September 14, 2007

Welcome to FNATS Friday Features. This is the third edition in a series of four emails that you will receive over the next month to highlight the FNATS Short Course. Take advantage of the singles ticket option and include education in your overall tradeshow experience. Pre-registration closed on September 12th but you still have the option to register on-line or at the show for any short course sessions.

The FNATS Short Course offers one of the most comprehensive educational programs for the green industry. With Florida’s $15.2 billion nursery and landscape industry taking a leading economic role in the state, the FNATS Short Course has interwoven the important theme of “Leadership” into this year’s program.

The program is divided up into general sessions, five concurrent breakouts, and two luncheons. This edition will highlight one speaker from each of the concurrent breakouts. To register for any of the FNATS Short Course programs Click Here. For more details on the Discovery Cove Tour or FNATS Short Course programs, visit www.fngla.org/fnats/shortcourse.asp or email Linda Reindl lreindl@fngla.org.

GROWER MANAGEMENT TRACK
10:30 am – 11:45 am
Immigrant & Ethnic workers: How To Recruit, Hire, & Retain The Best™ (S15)
Bob Losyk, Innovative Training Solutions, Greensboro, NC
With immigrant and ethnic workers playing an important role in the nursery and landscape industry’s workforce, challenges often arise for business owners and managers in finding, hiring and keeping the best workers. With the workplace so diverse, it’s difficult to juggle all the cultures so everyone can work together in harmony. A lack of understanding between cultures creates havoc in the workplace, and reduces productivity and teamwork. Bob’s practical, no-nonsense seminar will give you the tips, tools, and techniques to recruit, hire, and retain workers and bring harmony to your work environment.

Bob Losyk, M.Ed., M.B.A., C.S.P., is a seasoned professional with over seventeen years of speaking experience, and over twenty years of service, sales, and top level management expertise. His programs are highly interactive and bristle with contagious energy and enthusiasm. Bob's concepts and ideas will be remembered long after the program is over. Over 1500 audiences have benefited from his entertaining and content rich presentations.

He is the author of the best selling book, Managing A Changing Workforce: Achieving Outstanding Service With Today's Employees, which won the National Independent Publishers Association award for Best Book Content. His latest book is, Get A Grip: Overcoming Stress and Thriving in The Workplace published by Wiley & Sons. (For more information, visit www.boblosyk.com)

GARDEN CENTER TRACK
9:00 am – 10:15 am
Inside Retailing 101 (S9)
Marilyn Nason, Nason & Associates, Asheville, NC
Discover proven, practical, inexpensive ways to make the 12-month calendar your store’s most successful, award-winning marketing tool against competition, both big box and specialty.

Marilyn Nason has several decades of experience working with small specialty retailers in North America and Europe, especially garden centers, nurseries, and service providers. She is a guest columnist and contributing editor for numerous trade publications and presents seminars at major trade shows, conferences and association events.

LANDSCAPE DESIGN TRACK
10:30 am – 11:45 am
Grasses and the Design of Livable Landscapes (S16)
Rick Darke, Landscape Ethics, Photography, and Contextual Design, Landenberg, PA
Durably dramatic and luminously responsive, grasses and their close relatives the sedges and rushes are playing increasing roles in livable landscapes that blend fine garden design with conservation ethics in a genuine celebration of place. Award-winning author, photographer and contextual design consultant Rick Darke will discuss the palette and promise of grasses and will illustrate their use in global gardens and regional landscapes.

Rick Darke is a celebrated photographer and one of the world's foremost authorities on grasses and their landscape use. He heads a Pennsylvania, USA-based design firm that blends art, ecology and cultural geography in the creation and conservation of livable landscapes. Darke’s international work with grasses began more than 20 years ago with series of plant-hunting expeditions he made as Curator of Plants for Longwood Gardens. His travels in Australia, Brazil, the Canary Islands, Costa Rica, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, continental Europe, New Zealand, and across North America have afforded him a unique global perspective on the outstanding diversity, beauty, and water-conserving abilities of grasses. Darke’s many books include the Royal Horticultural Society’s Manual of Grasses, The Color Encyclopedia of Ornamental Grasses, The American Woodland Garden, and the Timber Press Pocket Guide to Ornamental Grasses. His new book, The Encyclopedia of Grasses for Livable Landscapes includes over 1000 photos of grasses in world landscapes.

LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT TRACK
2:45 pm – 4:00 pm
Highlights and Research Update from the UF Tree Demonstration Site (S8)
Dr. Ed Gilman, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Tree production, installation and management: This session covers 20 years of research and experience. Learn the latest on production efficiency, new installation technology and management strategies that will strengthen your business by reducing costs. New business opportunities will also be discussed.

Dr. Gilman is on the faculty in the Environmental Horticulture Department at the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. He is the author of six books on trees and landscape plants and has created several CDROM software programs. He has an extensive web site on tree care. Dr. Gilman serves the landscape industry and allied professions in the state and the citizens of Florida. This includes arborists, county faculty, landscape architects, plant growers, landscape design and installation firms, landscape management companies, municipal parks and recreation departments, urban foresters, landscape inspectors, and others. He likes to discover new information about trees and loves to teach.

GREEN TRACK
9:00 am – 10:15 am
The Role of the Nursery Industry in the “Green Movement” & The Link Between Landscapes & Community (S13)
Bob Dolibois, ANLA, Washington, D.C. and John Thomas, Edward Pinckney/Associates, Bluffton, SC
This session will define what sustainability means to the nursery and landscape industry and address the best management practices in landscape design, construction and maintenance for sustainable development projects.

Robert J. Dolibois, CAE, is executive vice president of the American Nursery & Landscape Association (ANLA), a Washington, DC-based trade association representing over 2,300 firms who grow, sell, and use landscape plants.

Prior to joining ANLA in February 1991, he was president of Association Management Group (AMG), a DC-based association management and consulting firm. While at AMG, Dolibois served as executive director of two trade associations and a professional society. From 1974-1988, he served on the staff of the National Association of Life Underwriters (NALU), a trade association representing 135,000 life and health insurance agents. During his 13-year tenure, he managed strategic planning, membership development, chapter relations, technology, agent education and consumer services activities.

John Thomas has been the Senior Associate at Edward Pinckney Associates, Ltd. since 2000. His responsibilities have included staff oversight; mentoring of young professionals; promotions and marketing; client development; major project planning; permitting and entitlements; and project management.

Mr. Thomas is a seasoned professional with 32 years of experience in major project design and construction. Using a hands-on approach, he has designed and developed projects as large as 5000 acres, working in nine states and more than 50 cities throughout the south.

FNATS: The Landscape Show is sponsored by:
Florida Nursery, Growers & Landscape Association (FNGLA)
1533 Park Center Drive - Orlando. FL 32835-5705.
Phone: 407.295.7994 - 800-375-3642 - 407-295-1619(fax)
website: www.fngla.org - email: info@fngla.org
All Rights Reserved.

You are receiving this email because The Landscape Show believes you have interest in this information. If you would like to be removed from our list, please email a reply with "remove" in the subject line.