I have attended the Green & Growin’ show, hosted by NC Nursery & Landscape Association, almost every year of my life. My earliest memories as an attendee begin with me not being tall enough to see over the edge of the tables in the tradeshow as I scoured the exhibits in search of candy and trinkets to fill my bag. In those days, it rivaled Halloween with the amount of candy and entertainment it could provide. As our parents conducted business, Matt Bland and myself were always half an aisle ahead of them, with our “trick or treat” bags in tow.
This conference and tradeshow is a place where I can get all of my needed CEU’s for license renewals, while catching up with co-workers & industry friends, and seeing what’s new in our burgeoning industry. It is a chance to catch up with folks who I may only see once per year, and rekindle friendships that span decades. Our industry is nice to belong to because of the good people and beautiful plants we get to work with day in and day out and this perennial event reminds me of how much I love it!
Here are a few highlights (photos follow):
- Bryce Lane giving a talk on gardening in a changing climate, during the first day of the conference.
- Jason Boyd engaging educational conference attendees at our Ruby Sponsor booth.
- David Whittaker from EquiScape Business Advisors, LLC delivering a talk on Excellence in Finance and Accounting.
- Melinda Knuth, PhD presenting the findings of most recent Green Industry Economic Impact Study, which illustrates ongoing industry growth and demand throughout our region.
- Liz Vetter, Phillip K., and James Gorzynski CEPA® deliver a presentation titled Exiting 101, in which they discuss trends in small business brokerage.
- Grady Miller, PhD delivers an excellent summary of Soil-Plant-Water relationships.
- Rayne Gibson shares his own very moving story of lessons learned in his talk titled Passion is Not Leadership.
- Trent Nelson provided a great introductory overview of pond management and the relationship with turf and plant health.
- Stopping by the booth of Jake A Parrott Insurance Agency Inc. to say hello to Mr. Jake and share stories from the last five decades of attending the tradeshow. As he told me, “… we used to say here come those two Bland boys, you better watch your pens and notepads.” We shared some fried peanuts and of course I managed to abscond one of his ink pens just for old time sake.
- Sharing a hug with two of my favorite Green Industry educators, Bryce Lane and Jerry Pittman. Without Bryce, I would have probably never graduated college, nor would I have traveled across the UK visiting botanical gardens 26 years ago.
Special thanks go to Katie Bennett and her team who lead our trade association and host the show each January. Between the efforts of staff, board members, volunteers, and educators, everything flowed smoothly for attendees. Kudos everyone!
Click or tap on photos to see the full image.