The Mid-America Horticultural Trade Show (Mid-Am) turns 30 this year – and the show has grown up quite a bit in past years, propelling its attendance from less than 3,000 in 1973 to the 10,000 visitors expected to attend this year’s event. The show will be held at Chicago’s Navy Pier Wednesday, Jan. 15 through Friday, Jan. 17.
Attracting professionals from each green industry niche – from landscape contractors to growers, retailers and suppliers – the show will provide a trade show floor crowded with an expected 600 exhibitors and a Midwinter Conference with educational tracts focusing on landscape, nursery, retail and management issues.
This year, conference attendees can look forward to a landscape maintenance issues track presented entirely in Spanish, as well as tracks that explore tree planting and workforce management issues.
“The Midwinter Conference continues to be a valuable part of the Mid-Am experience,” said Mid-Am Managing Director Rand Baldwin in a July 31 release. “This year we have added many new sessions to the program that will further enhance the total trade show experience.”
While attendees buff up their knowledge, students might choose to browse the Career Center, which will be open Jan. 16, in the Grand Ballroom. Industry representatives will conduct preliminary interviews for summer jobs, internships and full- and part-time positions during the informal fair.
Mid-Am is sponsored by the Illinois Nurserymen’s Association, the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association and the Wisconsin Landscape Federation and is endorsed by the Indiana Nursery & Landscape Association, the Iowa Nursery & Landscape Association, the Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Association and the Nebraska Nursery & Landscape Association.
For more information, call 847/526-2010 or email mail@midam.org.
The author is Managing Editor – Special Projects for Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at khampshire@lawnandlandscape.com.