At Your Doorstep – Track

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18
9:30 AM – 4:50 PM
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS

New Plant Introductions

Panel Discussion

North Carolina is known for new plants whether by strategic breeding, nursery selection, or plant hunting in other countries. A panel of industrymen will highlight some of their latest introductions available for the green industry. Each speaker gets 5 minutes only, so brace yourself for a roller coaster ride of great plants.

What Millennials Want from You as a Customer or Employee

Ashlee Bolding, MMI Public Relations

Join Ashlee as she shares research about what Millennial consumers are looking for, whether it’s as your Customer or your Employee. In this session, we’ll explore what Millennials want from green horticulture and NCNLA’s creative response to how this group interacts with our industry.

Marketing to Generation Me

Brienne Arthur, Brie Grows

‘Generation Me’ will inspire everyone to take the lifestyle of gardening to the next level! Learn from Brie as she discusses opportunities for garden centers to reinvent themselves for the modern consumer. She explains strategies to connect with and retain millennial-aged customers who have diverse motivations and values. From foodscape design techniques to modifying the product line that supports a gardener’s lifestyle, Brie has a fresh take to enhance your relationship with a new generation.

Is Green Infrastructure a Marketing Opportunity for You?

Debbie Hamrick, NC Farm Bureau

Participants will gain deeper understanding of the positive role that plants play in urban landscapes based on scientific research; Become aware of the regulatory and economic drivers of green infrastructure implementation in urban regions across the US and in North Carolina; Gain understanding of the role they play in implementing green infrastructure in managed urban spaces; and be challenged and inspired to develop language and thought patterns to enable cross-disciplinary understanding and communication for the purpose of better green infrastructure outcomes.

Your Website – A Critical Link Between Your Business and More Business

Christian Evans, Evans Alliance

If there is one cornerstone you need to build a better business…it’s your website. Learn the secrets to launching a best-in-class website that will “WOW” visitors and place your business heads and shoulders above the competition. This is a must-see session.

Increasing Annual Retail and Wholesale Sales by Building “Shoulder” Perennial Business

Greg Soles, Darwin Perennials

Historically our industry has relied on spring sales to make or break our fiscal year. With improved breeding, perennials are reliably expanding the retail selling season. We will show how perennials can get the selling season started earlier, how perennials can build a summer sales bridge from Memorial Day to Labor Day and that FALL really is for planting. We will share new production methodologies that can shorten crop times and improve profitability while building that bridge.