TOCA President Ed Hiscock

I know it's winter because I'm sitting here watching a quarter inch of ice falling from the trees. Because the ice is melting from all the trees at the same time, it’s like watching falling glass shards at an Irish crystal store disaster. This is the same ice that just a few days ago knocked out power to the homes of so many of my co-workers and caused an oncoming motorist to have a series of conversations with my automobile insurance company.

But no matter. Now that we’ve had our winter storm and we’re immune to any others this season, and we can turn our attention to other matters, chief among them the upcoming Golf Industry Show in Orlando and the show’s most important event – at least to TOCA members – the TOCA New Member Breakfast Reception.

This year’s event is from 7 to 8:30 a.m. Friday, February 1 in Salon 11 of the Rosen Centre Hotel, and will once again be sponsored by our good friends at BASF and GCSAA. This event has been growing in attendance the last few years and is a great chance for TOCA members, especially new members, to get acquainted with each other. It’s also offers an excellent opportunity for members to bring prospective members along so they can see what all the buzz is about.

Remember, we’re trying to grow TOCA membership this year, and one of the easiest ways to do that is for current members to recruit non-member co-workers. If you find TOCA’s combination of information and networking to be valuable – and you must because you keep showing up – other green industry insiders from your firm will as well.

And while we’re at it, it’s also time to start thinking about attending the TOCA annual meeting May 6-8 at the Radisson Hotel in Minneapolis. A great program had been created for this gathering, and if you’ve ever been to an annual meeting, you know it’s an event not to be missed. Please see article elsewhere in TOCA Talk on the Minneapolis meeting.

So get ready for the South, GIS and the TOCA New Member Breakfast in January-February, and then head north to Minneapolis. Who says TOCA members don’t get around?