TOCA President Ed Hiscock

Spread holiday cheer into the New Year with
TOCA’s 20/20 membership drive.

For those of you slacking on the New Year’s resolution setting, allow us to help you out: recruit a quality new member for TOCA in 2009.

The Skinny
The 20/20 plan offers new members a 20 percent discount on a 2009 membership in celebration of TOCA’s 20th Anniversary. The discounted membership fee for the first member is $100, with just a $75 fee for each additional member from the same company.

But Wait, There’s More!
Any TOCA member who successfully recruits a new member (from outside of their own company) in 2009 will receive a $25 Visa^® gift card. Be sure to have your prospect designate you as their recruiter on the 2009 membership form to ensure you receive proper credit. Visa^®: It’s everywhere you want to be™.

Top Ten Reasons to Join TOCA in 2009
There are many benefits to tout when pitching TOCA membership to a new prospect, so I invite you to pick your favorites. If the holidays have your head swimming, here are a few highlights to complement your arsenal:

1. Discounted membership (20 percent in celebration of 20 years of TOCA)
2. Valuable networking opportunities
3. Puerto Rico!
4. Informative education sessions
5. Recognition for professional achievements (enter the writing, photography and design contest for outstanding industry communications)
6. Puerto Rico!
7. Personal and professional fulfillment (being able to serve on various committees, including our Publishers Scholarship Committee, Strategic Vision Committee and Membership Committee)
8. Opportunity to collaborate with fellow communicators to shed light on key issues affecting the Green Industry
9. Incredible camaraderie, music and Bob Dylan impersonations
10. Have I mentioned Puerto Rico?

In the event that you’ve been living in a bubble (or in case I haven’t mentioned it), TOCA’s 20th Annual Meeting is taking place in Puerto Rico from May 12-14,` 2009. New and existing members will not only experience myriad educational sessions and ample festivities, but may extend their Puerto Rican expedition over the weekend to enjoy the island’s unique culture and world-renown culinary delights.

Top Ten Tips for Targeting New Members
Unlike the countless New Year’s resolutions that go unattained each year, we want to ensure you victory in 2009. Here’s some tips to get the membership juices flowing:

1. Scope out the show directories for any of the trade shows you attended in 2008 to identify members of the media, corporate communicators, photographers or associations.
2. Ask, Ask, Ask: Have you tried TOCA today? Be the constant ambassador.
3. Add a TOCA membership message to your email signature.
4. Spread the message of TOCA throughout other professional communicators associations of which you are a member.
5. Send a TOCA membership invitation to your LinkedIn network.
6. Carry TOCA membership forms with you at all times, for you might meet prospects in the strangest of places.
7. Blog about the benefits of TOCA membership on your personal site.
8. Tap into those niche-within-a-niche trade pubs (The Orchid Digest, Christmas Tree Magazine) or regional Green Industry association newsletters.
9. Chat up that stranger next to you on the airplane. Even if they aren’t interested in TOCA, at least you’ll probably glean a good story out of it.
10. Flip through that Rolodex (for you Baby Boomers), peruse your Blackberry (for you Gen X-ers) or tweet your Twitter followers (for you Gen Y-ers) and share TOCA’s 20/20 plan.

Of course, you can always recruit a new member from within your own organization. This won’t qualify you for the $25 Visa^® gift card, but you will sure feel good doing it.

If You Build It, They Will Come
As is the case with any activity or relationship in which you invest your time, the more you put into TOCA, the more you will get out of it. New members pave the way for new networking opportunities, fresh ideas and unique perspectives; who wouldn’t want to be a part of making this truly distinctive alliance an even greater force to be reckoned with?

Now go forth, and recruit!