Los Angeles, Calif. – Facility managers from across the nation gathered in Salt Lake City in mid-October for the annual International Facility Managers Association (IFMA) World Workplace Conference and Expo, the largest gathering of its sort in North America. Making its presence known at the conference was Plants at Work, the national education campaign educating end-users on the benefits of plants in the workplace.
Plants at Work reported an excellent response to its organization, returning with over 90 new leads for the program's sponsors. "We left Salt Lake with 12 percent more leads than were retrieved from last year’s show effort, many from major corporations such as Boeing, Kaiser Permanante, the American Red Cross, Hallmark Cards, Canon and World Bank," says McRae Anderson, president of McCaren Designs and director of Plants at Work.
"These leads were meticulously sorted by geographic region and cross referenced with the Plants at Work sponsor grid, matching every lead with our providers within a hundred mile radius. The information was then compiled into customized letters, bridging the gap between interest and industry," Anderson continued. "We have a system in place to follow up on every lead, providing them with the resources necessary to incorporate Plants at Work's message into their facility."
Besides its presence on the expo floor, Plants at Work was also the topic of an educational presentation. On Tuesday, Oct. 19, Anderson and M.J. Gilhooley, media relations director for Plants at Work and president of Gilhooley Consulting, presented a compelling Power Point presentation, quantifying the dollars and cents argument behind maintaining (or enhancing) an interior plant program. A portion of this educational session was sponsored by Planterra, West Bloomfield, Mich.
Presenting to a standing-room-only crowd, the presenters left the session feeling encouraged. "The PowerPoint presentation received positive feedback, with nearly all attendees requesting additional information and copies of the specific slides; overall it was a very successful session," Anderson says.
Next week, Plants at Work will be responding to an invitation from the USGBC's GreenBuild Expo, with McRae Anderson presenting an approved poster on plant benefits to this select end-user group in Portland, Ore.
Plants at Work is an industrywide educational and marketing campaign disseminating global research about the quantifiable benefits of live plants in the building environment. For more information or to find out more about sponsorship opportunities please visit www.plantsatwork.org.