Responding to retailers’ quest to grow their event business, the Society of American Florists has tapped Midwest florist Jerome Raska, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, to headline SAF’s 1-Day Profit Blast, in Austin, Texas, on February 27.

Raska will share the design and business practices that have contributed to the shop’s steady growth in event work at Blumz…by JR Designs in Detroit and Ferndale, Michigan, where events comprise about 40 percent of total sales.

We know the event category is an important growth center for many businesses, but it’s also a very competitive category,” said SAF CEO Peter Moran. “Jerome is a gifted designer and speaker, and he knows how to grow this category, so we’re fortunate to have him in Austin for this event.”

According to Raska, the well-known phrase “leaving money on the table” can have both metaphorical and literal significance. “With weddings, there are so many pieces of the puzzle that florists overlook,” he said, pointing specifically to elements such as linens, chargers, place cards and favors.

Taking the time to “detail the table,” as Raska puts it, boosts a prospective client’s confidence and “vastly increases” your sales potential. “Brides are interested in the overall ‘look’ of their wedding,” he said. “When they see a table with all the little details in place, it makes an impression. The completed table is what gets them excited and ready to book with you.”

In addition to the small, non-floral details, Raska will be showing a variety of ceremony and reception flowers featuring the kinds of labor-friendly extra touches that immediately add to the perceived value and profitability of the design.

Raska’s presentation, “Successful Events: From Concept to Completion,” also dives into the advantages of partnerships with other event professionals. “You need them — for referrals, of course — but also to secure various products and services you can offer the client in a lump décor package.” His session will also address marketing to the recently engaged, communicating with brides (and their mothers), creating a concept, staffing for big productions, and charging appropriately for labor.

“Think of it as a 90-minute speed course on events,” Raska said. Speed learning is the theme of this eight-hour conference, sponsored by the Bill Doran Company. In addition to Raska’s event program, attendees will get practical technology, sales and money management guidance in three other programs:

• Tech Strategies to Capture More Online Sales, by SAF Chief Information Officer Renato Sogueco

• Treasure Hunt: Finding Your Hidden Profits, by Derrick Myers, CPA, CFP, PFCI, vice president of Crockett, Myers & Associates, Inc.

• CSI: Flower Shop — Live! by Tim Huckabee, AIFSE, president of FloralStrategies, LLC.

In between sessions, attendees will have opportunities to network and peruse a supplier showcase. SAF launched its 1-Day Profit Blast three years ago as a way to make the kind of “high quality education” floral industry members enjoy at the organization’s annual convention more accessible to more members, both from a cost and time perspective, said Moran.

Due to popular demand and a new partnership with a few wholesale members, SAF is bringing its 1-Day Profit Blast to two more cities in 2016. Denver Wholesale Florist will sponsor an SAF 1-Day Profit Blast on April 16 in Cincinnati  and on October 23 in Denver.  For registration details and more logistical information, visit https://safnow.org/events-education/1-day-profit-blast/.