celebration like this once every 20 years. They said it couldn’t be done 20 years ago. But 200 members later, TOCA is thriving with the help of a vibrant membership, fabulous corporate sponsors and a dedication to be better communicators so the Green Industry can flourish throughout the country.
Soon we’ll have more details on the meeting. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to call the TOCA office at 952/758-6340 for more information. Or email us at tocaassociation@aol.com.
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