[EDITOR’S NOTE: The Green Industry Conference will be held Nov. 4-7, 2000, in Indianapolis and adds a new element this year with interiorscape sessions, attendees and exhibitors. The following article is reprinted from the November 2000 Lawn & Landscape Expo Extra issue distributed at this year’s Green Industry Expo, Nov. 4-7 in Indianapolis, as a preview of the show.]
INDIANAPOLIS – Over the last 11 years, the Green Industry Conference (formerly known as the Green Industry Expo until this year) has steadily grown into the lawn and landscape industry’s only national conference and trade show. This year brings a new element to the show, however, as the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) has elected to hold its interior and exterior annual conferences simultaneously for the first time.
Aside from added show-floor traffic, the most obvious signs of the move are the "Interior Showcase" portion of the exhibit hall, where the interiorscape exhibitors are located and the new track of educational sessions focused on interior-related topics.
ALCA held an independent interior landscape conference each summer until January 1998, when it scheduled its conference in conjunction with the Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition. Now, however, ALCA decided the increasing number of similarities between its interior and exterior members warranted a combined event.
"The synergy between the two group is more similar than I think many of us realize," noted Chris Raimondi, president, Raimondi Horticultural Group, Ridgewood, N.J., and a member of ALCA’s Interior Landscape Committee (ILC). "The committee looked a lot at how many ALCA members offer both interior and exterior services, and there are more than we thought. We really are all horticulturists, and I believe the line between interior and exterior is erasing."
| At A Glance |
For the first time, ALCA's Green Industry Conference features an entire track of sessions dedicated to the interiorscape industry. Here is the schedule for the interior-specific seminars. SATURDAY, NOV. 4 SUNDAY, NOV. 5 MONDAY, NOV. 6 TUESDAY, NOV. 7 |
A BROAD PERSPECTIVE. Raimondi and fellow ILC member Mike Senneff, president, Plant Interscapes, San Antonio, Texas, outlined a number of factors that convinced ALCA of the benefits of making this move, and they were quick to point out that they think interiorscapers will enjoy a number of benefits from the joint conference.
For example, interior attendees can visit with exhibitors whose products or services cater to both interior and exterior professionals but who haven’t participated in the interior-only events in the past. "This show offers an economy of scale for vendors, so we’ll see more folks like Novartis, Bayer and numerous insurance companies who we haven’t been able to visit with before," Raimondi commented.
Senneff observed that some interiorscapers have expressed concern that the interior industry will get an insignificant part of the overall trade show and conference since the total GIC has drawn upwards of 5,000 attendees in years past. "This is actually a tremendous opportunity for interiorscapers to get together with horticulture business people and share like experiences," he noted. "Leadership issues, looking at retaining key people, benefit packages, growing sales, reaching customers and good marketing are all issues that are common to interior and exterior businesses."
Raimondi also noted that there are some areas where exterior contractors can offer valuable advice to interiorscapers because the exterior companies have been dealing with some challenges that are newer to the interior industry. "The core purpose of ALCA is to help companies manage their growth in this industry, and many of the larger, exterior companies have that figured out, but the smaller and medium-sized interior companies are just starting to see what business management can do for their companies," he said. "Another example is the Hispanic labor force. The exterior companies have been dealing with that for years, and the interior companies are just starting to explore it."
At the same time, interiorscapers will have access to more educational sessions than ever before, and the registration cost is actually lower than it has been for previous ALCA interior-only conferences. Exterior contractors also benefit by having the opportunity to learn about the interior market, visit with interior suppliers and network with interiorscapers.
The author is Editor of Lawn & Landscape and Interior Business magazines.