Lawn Maintenence Association

[musician/lawnman]

Well It's been a pain in the butt, but I have got the 1st meeting set up & it's tonight at 7pm so I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes. I was goint to start a local LMA from scratch but found there is a Florida Lawn Maintenence Association established. It was strong at one point & is currently struggling due to low participation. I am aiming to start a chapter here in Charlotte County and probably join the state board myself. I have arranged a local mower shop is hosting the even, renting tables, chairs & providing food & drink. I have the executive director of the Fl. LMA coming as a guest speaker, a guy or 2 from the local dept. of horticulture, & I expect somewhere bettween 15-30 lawn care operators to attend! So we'll see what happens! Wish me luck.

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Thats awsome! keep us posted.

[musician/lawnman]

Went pretty good. I didn;t get the turnout I was hoping for but it went good & I think there are about 6 guys really interested in getting this going. It's a start! All big organizations had to start somewhere right!?

[Steve]

Hi Chuck,

That is fantastic! Great job!

I bet a lot of readers are interested in starting their own chapter in their area. Can you tell us how you lined up the store to host it?

How did you promote it? What kind of food and drinks did you have?

How many people showed up?

Did you take any pics?

[musician/lawnman]

Well the shop was more than willing to host it & he helped alot with promotion too, Handing out flyers to his more well established clientel whom he though would be good candidates & might be interested in such an association.

Most of the promotion from this was through some flyers handed out at a big sale (down at this shop last saturday & throughout this week) or via word of mouth & by calling several operators I've met in the past.

The shop supplied 2 huge platters of subway subs, chips etc. a cooler full of soft drinks.

There was only about 8 guys that showed up....
kinda aggrivating just because there were at least 5 or 6 others who seemed really interested & said they would be there for sure including one who helped me arrange the meeting! I haven't talked to him yet but I'm sure something big came up to keep him from getting there.

No I didn't take any pictures. I guess I really should have so later I could have been able to show how it all started.

This is going to be a chapter of the florida LMA.

For our forum members here in the state please visit
http://www.floridalma.org/ I beleive it is important for our industry that we all take a little initiative & participate in were the industry is headed... Like I said to the guys last night.

"We all run into many of the same problems & continue to complain about them, it will never get better if nothing is done about it. Granted 8 of us may not be able to fix it all alone, but it's gotta start somewhere. If we do nothing but just continue to bitch and complain, that's exactly what will happen. Nothing. If we don't begin some positive movement for our industry now then we have no right to complain in the future & we'll just have to swallow whatever comes down the pipe."

[Steve]

Chuck,

You really are a great coordinator!

I am very impressed you got 5 or 6 others to show up. That is a great start! I wouldn't feel bad about that in the least!

Can you tell me what your next step is? Also, how much involvement do you feel you will have in this? How much time per week will it take to organize and run this? Do you feel you will find a benefit out of this that will make it all worth it to you?

[musician/lawnman]

Well I'm going to continue to follow up with those that attended & try to get them on board. I submitte my membership application & annual dues last night. I will try to continue to generate intrest from other lco's . Hopefully set up another meeting like this & get a better turn out. I don't know how much time per week it will take...?

I think being a member will certainly have it's benifits from a public & proffesional standpoint. If absolutly nothing else it adds another level of credibility. but I think it can & should be much more than that.

As far as being a good coordinator.... Yeah, it's kind of in my blood line. Much like my old man was, I tend to grab the bull by the horns and take control of almost anything I decide to get involved in which is why I've always quickly climbed to a management position in every job I've ever really done. The ingrained business owner mentality is a blessing & a curse though.... I'd sweat every detail of running the several auto shops I've managed, service departments, construction crews & job sites, project management, health & life insurance, etc. and granted the high performance reflected well on me but I was never the guy at the top really reaping the benefits of my hard work.

So, now I am. It just made sense.

[Steve]

I know you can make this happen. It will just take time to build.

Have you thought of other ideas to draw in potential members? Could you have a swap meet on the days you host a meeting? Could you allow other lawn care businesses to sell their used equipment in the parking lot of where ever you host the next show?

What other ideas can you think of to attract new members?

Also, will you put together a website to promote this?

Do you want to add something into your signature to attract florida lawn care business owners?

[musician/lawnman]

All god ideas Steve, Thank you.
Anything I put into this is on a voulenteer basis, I will do all that I can though, but family, & my business are well above it on the to-do lists. I will wait to gain my membership at this point & then kick back into gear....

I probably won't start a whol new site (at least not on my dime) but I will probably help them update their 10 year old page. I am also seriously considering joining the state board for the association.

[Steve]

Great!

I think this, along with everything else in the world, needs critical mass to be successful. Or in other words, you need to chip away at it until you get a large enough group where others think this is the place to be, this is the group to be with.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]I am also seriously considering joining the state board for the association.

Can you tell us a little about what this is and what it will do for you?