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| New TOCA president, Bill Klutho, addresses the Annual Meeting attendees. |
President's Column
By Bill Klutho
In the scheme of things, I'm a relative newcomer to the ranks of Green Industry communicators. My career began with the John Deere Commercial and Consumer Equipment division five years ago in June, 2000. But my career communicating started much, much earlier. In my St. Louis high school, I had an opportunity to have a weekly radio show on the school's closed circuit TV station. Even then, I had the face for the medium. Did I mention I was part of the last class at good ole McBride High? Could have had something to do with the Green and Orange school colors.
After graduating from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, I stuck around and became the ag editor for the public radio station, KASU. We featured news, classical and easy listening music. What is 'easy listening' music you ask? As our station manager once put it, "Even Andy Williams and Barbra Streisand have electronically-amplified guitars in their music and that is too harsh for our listeners." Two things really set my looking-for-a-new-job ball in motion: editing a version of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven to fit our 'easy listening' format and the fact that I was only making $600 less than the governor of the state who at the time was a soon-to-be headliner named Bill Clinton.
My next stop was doing more one-on-one communications. I became a job counselor for a program in Rock Island, IL that found jobs for ex-offenders. I also started broadcasting high school and college sporting events on cable TV about the same time that ESPN hit the airwaves.
Since it was tape-delayed, there were times when we would have to 'fix' audio that had gone bad on the road. And only once did I predict a fake punt.
In 1990, my career path took me to John Deere. Most of you probably don't know that John Deere operates a health maintenance organization, but that is where I honed my communication skills. After ten years of doing everything from writing press releases and advertising copy to designing ads, billboards and our initial Web site, it was time to move my family to beautiful North Carolina and meet all of you.
As president of TOCA, I'd love to continue the fine work of my predecessors and continue to grow the organization without losing its intimate appeal. We are here to further our collective careers, advance the cause of the Green Industry and have a little fun while we're doing it. If you have any issues you need the group to discuss, please free to call or write. (919.804.2735 or kluthobillj@johndeere.com)
Some of you may know that I have a great love of music. One of my favorite artists is Michael Stanley from the epicenter of the Green Industry, Cleveland, OH. Quoting Mr. Stanley, "It's your world: pay attention." I'll try and pay attention to your needs in the next couple of years and hope we can communicate often. |
