OK heres the thing with SIMA. It may take a while to see a return on investment. I joined in Feb of 1999, and went to the second annual symp. in Pittsburg PA. I have to say that I learned more in three days than I did in 10 yrs of plowing. After that three days, we also did a trade show booth for SIMA in Sept that year. There we met 3 other SIMA members, and last winter we did the NJ landscape show and met other SIMA members. From these people cam experience and knowledge along with product info and sales. Now I have to say that from a learning point of view, we didnt learn as much this last year in Portland Maine, but we made even more contacts, and it helped us further our business this season. Also from the last two years we have raised the professionalism with our company towards snow removal, and it is now paying off. I can say with a certainty that all the contracts we signed this year( and they are about 6 new ones) are directly or at least somewhat influenced by ouyr association with SIMA. And I cant say enough good things about about the Exec director, she bends over backwards for all the members, and the board does as well.
So even if you dont see imediate results, hang around for a while, and I think you will be surprised at what you get out of SIMA.
Dino