Stop by the SAF Registration Desk to pick up your registration materials and purchase tickets for guests to attend meal functions and optional events. Check out the Resource Center for SAF products and services. 

Speaker: Talmage McLaurin, AIFD, Esmeralda Farms

Join us as we kick off convention with a look at the trends shaping floral in the year ahead. Trend forecaster Talmage McLaurin, AIFD returns to unveil the colors, styles and design influences set to define 2027—and what they mean for your business.

Drawing from decades of experience translating global trends in home décor and fashion into floral, Talmage will connect the dots between shifting consumer preferences and what customers will be asking for next. You’ll leave with fresh ideas for product development, merchandising and marketing—so you can stay ahead of demand and sell with confidence in the year ahead.

Lunch will be served.

Browse through dozens of new products and services and get to know the vendors who can answer your questions and point you toward profitable opportunities for your business.

Back by popular demand!  Every 30 minutes during the Expo, a HIGH-VALUE prize from suppliers will be given away.  

Suppliers and Growers: Want to exhibit? For details, visit: safnow.org/partnerships or contact Maura Kenny

New to convention?  Meet up with other first timers and mix and mingle with SAF’s volunteer leadership at this networking reception.

Reconnect with friends and make new ones at the opening reception hosted by SAF President Lori Wheat, AAF.

Stop by the SAF Registration Desk to pick up your registration materials and purchase tickets for guests to attend meal functions and optional events. Check out the Resource Center for SAF products and services. 

Speakers: Mark Subel and Ryan Whiteside, Two Wheels Marketing

When a customer searches “florist near me,” who shows up first — you, or someone pretending to be you? For many retail florists, the biggest competitor online isn’t the shop across town. It’s deceptive order gatherers using aggressive search marketing and misleading local branding to intercept customers before they ever reach a brick-and-mortar florist.

In this strategy-packed session, you’ll learn how to own your local market online, so when customers search for flowers in your city, your shop dominates the results. We’ll break down digital tactics to outrank deceptive listings, strengthen local visibility and capture more direct orders. From Google Business Profile optimization and high-performing local landing pages to the evolving world of SEO, AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and paid search, this session shows you how to send clear signals to search engines — and AI-powered search tools — that you are the trusted florist in your community. Attendees will leave with a clear, actionable digital strategy to own their zip code, attract more direct customers and protect their market online.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to optimize your Google Business Profile and website to dominate local search and map results
• How to build effective city and neighborhood landing pages and use SEO/AEO/GEO strategies so your shop appears in both traditional search and AI-generated answers
• When and how to use paid search ads and brand protection strategies to capture high-intent customers and prevent third-party sites from intercepting your traffic

Speaker: Joe Aledguer, SAF, Cameron Pappas, AAF, Norton’s Florist                                        

Imagine having an in-store tool that could help you understand your POS system better, troubleshoot problems with your cooler, keep a maintenance log for your delivery fleet, or instantly pull up the right product information while you’re talking to a customer. Instead of digging through binders, PDFs and emails — you simply ask a question and get an answer. It’s possible with the right AI systems in place. By organizing the documents and information your business already has into one AI tool, you can create a private AI “brain” for your shop — a searchable knowledge hub built from equipment manuals, POS guides, employee handbooks, delivery procedures, vendor catalogs, design recipes and training materials.

In this session, we’ll show how to use one AI tool to organize your shop knowledge and turn it into a practical assistant that helps owners and staff find answers faster, train employees more easily and make better use of the information already sitting in their business.

Attendees will leave with a clear blueprint for building their own AI-powered knowledge system — one that can save time, reduce frustration and help every member of the team work smarter.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to create a central “AI brain” for your shop using manuals, SOPs, POS documentation and equipment guides so staff can quickly troubleshoot problems and find answers
• How to build AI-powered product and sales references using vendor catalogs, product lists and flower information to help sales teams answer customer questions and recommend products faster
• How to use AI to organize training materials, policies and business records so onboarding new employees and managing shop knowledge becomes dramatically easier

Speaker: Christina Brown, Roses are Red Florist

Does every decision in your business funnel back to you? Are problems escalating instead of getting solved? Are your managers truly leading — or just supervising tasks? As floral businesses grow, a critical leadership layer emerges between ownership and the front line: managers responsible for translating strategy into daily execution. But strong designers, salespeople, and production staff don’t automatically become strong leaders. Without clear authority, expectations, and business understanding, managers struggle to make decisions — and owners stay stuck in the middle of everything.

At the same time, this gap has real implications for retention. When employees can clearly see how they can grow within your company — and are supported in developing leadership skills — they’re far more likely to stay and invest in your business long-term. This session will show you how to build managers who can truly run parts of the business by exploring practical ways to define authority, strengthen decision-making, and help managers connect daily operations to overall business performance — while also identifying and developing the next generation of leaders within your organization.

Owners are encouraged to attend with their managers or rising leaders — or send them on their own to gain the tools and perspective needed to strengthen this essential leadership layer.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to define clear roles, authority, and accountability for department and branch managers
• Practical ways to help managers understand the operational and financial drivers of the business
• Communication systems that keep owners, managers, and frontline staff aligned
• How to identify and develop emerging leaders to support long-term growth and retention

Speaker: Tina Coker, AIFD, Designs of the Times

Rising flower, labor and container costs don’t have to mean sacrificing beautiful designs or healthy profits. In this fast-paced Experience Zone session led by Tina Coker, AIFD, you will see popular floral arrangements be reimagined using smarter recipes, strategic substitutions and creative design techniques that maintain their visual impact while improving profitability. Walk away with practical ideas you can immediately apply in your own shop.

What You’ll Learn:

• Identify cost-saving flower, foliage and container substitutions that preserve the overall look and value of an arrangement.
• Apply product engineering techniques to improve margins without increasing prices.
• Adjust recipes strategically to reduce costs while maintaining the emotional impact customers expect.

Join members of PFCI for a tour of the Outstanding Varieties Competition to get more information and insights about the entries.

Speaker: Sharon McGukin, AAF, AIFD, PFCI

Weddings are evolving, and so are the designs, color palettes and expectations that come with them. This session brings the latest wedding trends to life, from centerpieces and ceremony structures to personals, with a focus on what today’s couples are actually asking for. Through real design examples, you’ll explore how to translate trend-forward ideas into work that is both beautiful and profitable. Walk away with fresh inspiration and practical ways to bring these looks into your own wedding offerings.

You’ll Learn:

• The latest trends in wedding flowers, color palettes and design styles — and how they’re showing up across personals, centerpieces and large-scale installations
• How to adapt trend-driven designs to fit different budgets while maintaining visual impact
• How to position, price and sell trend-forward wedding work with confidence

Speaker: Lisa Hayes Holmes, Tiger Lily Florist

Floral businesses don’t just have a training problem — they have a time problem. With constant seasonal hiring and fast-paced workflows, “train as you go” often leads to inconsistent results, overwhelmed managers, and costly mistakes during your busiest moments.

This session shows how to replace reactive training with a clear, role-based system that gets employees up to speed faster — without adding more to your plate. You’ll learn how to structure training around defined milestones, timelines and expectations, and how to use AI and video tools to make training more scalable, repeatable and efficient.

In this hands-on session, you won’t just learn the framework — you’ll start building your own. Through guided workbook exercises, you’ll map out a training plan for key roles in your business, leaving with a practical system you can implement immediately. Whether you’re onboarding holiday hires or developing long-term staff, this session will help you create training that actually works — consistently, efficiently, and at scale.

What You’ll Learn:

• Build a clear, role-based training structure with defined stages, timelines, and expectations—especially for seasonal and high-turnover roles.
• Learn how to use AI and simple video tools to standardize training, reduce repetition and improve consistency across your team.
• Identify early performance gaps and coaching opportunities before they impact customer experience or revenue.

Speaker: Michael Pugh, AAF, Pugh’s Flowers, Keith Rockcastle, AAF, Rockcastle Florist

Florists know the drill: Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and the winter holidays bring a tidal wave of orders — and then January, July, and late summer hit like a financial drought. This rollercoaster creates one of the biggest challenges floral businesses face today: How do you maintain stable, predictable cash flow when most of your revenue arrives only a few times a year? This session provides a practical, step-by-step roadmap to help florists smooth out the dramatic highs and lows in their sales cycle.

This isn’t a sit-and-listen session. Through guided worksheets and real-world cash flow scenarios, you’ll start building a plan tailored to your business before you even leave the room.

What You’ll Learn:

• Pinpoint where your cash actually goes—and why post-holiday “profit” doesn’t always translate to money in the bank
• Work through real-life cash flow scenarios so you can spot (and prevent) crunch periods before they hit
• Map your own seasonal sales cycle and identify where revenue gaps—and opportunities—really exist

Speakers: Mike Black, Jet Fresh Flowers, Mimi Martinez-Pacheco, Jet Fresh Flowers

Thinking about applying for PFCI? Join us in the Experience Zone to hear from two of PFCI’s newest inductees as they share their firsthand experiences, practical tips and lessons learned. This entertaining session will help demystify the process and show that earning the PFCI designation is more achievable than you may think. Bring your questions, connect with current members, and leave feeling informed, inspired, and ready to take the next step.

Speaker: Megan Caird Carboni, Por La Mar Nursery, Carmen Higuera, Natural Flowers, Lisa Nason, Kennicott Brothers,  Monty Pereira, AAF, Watanabe Floral

Customer expectations may be evolving everywhere — but how are successful florists adapting? In this interactive breakout session, three industry leaders — including retailers and a supplier or wholesaler — share real-world examples of how their businesses are responding to rising expectations around speed, convenience, experience and flexibility.

Through practical case studies, panelists will discuss the operational changes, systems and service models they’ve implemented to meet today’s demands while protecting margins and team capacity.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to design systems that support faster service and last-minute demand
• How to adapt payment, ordering, and fulfillment to increase convenience
• How to set smart service boundaries that balance customer delight with profitability

Speaker: Kevin McCarthy, Family Flowers, Danny Sanchez, South Florals Group

For many successful retailers, the next phase of growth isn’t opening another department — it’s acquiring another business. But not every opportunity is the right one. In this interactive session, experienced operators share how they evaluate acquisition opportunities, structure deals and integrate new shops without disrupting profitability. Attendees will analyze three real-world scenarios — buying a competitor, acquiring a customer base and expanding into a new location — and vote on whether they would pursue each opportunity before hearing expert insights. Through practical frameworks and peer discussion, you’ll gain tools to approach acquisitions strategically and confidently.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to evaluate different types of acquisition opportunities
• How to identify hidden risks and deal-breakers
• How to plan for successful integration after the purchase

Flowers deserve center stage—and the right armature helps them shine. Join renowned floral educator, artist, and author Sue McLeary for an inspiring live demonstration and hands-on workshop exploring creative, approachable armature techniques that showcase today’s most exciting flower varieties. Using innovative blooms from Ball SB Cut Flowers and fresh flowers from Allure Farms, Sue will demonstrate how simple wire structures can add movement, support and artistry while allowing the flowers to remain the focal point.

Then it’s your turn. You’ll create your own floating flower crown using Sue’s signature techniques and leave with a beautiful wearable design, along with ideas you can adapt for weddings, events, retail sales and everyday floral work.

Whether you’re looking to elevate your design style or discover fresh ways to feature premium blooms, you’ll leave with practical techniques, creative inspiration and an armature you’ll be excited to recreate.

Additional registration fee: $74.99
Capacity: Limited to 80 participants.

What can happen in 60 seconds?

As it turns out… quite a lot.

Join your floral industry friends for an evening of quick-fire challenges, unexpected nominations, and plenty of laughs. Inspired by the one-minute challenge games you’ve seen on TV, The 60-Second Showdown pits the floral industry’s three segments—retailers, wholesalers/importers, and growers/manufacturers—against one another in a fast-paced battle for bragging rights.

Each challenge lasts just 60 seconds, but the laughs (and stories) will last all convention long. Cheer on your segment, nominate a colleague, or find yourself unexpectedly in the spotlight as contestants put their skills, luck, and composure to the test.

No special skills required—just a sense of humor and a willingness to see what can happen when the clock starts ticking.

Best of all, every challenge helps support SAF-PAC, strengthening SAF’s ability to build relationships on Capitol Hill and advocate for the policies that help the floral industry thrive.

Because sometimes one minute is all it takes to become a convention legend.

Tickets cost $150 and can be purchased at the registration desk during the convention

Join your Next Gen peers for Happy Hour, an evening of connection, conversation, and celebration with the industry’s emerging leaders. Dress in your favorite all-white attire and enjoy signature cocktails, light bites, and a vibrant atmosphere designed for networking, building new relationships, and celebrating the future of the floral industry!

Stop by the SAF Registration Desk to pick up your registration materials and purchase tickets for guests to attend meal functions and optional events. Check out the Resource Center for SAF products and services. 

Speakers: Lori Wheat, AAF, Lafayette Florist, Keith Rockcastle, Rockcastle Florist 

SAF leaders give the lowdown on what SAF is doing for you — and the industry – and how it will continue to meet the challenges of the industry in this ever-changing business environment.

Speaker: Mike Lee

Get a modern leadership playbook for navigating constant change — by cutting through distraction, managing burnout, and showing up with clarity, purpose, and presence. This keynote is designed to equip leaders with purpose-driven, future-focused, mindful, and people-centered leadership skills to meet today’s challenges while preparing for what’s ahead. Grounded in research-backed competencies, it explores how strong leadership can elevate engagement, attract and retain top talent, enhance well-being, and foster a culture of belonging. Attendees will leave with actionable insights to help their organizations sustain high performance, drive growth, and thrive in an evolving economy.

Exclusive sponsor of prize money Smithers-Oasis, Event Coordinated by PFCI

Some of the nation’s best floral designers are given the same flowers, foliage and supplies — and just two hours to create designs based on a surprise theme. The winner receives the Sylvia Cup trophy, $3,000 and a complimentary registration to next year’s SAF Annual Convention. First Runner-Up wins $500; Second Runner-Up gets $250. Winners will be announced at the Stars of the Industry Awards Experience.

Designers: Want to compete? Contact Celeste O’Keefe with questions.

Speaker: Dan McManus, TeamFloral

You’re already surrounded by data — POS reports, sales numbers, labor costs, delivery metrics, website analytics and customer behavior insights — but the real challenge isn’t access to information. It’s knowing what to do with it. Which numbers actually matter? What trends deserve your attention? And how can you turn all that information into smarter business decisions instead of just more spreadsheets to review?

In this session, you’ll learn how to make your data work for you. Discover how AI can help you quickly summarize reports, identify patterns, flag potential problems and uncover hidden opportunities — whether that means improving pricing strategies, increasing website conversions, tightening labor costs or gaining better control of your COGS and profit margins.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to use AI to quickly summarize reports and uncover trends you might otherwise miss

• The key retail metrics that impact your profitability

• How to turn your POS and financial reports into clear, actionable decisions

Speakers: Chris Drummond, AAF, PFCI, Plaza Flowers, Charles Ingrum, AAF, Dr. Delphinium, Renato Sogueco, AAF, PFCI, Sogueco Consulting LLC

Digital marketing is essential for today’s brick-and-mortar florists — but too often it feels like a gamble. You’re asked to spend money on ads, SEO or social media without a clear understanding of what you should be getting in return — or how to tell if it’s working. This session is designed to change that.

Built specifically for florists, this session breaks down how to work effectively with third-party marketing partners — from choosing the right fit to holding them accountable for results. You’ll learn what digital marketing can (and can’t) realistically deliver, how to define success before you spend a dollar, and how to make sure your agency truly understands the unique dynamics of a floral business.

Managing your digital marketing in house? These same principles will help you evaluate your own efforts more strategically so you can make smarter decisions, track what’s working, and invest your time and budget where it matters most.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to set clear goals and budgets so marketing becomes a strategic investment — not a leap of faith
• How to understand what data and reporting you should be receiving — and how to tell if it’s meaningful
• How to evaluate performance and ROI with confidence, so you know what’s working, what’s not, and where to adjust

Speaker: Lori Wilson, PFCI, Flower Clique

Many leaders assume that communication problems start at the customer-facing level. More often, it starts with the conversations leaders aren’t having with their teams.

The conversations we avoid with our employees eventually become the conversations our employees avoid with customers. Expectations become unclear. Small frustrations grow into larger problems. Accountability decreases. Team members are left guessing what success looks like. Before long, communication breaks down both inside and outside the organization.

Whether you’re managing a flower shop, wholesale branch, growing operation, or design team, communication sets the tone for culture. It influences trust, accountability, engagement, and ultimately the customer experience.

This interactive session will explore how communication flows throughout an organization: from leader to employee, employee to leader, and employee to customer. Using practical frameworks, real-world floral industry examples, and leadership communication principles, attendees will learn how to deliver feedback that is clear, timely, and constructive without creating tension or defensiveness.

Participants will leave with tools to create a culture where conversations happen early, expectations are clear, feedback is frequent, and employees feel empowered to communicate effectively with both leadership and customers. Because great customer experiences don’t start at the counter, in the showroom, or on the sales floor…they start with the conversations happening behind the scenes.

What You’ll Learn:

• Simple frameworks for delivering feedback clearly and constructively—even when the conversation feels uncomfortable
• How to make feedback part of everyday leadership instead of saving it for annual reviews or major problems
• Ways consistent coaching improves engagement, accountability, and overall team performance

Watch as some of the nation’s best floral designers are given the same flowers, foliage and supplies — and just two hours to create the surprise challenge. During the last hour, the competition’s commentators and coordinators talk about the featured products and the challenge.

The winner receives the Sylvia Cup trophy, $3,000 and a complimentary registration to next year’s SAF Annual Convention. First Runner-Up wins $500; Second Runner-Up gets $250. Winners will be announced at the Stars of the Industry Awards Experience.

Presenter: Barry Gottlieb

Artificial intelligence, shifting customer expectations, workforce challenges and rapid technological change are reshaping every industry, including floriculture. The question is no longer whether change is coming. The question is whether we’re prepared for it.

In this thought-provoking mastermind keynote, business coach, author and industry mentor Barry Gottlieb invites attendees into a collaborative exploration of the forces reshaping business today. Through engaging questions, audience participation and real-world examples, Barry challenges conventional thinking and explores how leaders can remain curious, adaptable and creative in an era of constant disruption.

Attendees will leave with a fresh perspective on change, a deeper understanding of the role they play in creating value, and practical questions to take back to their teams as they prepare for the future.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to identify assumptions, trends and changes that deserve closer attention in your business.
• Why curiosity, adaptability and creativity are becoming essential leadership skills in a rapidly changing marketplace.
• How to leverage technology while strengthening the human connections that drive customer loyalty, trust and long-term success.

Speakers: Jazmin Albarran, Seed Your Future, Emily Eldridge, NC State University, Christine Guenther, WildFlower Stem + Sundry, Carma White, AAF, Four Seasons Flowers

As experienced designers retire, many shops struggle to find young people interested in learning the craft. But what if the next generation of florists is sitting in a classroom just a few miles from your shop? High schools across the country are looking for industry partners to provide career exposure, hands-on experiences and real-world learning opportunities. Yet many florists aren’t sure how to make that first connection — or what they would even offer once they get in the door.

In this session, Seed Your Future and floral professionals share how to successfully partner with local schools to introduce students to careers in floriculture and floral design. Learn simple ways to connect with teachers, agriculture programs and career counselors — and how those relationships can lead to future employees, interns and loyal customers.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to identify and approach the right teachers, programs and school leaders
• Easy ways to introduce floral design into classrooms, career days or after-school programs
• Practical ideas for building stronger community connections while promoting the floral industry

Speaker: Brent Leech, AIFD

The flowers you use every day are evolving — and so are the opportunities they create. This session highlights how classic blooms are being reimagined through new varieties, colors and forms, and how those changes can translate into fresh design ideas and stronger sales. Through practical design demonstrations and real-world application, you’ll learn how to rethink everyday stems to create arrangements that feel current, distinctive and highly profitable.

You’ll Learn:

• How to identify and use updated varieties of everyday flowers to create more modern, trend-forward designs
• Techniques for transforming traditional stems into arrangements that feel unique, intentional and differentiated in your market
• How to position and sell these designs so customers see them as fresh and desirable.

Speakers: Laura Walsh, Phillips Flowers & Gifts, a Family Flowers company, John Scott Wilkins, DVFlora

Moderator: Brent Denham, Arizona Flower Market

Across the floral industry, consolidation is reshaping every segment — from retail florists to wholesalers and growers. Many businesses are being acquired by larger organizations, and while the deal itself may be straightforward, the real challenge is what happens next. How do you maintain customer relationships, retain key staff and preserve the strengths of the business during a leadership change?

In this session, industry leaders and operators share practical strategies for managing transitions after an acquisition or ownership change. Whether you’re a retailer, wholesaler branch manager, or part of a newly acquired team, you’ll gain insight into how successful transitions protect both relationships and performance.

What You’ll Learn:

• How to navigate leadership and culture changes after an acquisition
• How to communicate effectively with staff, customers, and partners during transitions
• How to maintain trust and continuity in newly acquired locations or teams