Educational Session Handouts
Keynote Presentation: Searching for the End of Uncertainty
Speaker: Charlie Hall Ph.D., Ellison Chair in International Floriculture, Texas A&M University
The uncertainty of COVID forced us to reimagine our business models and implement within months changes that would have taken us years before. We’ve adapted to these new ways of doing business, but we’re in a vastly different economic climate. Driven by research and real examples from the past year, Charlie provides a snapshot of the state of the supply chain, the economic outlook for the post-pandemic world and how the industry will evolve over the coming years, including the changing role of the traditional florist, the increased importance of vertical coordination between segments and the consumer behavior trends guiding these insights.
Recruiting in a Post Pandemic World
Speaker: Glenna Hecht, Humanistic Consulting
The world was turned upside down during COVID-19, now the coin has flipped. In today’s market, recruitment is driven by candidates. Due to an increase in demand, quality candidates have multiple opportunities for jobs and your company is evaluated before the interview begins. As a result of these circumstances, you must think differently and be prepared for recruiting and retaining in a post-COVID world!
Post-Pandemic Remarketing: Turning New Customers into Repeat Buyers
Speaker: Dan McManus, Team Floral
Most florists welcomed a swath of new customers as a result of the pandemic, when available gift options were limited. What are you doing to make sure those customers come back to your store? A recent study showed that 7 out of 10 first-time customers do not call their florist the following year — instead, they go to Google to find a florist. The problem? Traditional re-marketing – postcards, email blasts, social media – isn’t doing the job. Today’s re-marketing has to be personalized, customized and relevant. Dan McManus walks through several options for turning your first-time buyers into long-time customers.
Advanced Social Media Skills Builder
Speakers: Dani Gill, InBloom Floris, Chris Norwood, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, Tipton & Hurst, Renato Sogueco, AAF, PFCI, BloomNet , Melanie Spilbeler, FreshPath Marketing
We know that social media is critical to successful marketing, but platforms and features are constantly evolving. It can be overwhelming to know where to focus your time and how to create content that will deliver the best results. Through interactive demonstrations, expert advice, and real examples this session will breakdown and simplify the latest social media trends.
Rotate through different tables with a small group and learn from social media experts! Each table will dive into a different topic and provide best practices for promoting your offerings, growing your reach, and creating engagement. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions, share ideas, gather tips, and discover new and creative ways to promote your business on social media.
Incentive Plans that Motivate and Retain Team
Speakers: Chris Drummond. AAF, PFCI, Penny’s by Plaza Flowers Derrick Myers, CPA, PFCI, Crockett & Myers Associates
Your long-term ability to retain top talent is dependent on how you reward employees. Floral businesses with solid incentive programs in place are finding they can compete with large corporations for talent and drive higher sales and profits. Discover how an incentive program revolutionized one florist’s business and how you can scale a program based on your business size and model.
Maximum Makeover, Minimal Effort: Website Edition
Speakers: Vonda LaFever, AIFD, CFD, PFCI, Ellie LaFever, Kami Martin, Lori Wilson, Flower Clique
Your website is an extremely valuable piece of real estate for your floral business. It receives more traffic than a physical location and gets consumers from all over the country. How does your website look? Could it use a facelift? While a physical store renovation takes thousands of dollars, strenuous labor, and disruption to your business, your website is much less of an undertaking – but you need to know the right ways to improve it and mistakes to avoid. Join our flower crew as we overhaul every “room”: from the homepage, to subcategories, weddings, and sympathy, to the team page – with lots of fun surprises along the way! You’ll walk away with a Website Renovation Checklist and detailed guidance to make your website look incredible and outperform your physical location and your competitors.
The Business Case for Diversity and Inclusion
Speakers: Laura Polo & Sarah Bagle, Accent Decor
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is not just the latest buzz phrase or “the right thing to do.” Companies that understand and honor employees’ differences and work to eliminate systemic inequities are more successful. A study by McKinsey & Company and the Society for Human Resource Management found that organizations with more gender and racial diversity bring in increased revenue, more customers and higher profits. What’s more: When young Black men and women and people of color see florists who look like them, it allows the next generation to dream about a potential career path. Learn about one company’s journey to make DEI a priority – and how you can, too.
Talent Cheat Sheet: Put the Right People in the Right Seats
Speaker: Doug Kisgen, Kisgen Group
Increased flower consumption is a promising bright spot for the floral industry and your business – is your team aligned to allow the business to take advantage of that growth? Do you know what your team needs from you, as a leader – and where your blind spots are? The answers are here, with entrepreneur, personality expert and author, Doug Kisgen and the Culture Index program. Before the convention, Doug will provide a personalized link to a brief Culture Index survey for you and your team to take and will share the results with you. During the session, Doug will shed light on how to interpret the results — he’ll astonish participants with how he can identify strengths and weaknesses of entrepreneurs and their teams – and he’ll teach you to do the same.
Reels Mean Deals: The Power of Short Form Content and How Retailers Are Cashing In
Speaker: Crystal Vilkaitis, Crystal Media
Are you leaving money on the table by not using Instagram Reels or TikTok to sell to your customers? Short form content has taken social media by storm, so gear up and get in the game! This session simplifies understanding of these platforms to take your Reach and results from just-OK to OMG!
All Industry Session: How I Did It: Profiles in Change, Grit and Perseverance
Industry members share stories of dramatic transformations – to their operations, their teams, culture, their product lines, and themselves, personally. Stay tuned for the announcement of featured presenters.
Converting Browsers to Buyers
Speaker: Dan McManus, Team Floral
The vast majority of consumers who visit retail websites will not make a purchase. Discover how shops have been able to beat those odds and double their web sales by understanding and implementing the four key factors that influence online performance.