The GLFE is one of my favorite industry events for both personal and professional reasons. As a vendor it is definitely an outstanding opportunity to meet and spend time with enthusiastic and forward-looking florists. Personally it is a great chance to see and catch up with old friends.
This year was special for FloristWare in that, for the first time ever, we sponsored design (as opposed to business) content. It was provided by one of our favorite clients – the extremely talented Doug Bates of Designs by Vogts in Sturgis MI. Doug delivered an amazing main stage design show on Friday night (the people in attendance rushed the stage afterwards to get a better look at his designs) and a terrific hands-on session on Sunday. In addition to being an incredibly talented florist Doug and Karen (his wife) are also very nice people and it was great to be able to work with them on this.
Rick Rivers of Florist Bootcamp also presented two great sessions on building corporate accounts. Rick is so good that some people I know went to both his sessions. It was the same content but so good that they wanted to see it twice!
I'm already looking forward to next year.
There are many different accreditations, certifications and designations a florist can receive and use after their name. A new guide explains all of them.
The Retail Florists Alliance is a new regional organization for florists in the Northeast. What about options for florists in other areas?
The Michigan Floral Association is a great organization with a fantastic new website. Here are some of the things that make their new site so excellent.
AIFD or the American Institute of Floral Designers is an amazing organization that has worked diligently to advance the art of professional floral design through education, service and leadership for almost 50 years.
The 2014 AIFD National Symposium in Chicago was very special for some great clients (and very nice people).
New content on how florists can use advanced pricing strategies to increase the volume and profitability of their event business is coming to the GLFE and WUMFA Annual Conventions in 2015.
It was a pleasure to attend and participate in the FSFA convention in Weston Florida and meet the amazing volunteers that put it all together. people that attended the session on how advanced pricing techniques can be used to increase sales and profitability in retail floral.
The final FSFA schedule was recently released. The FloristWare session on new pricing techniques for retails florists is scheduled for 10:00 AM the morning of Sunday June 8.
I'll be presenting a Beyond Cost Plus session on new approaches to pricing and quoting events at the 2014 FSFA Annual Convention.
Nancy Butler of Above All Else has very generously made the highlights of her marketing sessions at the 2014 Northeast Floral Expo - with great tips and tactics for retail florists - available on the FloristWare website.
