When we started GCM’s blog a couple of years ago, we really didn’t know what to expect or really what we were doing. But companies blog nowadays, right? And we have the technology, don’t we? So shouldn’t we be blogging?

The magazine staff saw blogging as an exciting, if ancillary, new way of connecting with members. Now it’s hard to imagine not blogging. During the recent Golf Industry Show the GCM staff blogged all over the place, covering the show in an immediate way that was unheard of just a short time ago.

Minneapolis:
Exploring Perspectives

By Chris Higgins

(Editor’s Note: The 19th annual TOCA meeting is all set for May 6-8 in Minneapolis. You’ll want to get in on Tuesday night, May 6, if you plan to participate in Wednesday morning’s activities. The following article, with some minor edits, ran in the last issue of TOCA Talk. It’s the perfect summary of the meeting for those of you who are planning to come to Minnesota for the meeting.)


I came here from the West coast. Exploring, I guess. I learned later about the tradition of exploration in this northern wilderness. French trappers and voyageurs paddled the state’s waterways before roads. Modern polar explorers tested resolve as kids in their frozen Minnesota backyards. Those explorers, like all who live here, share this in common:  we endure winter and celebrate spring.
This spring, May 6-8, we welcome you to Minneapolis to celebrate the 19th annual meeting of the Turf and Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA) at the Radisson Hotel in Downtown Minneapolis.

Why Minneapolis?

The 18th Annual TOCA Communications Contest
Sponsored by the
Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association (TOCA)

GENERAL RULES
This contest will be open to all active and affiliate TOCA members and non-members.

Photocopied entries must be articles published between Jan.1 and Dec. 31, 2007, or collateral/ads/brochures, etc., produced and printed within the same time period.

An entry fee of $30 per entry will be required. Non-members: First entry $145. First entry includes a one-year TOCA membership. All entries thereafter are $30 each. Checks should be made payable to the Turf & Ornamental Communicators Association.

Click here to download the 18th Annual TOCA Communications Contest Rules and Entry Form.

GIS Reception
TOCA members attended this year’s Golf Industry Show in Orlando at the Rosen Centre Hotel.

Calendar of Events
Check out upcoming events in the turf and ornamental industry.

TOCA International Contest
TOCA will again conduct a program for international entrants in the 2008 TOCA Communications Contest. E-mails were sent in early January to international corporate folks and international turf publications to encourage participation. Interested parties will be directed to the TOCA Web site for more information.

Environmental Communicator
of the Year
As always at this time of year, TOCA begins its search for the next Environmental Communicator of the Year. Nominations for the 2008 winner are now being accepted.

Member News
Read about our exciting member news and new members.