The Garden Centre Symposium is a matchless learning and networking opportunity for garden centre professionals.  As in every other business and industry today, survival alone is not enough and every potential growth opportunity must be uncovered and explored.

Symposium Summary

A powerful lineup of industry experts will present information seminars and panel discussions on subjects that are critically important to garden centres and nurseries. With an overall theme of ‘Sell, Sell, Sell’, these leaders will discuss and reinforce key elements of business and current trends in the marketplace that will have you filled with many new ideas for improving both your top and your bottom lines.  Attendees will learn about:

§   Tips for marketing to Generation X & Y customers

§   How to boost business with powerful and easy marketing ideas

§   How other independent garden centres are succeeding

§   Squeezing out those extra sales from your current set up

§   Sales techniques for ALL of your employees

Who should attend:

§   Garden centre and nursery owners and managers

§   Retail florist and gift stores

§   Front line staff

§   Sales and marketing personnel

Click here to register now for the Garden Centre Symposium

Speaker Profiles

Tom Shay of Profits Plus, Tampa, Florida is a fourth-generation business owner, author, columnist, business coach and speaker. With over 25 years of frontline experience in management and ownership of small businesses, he is renowned for his ability to share and teach from experience–not from theory!

Kip Creel is the president of Standpoint Market Research a well-known leader in the home and garden industry. For nearly a decade, it has been the industry’s “go to” source for solutions and statistics that keep it well informed and up-to-date.  Kip is a regular speaker at industry conferences and his continual independent research efforts are highly valued in the home and garden industry.

Jeff Morey produces the popular Chicago Independent Garden Centre Show and publishes several industry magazines including Nursery Retailer.  He knows that independent garden centre retailers cannot allow themselves to be comfortably content. His messages will reinforce the need for the industry to keep pushing the edge of the envelope with great merchandising, superior product selection and uncompromising quality.

Sponsor of the Garden Centre Symposium Speaker Program

Registration

Member Pricing                  $ 145 until October 5   $ 175 after October 5

Non-Member Pricing            $ 165 until October 5   $ 195 after October 5

Bonus Discount- Register more than one person from your company and receive a $25 discount for each additional employee. 

Click here to register now for the Garden Centre Symposium

Dates and Hours

Monday, October 19, 2009, 8:30 AM to 6 PM, Toronto Congress Centre, Toronto, Ontario

The Program Agenda

8:30 AM – 9:00 AM                      Coffee

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM                     Understanding Generation X & Y – Kip Creel & Jeff Morey

10:00 AM – 10:15 AM                    Coffee and Refreshments

10:15 AM – 12:00 PM                    Power Promoting – Tom Shay

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM                      Lunch and Garden Centre Awards

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM                       The Strength of Independent Garden Centres-Kip Creel & Jeff Morey

2:30 PM – 3:45 PM                       Team UP for Success – Tom Shay

3:45 PM – 4:00 PM                       Coffee and Refreshments

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM                       Squeezing Out the Extras – Panel Discussion

5:00 PM – 6:30 PM                       Networking Reception and Sneak Peek

Session Details

1. Understanding Gen X & Y – Kip and Jeff will use their research to show how the garden centre industry is evolving and with changing demographics, they now need to rethink the way they market and present to customers.

2. Power Promoting – To help attendees learn valuable marketing techniques, Tom Shay will line the walls with posters, invite attendees to pick their favourites and then explain how each idea can drive customers to their business.  As Tom says ‘anyone can advertise, but it takes a pro to promote’.

3. The Strength of Independent Garden Centres – Jeff and Kip will talk about the strength of the independent garden centre and discuss the American experience in battling big-box retail and the current recession.

4. Team UP for Success! – After inventory, wages are the largest expense a business has and for most it is the area that can easily “make or break” them. Tom will share the techniques he used to create a team of employees that were second to none. From creating job descriptions to incentive pay programs, he will cover all the points which are crucial to turning your employees into a team that your competition is envious of.

5. Squeezing Out the Extras – This series of panel presentations will cover some ideas for maximizing your existing resources and product lines.  Each 10 minute topic discussion will be lead by a retailer who will share their successful experiences with you.