New TOCA president, Ed Hiscock, addresses the Annual Meeting attendees.

Maybe it’s because Savannah is one of the most hospitable cities I’ve ever visited, or maybe it’s because my wife and I spent a couple extra days there after the recent TOCA meeting, but the event has been on my mind lately.

One of the reasons I’ve been thinking about it is the honor of being elected TOCA president, and in particular following Bill Klutho in that role. Bill deserves our thanks for years of volunteer service to the association, and we’re looking forward to his two years on the board as past president. His two presidential years, characterized by an amiable personal style and a determination to do what’s right for a growing organization, offers the model I hope to emulate. One thing’s for certain, though – I’ll never match his iTunes collection.

Additionally, Savannah gave all the meeting attendees a glimpse of how TOCA has evolved over the years and of the direction in which we hope it will grow.

I first became a TOCA member in the early ’90s, and the two seminars presented in Savannah – one on interviewing techniques by journalism professor and investigative reporter Ted Gup, and the other on ethics by University of Missouri School of Journalism Professor Emeritus Don Ranly, were the best I’ve seen at one of our meetings.

There are a couple of reasons why they were the best, including continued and growing support from our industry partners, and a larger – and more involved -- membership. You don’t have to be a math whiz – thankfully, on my part – to understand how a larger membership and greater participation from members improves the quality of professional development TOCA can offer, increases the networking opportunities for us all, and gives us a chance to give something back to the industry that has nurtured so many of us.

TOCA currently has about 200 members, and last year it was suggested that we should try to grow by about 30 to 40 members a year. Now, 30 or 40 members a year for an organization with 200 members is a tall order and one that a lot of people consider a stretch.

So, OK, let’s stretch. There are more than 30 companies with multiple TOCA members. If these multiple members at each of these companies enroll just one more of their colleagues, we may find that the stretch is not so much of a stretch. And if your boss isn’t a TOCA member, why not? He or she is in the same business as you, and could with one $65 membership show support for the industry and gain access to all the benefits I mentioned above. (Remember, your company’s first membership is $115 and all others are $65.)

Besides membership -- and keying off this year’s ethics seminar -- we’ll be looking in the coming year at whether TOCA should have its own set of ethical guidelines. The seminar produced a spirited discussion in Savannah, so we know there is intense interest.

The coming year aside, I’d like to note that TOCA sends a heartfelt goodbye to Chris and LaVonne Moore, who have provided such solid support to Den and TOCA in the last few years. We’re going to miss them, but these two former teachers are retiring and off to new adventures. We wish them all the best.

I mentioned at the outset that Savannah was one of the most hospitable places I’ve ever visited. I shared an elevator with a fellow who told me that the hotel’s front desk clerk had invited him and his wife over to her house for dinner. Now, for you members who have never attend a TOCA annual meeting (we’ll be in Minneapolis next year), I can’t promise that every city playing host to us will be that friendly. But I can promise that at every meeting will be people you’ll be glad to meet.
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