The Queen City (otherwise known as Cincinnati) awaits as TOCA members can now register for the 29^th annual meeting May 1-3. Head to the web site today – www.toca.org – and join attendees from across the country. See bottom of this article for the full tentative schedule.

Our third trip to Ohio for a TOCA meeting in 29 years (Cleveland and Columbus were the other two) is less than a month away and you can expect the royal treatment, as we gather at the historic Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza. Book your room today, as hotel cut-off date for the lowered rate of $179 is midnight, April 10.

 

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Thanks to program committee members Lacy Ravencraft, Marisa Palmieri and Joe Shooner for their great work on the Cincy program. They and TOCA staff have developed a first-class program.

 

Our keynote speaker this year is Ren LaForme, digital tools reporter, the Poynter Institute. He manages the program “Try This! – Tools for Journalism,” which is an effort to find, share and provide training around the best digital tools for journalists.

LaForme will conduct two workshops. The first is described below:

1. Digital Tools for Modern Storytelling

Why stick with text, or photos or videos when you’re trying to share your story online? There are hundreds of tools that can help you share your message in more unexpected, interesting and interactive ways. In this session, we’ll run through some of the best new storytelling tools, focusing on the ones you can put into practice right now. No coding or design experience required.

The second is still to-be-determined. It will be one of the following sessions:

Automation, Integrations and Fixing Workflows

The modern writer’s workflow is a disaster of platforms, CMS hacks and copy and pasting. It doesn’t have to be this way. In this session, we’ll share tools, ideas and quick fixes to streamline workflows and cut down on time best spent doing something much more productive — our actual jobs.

OR

Tools for Connecting with Audiences

Our work used to stop when an editor had looked at our work. That’s no longer the case. Distribution is the new last step of the storytelling process — nothing matters if nobody is engaging with it, right? In this session, we’ll talk about why engaging with our audiences is so important and share the best tools for doing it right.

Ren is one-half of the duo responsible for “40 Better Hours,” a project to improve the workweek. He is also the cofounder of ONA’s Tampa Bay chapter and cofounder of Tampa Bay Media & Digital, a meetup group for locals who work in news media or on the internet.

Ren frequently goes by his vanity title – “Executive Director of Awesome.” Ren comes with rave reviews and, as many TOCA members know, the keynote speakers we’ve used from the Poynter Institute in years past have been outstanding. We look forward to his presentation.

Other key highlights of this year’s meeting include:

• A Content Marketing Panel (discussing Green Industry trends) will feature media, agency, association and supplier experts in a re-boot of the very successful program delivered by TOCA at the Irrigation Show in November.

 

• Peer Roundtables on eight compelling subjects for Green Industry Communicators – Project management to data & analytics, digital assets, employee retention, productivity tools and hacks, Being “green” in the Green Industry, evaluating marketing campaigns and best practices for PR pros and trade editors. Attendees will select a couple of subjects.

 

• Wednesday afternoon tours of Great American Ballpark (home of the Reds) and
  

  Hinsch Monument

  Spring Grove Cemetery & Arboretum (the fourth largest cemetery in the United States and recognized as a U.S. National Historic Landmark). Says TOCA program committee member Joe Shooner of Focal Point Communications in Cincinnati: “It sounds odd, but it’s actually a really popular spot. The area is beautiful.”

 

• Golfers will play at Devou Park Golf and Event Center, just minutes from the hotel across the river in Covington, Kentucky. Golf will begin at 1 p.m. with successive tee times.  Price is just $34 for golf and a cart. A box lunch will be available for players at the course.

 

• The Thursday morning TOCA Run/Walk/Crawl 5K (or so) may include an optional photography walking tour. See website for race route.

 

TOCA thanks Global Prairie for handling the 2018 logo and awards program for 2018.

 

 

The overall meeting format will take on a familiar look for members. There is the traditional board meeting on Tuesday, May 1, in the afternoon.

New this year for Tuesday evening is a more formal get-acquainted reception/dinner for newcomers and “seasoned” professionals. An optional meet and greet reception Tuesday evening for first timers will be followed by an evening dinner, courtesy of Ewing Irrigation & Landscape Supply and Focal Point Communications.  For those  “seasoned professionals who want to attend with the first-time attendees, a nominal fee of $35 per person will be charged. You can sign up for this when you register for the meeting.

The format following Tuesday evening is:

• Wednesday morning – meeting begins. Recognition of scholarship, internship,  Environmental Communicator of the Year and professional development workshop.
• Wednesday afternoon – tour or golf
• Wednesday evening – opening night reception, silent auction
• Thursday all day – run/walk, workshops, seminars, business meeting
• Thursday evening – Award Reception/dinner
• Friday – home at leisure

The Wednesday night reception will feature our second annual TOCA Foundation Silent Auction. After the great success in our first year in Tampa, we are excited to offer this great event again. Last year’s auction brought in several thousand dollars. All members are encouraged to donate an item for the auction. Download the Silent Auction Donation Form, or contact Kyle Wieskus at kylewieskus@gandgcomm.com for more information. Pat Morrow of Bayer (patricia.morrow@bayer.com) is the volunteer chair.

See you in Cincinnati!

 

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    2018 TOCA Annual Meeting Schedule (tentative)

Tuesday, May 1

2 p.m. – Board of Directors Meeting

6 p.m. – Informal meet and greet in hotel bar for newbies and “seasoned” professionals.

7 p.m. – Board dinner (invite only)

7 p.m. – Newcomers dinner (open to all) – sponsored by Ewing Irrigation and Focal Point Communications – (tentatively scheduled for dinner at Moerlein Lager House)

Wednesday, May 2

8:30 a.m. – Welcome & Introductions

9:00 a.m. – Scholarship and Internship Recognition

9:30 a.m. – Environmental Communicator of the Year – sponsored by Project EverGreen

9:50 a.m. – Volunteer of the Year

10:00 a.m. – Break

10:15 a.m. – Content Marketing Panel – Discover the latest in Green Industry content marketing trends with some of TOCA’s media, agency, association and supplier member experts.

11:45 a.m. – boxed lunch and depart for tours and golf

Tours: Great American Ballpark, home of the Cincinnati Reds, with head groundskeeper Steve Lord, and Spring Grove Cemetery & Arboretum

Golf: Devou Park Golf Course – carpool to course – about 10 minutes from hotel

7 – 9 p.m. – Opening Night Reception & Silent Auction – Taft’s Ale House on Mezzanine.

 

 

Thursday, May 3

7 a.m. – TOCA Run/Walk Club

8 a.m. – Breakfast

9 a.m. – Keynote – “Digital Tools for Modern Storytelling” with Ren LaForme (@itsren), Digital Tools Reporter for Poynter.org

10:15 a.m. – Break

10:30 a.m. – Keynote II – TBD with Ren LaForme

Noon – Lunch

12:45 p.m. – Group Photo

1:15 p.m. – Peer Round Tables – Choose from 8 Topics (for two 45 minute sessions)

2:45 p.m. – Break

3:00 p.m. – Peer Round Tables – Bring Your Challenge!

4 p.m. – Business Meeting

5 p.m. – Adjourn

Thursday, May 3 continued

6:30 p.m. – Reception

7 p.m.  – Dinner

7:30 p.m. – Hall of Fame Induction

7:45 p.m. – Awards Program

 

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Peer Round Tables – Choose from 8 Topics (for two 45 minute sessions)

Each attendee will choose two of the following topics to participate in a peer round table discussion led by a peer facilitator. We’ll have two 45-minute sessions back-to-back, with attendees quickly rotating to the topic of their choice following the conclusion of the first session.

 

Peer Round Table Discussion Topics	Facilitators
Project Management: A discussion of software, workflows, tips and best practices.	TBD
Data & Analytics: The tools we use, and how we apply them to our business. How do you use data to drive content marketing decisions?	TBD
Digital Assets: Let’s explore digital asset management systems and how to develop a photography library on a budget.	TBD
Employee Retention: How do you measure employee engagement? What do you do to retain employees? How do you handle feedback and employee reviews?	Lacy Ravencraft
Productivity Tools and Hacks: How we do more with what we have.	TBD
Developing Young Professionals: Tools and tactics for cultivating and growing young talent.	TBD
Measurement & Evaluation: How are you evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns, social media activity and content development?	TBD
Pitch Me: Best practices for PR pros and marketers in working with trade editors.	TBD

 Peer Round Tables: Bring Your Challenge!

In this one-hour working peer round table session, we’ll brainstorm solutions to real-world challenges as presented by our TOCA peers. Each TOCA member will come prepared to share with the table a current challenge they are facing in the workplace. Each person will have one minute to summarize the challenge. Each table will collectively vote (or randomly draw?) a single challenge to work on. All tables will have 15 minutes to brainstorm solutions to the selected challenge. At conclusion of the brainstorming period, each table will share the challenge they worked on, as well as present a summary of recommendations/solutions.

Following are some examples to get your juices flowing for the Bring Your Idea Challenge:

• I have a promising young staff member who is slated for great things in our organization. This person has very unrealistic expectations for annual salary increases; what tips can others share with me for better managing that conversation and the employee’s expectations?
• I want to achieve a goal that requires additional resources. What is the best way to build the business case for approval?
• We had a sudden, volatile social media response that involved our organization. What immediate considerations and tactics should I be minding, and what steps can I take to proactively prepare for “next time”?

 We all face challenges every single day, in extremely diverse ways. What are yours? Bring them to the discussion.