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By Den Gardner, Executive Director
Monica Surfaro Spigelman, one of the panelists on social media, who appeared at the annual TOCA meeting in Tucson on May 5, summed up best what many felt during her appearance, as well as during the entire meeting, “You have an engaged and friendly membership. Thanks for letting me be a part of your panel today.”
- Social media has come a long way baby and whether you’re a baby boomer, Generation X or Generation Y, the train has left the station and marketing will never be the same again.
- You better be ready for a real revolution in the delivery of information in the next 10 years and yes, it will still involve printed magazines.
- The water crisis needs a higher priority outside the southwest and western parts of the U.S. and yes, there is a war on the old-fashioned toilet bowl. Unless we figure out how to reduce water consumption in that area, we will someday have a water shortage and we are not kidding!
- Golf courses in Tucson are meant to be played in the green grass and not the desert.
- The Sonora Desert Museum Tour, as one attendee aptly pointed out was, “a wonderful experience for everybody. The fascination with the various types of cactus was a wonder to behold.”
Ed Hiscock, editorial director, Golf Course Management, had this to say about the meeting, “Thanks for what was probably the best TOCA meeting yet. We were right on with changing the agenda.”
All in all, attendees found the 21st annual meeting at the El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort one to remember.
Golfers braved the 90 degree dry heat at the golf club, not to mention rabbits, rattlesnakes, coyotes and other critters large and small. Through it all, the team of Bryan Gooch, Pat Jones, Kyle Rubeling and Jared Bodnar came in at -4 to win the tournament. In second place, at -3, came the threesome of Chuck Bowen and the Gardner twins.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Sonora Desert Museum Tour had 25 attendees. The museum featured a world-renowned zoo, natural history museum and botanical garden. A special guided tour was offered for TOCA members. Members were then treated to lunch at La Fuente Restaurant.
- The social media panel of Monica Surfaro Spigelman, social media consultant and IABC member; Jimmy Fox, co-owner, Evergreen Turf; Allie Bell, managing editor, Arizona BIG Media; Tom Mentzer, owner, Mentzer PR Group; and Sam Brace, Caliber Group, Tucson, and director of “Social Media Boot Camp.” The group was ably moderated by Larry Aylward of Golfdom magazine.
The panel dazzled attendees with opinions on where social media is going from a marketing standpoint, using all the tools necessary, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and other social media outlets.
- Following the panel, the attendees were split into Baby Boomers, Generation X and Generation Y to discuss challenges and opportunities within their own generations. Social media panelists moderated each group. Each then reported back their findings to the group.
- The opening night outdoor reception, under a starry night, was at the Last Territory. Attendees were treated to refreshments and a wide array of southwestern food.
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Media Futurist Bo Sacks led Thursday’s workshop on the future of print and online media. To summarize, Sacks said print media wasn’t going away, although he predicted revenue from digital media would outpace print media by 2010. Today, digital magazines garner about 10 percent of the total magazine revenue.
“The relationship, when all is said and done, is between the publisher and the reader,” he said. “In the end, that’s the only thing that matters – whether it’s print or digital media.”
Sacks dazzled the group with a look at e-reader devices like flexible e-paper and showed the group the many benefits of the iPad. He noted that these are the communications tools of the future and print magazine will need to be different to survive.
“There’s no more room for mediocrity in print magazines anymore,” he said. “For print to survive, it has to be better and will be more expensive in the future.”
- Two speakers informed members about the major water issues facing the southwest each day. Dr. David Kopec, University of Arizona, spoke about the use of public water today and the importance of finding consultants who understand the efficient use of water and know how to tell the public about it. Effluent use of water is a must for the area. He also spoke of adapting varieties of grasses to the southwest and managing turf in desert conditions.
Robert Glennon, author of “Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What To Do About It,” spoke of efforts in several southwestern cities to pay homeowners to take out turf.
“The secret to the water crisis is the population movement,” he said. “There are seven million more people in California than in 1992. People are moving to areas, like Arizona and Nevada were there are no more adequate supplies of water.”
Glennon, who has appeared on The Daily Show with John Stewart, said there are options to improve the water situation, including the desalinization of water, reusable water and conservation, such as adoption of water-free toilets, which is one of the biggest water wasters in the country.
“We’ve got to take dead-aim at toilets,” he said.
- Election of the board. Re-elected board members are Jared Bodnar, president; Ed Hiscock, past president; Margaret Bell, vice president; Bob West, secretary-treasurer; and directors Debbie Clayton, Jason Schmaderer; Cindy Code, Felicia Gillham, Ron Hall, Troy Blewett, Eric Schroder, John Reitman, Helen Stone, Lacy Ravencraft, and McGavock Edwards. New board members are Christina Schave, Tom Mentzer, Mark Founds and Marisa Palmieri.
- TOCA’s annual revenue for 2010 will be approximately $96,000, with expenses estimated at about $97,300. TOCA maintains a healthy investment portfolio of approximately $80,400, up considerably from $73,200 a year ago.
- The 2011 meeting will be determined sometime in June. The cities of Nashville, Ashville, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee are being explored.
- The TOCA writing, photography and design contests had 310 entries this year, a 25 percent decrease from last year. TOCA board commented that this was a result of the ongoing recession, with fewer members entering the contest.
- The GCSAA Breakfast Reception at the Golf Industry Show (GIS) was held in February this year on a Wednesday. This was due to the new format of the show, which included a two-day trade show instead of three. The same format will take place in 2011 in Florida.
- The Green Industry and Equipment Expo breakfast reception is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 29 at 7:30 a.m. in Louisville. Bayer is the sponsor of this breakfast.
- The board agreed to continue its contribution to Project EverGreen, at the $2,500 level. This national alliance of end-user associations, companies and Green Industry suppliers educates and informs consumers about the benefits of well-maintained green spaces. TOCA publications and agencies donated $250,000 of space and pro bono services to Project EverGreen in 2009-2010.
- For the sixth time, TOCA has a printed directory, courtesy of New Holland. The directory comes out in December of each year. It contains the association’s membership, bylaws and constitution and other important information about the association.
- The 2010 Publishers’ Scholarship winner is Mikael Pehkonen from the University of Guelph. He’s studying turfgrass management and will graduate in April 2011. He is the first TOCA scholarship winner from outside the U.S.
To close out the 2010 meeting, the Syngenta Awards Banquet was another raucous affair, with excellent food and drinks, surrounded by a slide show commemorating this year’s award winners. Thanks to the leadership of Chris Higgins of Padilla Spear Beardsley (PSB), a masterful job was accomplished on the awards program. Thanks to PSB for also publishing the annual meeting program.
So, the 2010 TOCA annual meeting is history. Den Gardner wants to especially thank Barb Ulschmid for her tireless preparation work prior to and during the meeting. Den also wants to thank his evil twin Dan for assisting with logistics. Dan missed the 2009 meeting, having been part of the 10 previous meetings. It was great to see him back in 2010.
TOCA thanks all of its sponsors for making the meeting possible. And remember, TOCA meetings always look to the future. We enjoy the camaraderie, appreciate the personal networking times you can’t get at other trade shows, enhance your professional skills through our workshops and recognize you for your communications skills through our contests. TOCA will always be about our family of editorial and marketing professionals. A little dysfunctional, but isn’t every family?
Click here to view more photos from the 2010 TOCA annual meeting. |
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