TPIE Short Courses

TPIE's Short Course features two separate options to attend nursery tours on the Wednesday prior to the show.  

The two-day classroom format held on Thursday and Friday offers programs on garden center and interiorscape management. Come in a day before the show starts and participate in the optional nursery tours held on Wednesday, which features unique tours to the West Coast of Florida and Homestead. Each tour offering educational opportunities at each stop.

Who Should Attend?

Retail Garden Center Professionals, Interiorscapers, and Interiorscape Technicians.

Continuing Education Units:

• FNGLA Certified Horticulture Professional (FCHP)
• FNGLA Certified Landscape Contractor, Technician & Designer (FCLC, FCLT, FCLD)

CEU’s applied for from the following programs:

• PLANET Certifications
• Pesticide Applicator License
• Landscape Inspector’s Association of Florida
• Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD)

COURSES

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14

7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Garden Center Learning Tour (T1)
Sponsored by Garden Centers of America (GCA), it’s time to capture a retail experience in South Florida. From garden centers to key retail establishments, this will be a day that will inspire you to be more creative within your own independent garden center. For complete details, you can reference www.tpie.org or www.gardencentersofamerica.org. Tour stops:

• Living Color Garden Center
• Flamingo Road Nursery
• Schnebly Redland's Winery for lunch & tour
• Kerry's Bromeliads
• Bass Pro Shop

7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Interiorscape Tour (T2)
Sponsored by TPIE Short Course, this year’s tour will focus on interiorscape nurseries in South Florida. It’s a fun-filled day with lots to see and much more to learn about the tropical foliage growers of South Florida. Tour stops:

• Farm Life Tropical Foliage
• Living Color Nursery
• Schnebly Redland's Winery for lunch & tour
• Silver Vase
• Sturon’s Nursery

THURSDAY, JANUARY 15

8:45 – 10:15 a.m. Think BIG! (G1)
Grand Floridian, Ballroom A
Jim Bouchard, DCPP LLC, Brunswick, ME

Want to improve productivity? Increase workplace morale? Motivate employees? Want to open management teams and sales departments to new potential and opportunities for profit? This is the session for you. “Think BIG!” is an introduction to the Dynamic Components and their application in the workplace. Jim uses his personal experiences through the trials and challenges of life as an entrepreneur to demonstrate the power available when you think BIG!

LUNCHEON

11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Keeping In Step with Economic Changes - An Outlook on Florida and the U.S. Economy (L1)
Grand Floridian, Ballroom B
Dr. Henry Fishkind, Fishkind and Associates, Orlando, FL

Dr. Henry Fishkind, Ph.D., has worked extensively in large and complex economic cost benefit analyses, such as the Florida Everglades Environmental Restoration Project. Don’t miss what Dr. Fishkind has to say about the economy and how your business can weather the changing times!

GARDEN CENTER TRACK
Grand Floridian, Ballroom E

10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Develop the Right Mix for a Tropical Department within Your Garden Center (S1)
Kevin Kraft, Kraft Gardens, Fort Pierce, FL; Peter Mahoney, Mahoney’s Garden Centers, Winchester, MA; John Mendozza, Morning Dew Tropicals, Delray Beach, FL

Do you want to strengthen your tropical department? This session will help attendees determine how to buy and ship tropicals out of Florida, what the right mix for a successful tropical department is and how to keep the department thriving after delivery.

1:15 – 2:15 p.m. Signs of the Times (S3)
Kevin Riley, Rockledge Gardens, Rockledge, FL

Tag it Tropical? Why not tag all of your merchandise in a way that will catch the eye of your customers! This session will look at creative, yet cost-effective ways to make a greater impact on the signage you use to promote your business.

2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Be Successful with Organics at your Garden Center (S5)
John Dromgoole, Natural Gardener, Austin, TX

Making the change to a “greener” garden center is critical as the public is looking for these types of alternative products. John Dromgoole, owner of the Natural Gardener, a garden shop, nursery, and teaching facility dedicated to the promotion of organic landscapes, will share time-tested gardening practices with you. These will enable your Garden Center to successfully make the switch to organics and keep in step with these “green” trends.

3:30 – 5:00 p.m. Great Garden Center Ideas for 2009 (S7)
Facilitated by Chris Beytes, Ball Publishing, West Chicago, IL

The best way to solve a problem, inspire a new concept or start an industry trend is to exchange thoughts with your peers. Jam-packed with a wealth of information and networking opportunities, it’s a Town Hall Meeting geared to help answer the biggest challenges faced by today’s garden centers. Don’t miss this meaningful networking opportunity with industry colleagues. The town hall meeting is free to all show attendees but in order to properly plan for your participation, all attendees must register for this session.

INTERIORSCAPE TRACK
Grand Floridian, Ballroom C

10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Samurai Sales: Not How to Sell, How to Prepare Yourself to Sell! (S2)
Jim Bouchard, DCPP LLC, Brunswick, ME

The Samurai did not measure victory in terms of survival! They measured personal victory in terms of courage! To be successful in sales, one must develop personal courage. One must learn to persevere in the face of failure and prevail beyond the outcome. Learn to apply the “Bushido” or teachings of the Samurai to develop the warrior spirit for the battleground of sales!

1:15 – 2:15 p.m. Green is in the Air (S4)
Joy Dorst FCLD, LEED AP, FWS certifier, Jacksonville, FL

Green is everywhere! A company’s commitment to social responsibility is now critical to its future success. How can interiorscapers use the green trends and sustainable practices to market interior plants and increase business? This session will focus on the practical ways to use the benefits of plants and teach attendees how to ‘green’ their internal business practices through practical tips and set the groundwork for drafting a corporate social responsibility plan for their organization.

2:30 – 3:30 p.m. It’s a Holiday Production (S6)
Mike Senneff, PlantInterscapes, San Antonio, TX and Janice Goodman, Cityscapes, Boston, MA

Lights, Cameras, Action…A celebration of the seasons can be a time when companies have the opportunity to be their most creative. Making holidays look very spectacular is what these two companies do best. This session will look at holiday decorating from innovative designs to practical applications.

3:30 – 5:00 p.m. Great Interiorscape Ideas for 2009 (S8)
Presented by The National Interiorscape Network and co-sponsored with Green Plants for Green Buildings, PLANET, and PIA.

Jam-packed with a wealth of information and networking opportunities, this roundtable format will allow attendees to network and exchange ideas on a wide range of current interiorscape issues. The best way to solve a problem, inspire a new concept or start an industry trend is to exchange thoughts with your peers. Each table will have a facilitator to help kickoff the discussion. Be sure to bring your business cards and don’t miss this meaningful networking opportunity with industry colleagues. The roundtable session is free to all show attendees, but in order to properly plan for your participation, all attendees must pre-register for this session.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 16

GARDEN CENTER TRACK
Grand Floridian, Ballroom E

8:45 – 9:45 a.m. Financially – how Do You Stack Up? (S9)
Stephen Bailey, The Garden Center Group, Carbondale, IL

Is your garden center all that it could be? How do you compare financially to other independent garden centers? Which departments are stronger than others, and how well are you controlling your inventory? With over 25 years of experience, Steve will give attendees some practical techniques to monitor the financial side of their businesses.

10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Extreme Merchandising (S11)
Neville Mackay, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Come hear Neville share his love of making all things irresistible. He engages the senses with just the right blend of color, texture, style and simplicity. Neville’s cutting-edge floral and retail gift boutiques in Atlantic Canada provide an incredible outlet to feed his creative energies. Enticing and unconventional, Neville dishes up solid solutions to move customers from “maybe” to “must have!” In this session, he will share how people view a retail space, how they select a shopping path and the decision process they’re likely to use when making purchases. Neville considers things like seasonal fluctuations, cultural variations and gender differences − factors that are fundamental in making a store functional, productive and drop-dead fabulous!! Take your displays to a whole new level!

11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Best of the 2008 Garden Center Tours (S13)
Terri Coldreck, Color Results, West Kennebunk, ME

Have busy schedules and hard economic times not allowed you to attend as many tours as you would have liked to? Join Terri Coldreck as she walks you through the best of the 2008 Garden Center Tours. As garden center consultant, Terri will share with attendees the exciting things she saw and provide you with some great insight on how to create a merchandising edge for your business.

INTERIORSCAPE TRACK
Grand Floridian, Ballroom C

8:45 – 9:45 a.m. Top Five Ways to Bring Your Business to the Next Level (S10)
John Mini, JOHN MINI, Congers, NY

John Mini has built his company into one of our country’s leading interior landscape firms. With a dedicated staff and reputation for quality and consistency, this company has the right formula for success. Whether it is professionalism, quality or customer service that drives your business, come hear ideas that will allow you to bring your business to the next level.

10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Buying or Selling an Interiorscape Company: What Every Owner Should Know About the Acquisition Process (S12)
Dick Ott and Art Campbell, National Interiorscape Network (NIN), Knoxville, TN

Together, the speaking duo of Dick Ott and Art Campbell has purchased and sold over 50 businesses during their combined 65 years in the interiorscape industry. This session will take a closer look at how to evaluate your company’s worth, what you should know about buying or selling a business, the practical steps needed to go through the process and how long it will take.

11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Cutting-Edge Designs (S14)
Mindy Kaufman, Adrien Latour , Boca Raton, FL

Come take a visual tour of some cutting-edge interior designs. This session will inspire both big and small companies to think outside their comfort zones and learn how to apply some of the same principles to current designs.

LUNCHEON

12:15 – 1:30 p.m. Putting Personality into Your Business (L2) Grand Floridian, Ballroom B
Neville Mackay, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Known on the east coast as “the mouth of the harbor,” Neville shoots from the hip about the challenges of our sometimes turbulent industry. Learn how he proactively creates a fertile environment by engaging customers, staff and suppliers with a passion that is truly contagious! Armed with imaginative ideas and “pulled from the trenches” solutions, Neville challenges that putting personality into your business and building a solid customer care program from the inside out will make your business a better place to work!

WORKSHOPS

1:45 – 4:45 p.m. Branding Workshop (W1)
Grand Floridian, Ballroom F
Jack Manhire, Ph.D., tCDG Studios, Orlando, FL

In tough economic times, branding your company is more critical than ever because today people buy based on brand. This workshop will take its attendees through the process and products that are required for branding and corporate identity. The workshop will take an in-depth look at what branding is, why you should brand and what are the steps you need to take to make the process effective from color palette selections to orchestrating well-planned strategies. Attendees will form small work groups and actually start the branding process for a case study company. This workshop is not part of the complete seminar registration. Separate registration is required. Space is limited.

1:45 – 4:45 p.m. Interiorscape Tech Workshop (W2)
Grand Floridian, Ballroom D
Panel represented by Cityscapes, Boston, MA; Greenery Productions and Up-A-Tree, Orlando, FL and Suzanne Wainwright-Evans, Buglady Consulting, Slatington, PA

Interiorscape technicians, this is the place to be! This year’s workshop has taken a little twist. With two distinct components, this year’s workshops will go back to basics and provide tried-and-true remedies from those in the field every day. What better way to learn than to see what other technicians’ challenges and successes are in the trenches! The workshop will focus on general maintenance techniques and watering issues. Suzanne Wainwright-Evans will then take a closer look at how to manage pests in the interiorscape environment. The Buglady will also provide hands-on instruction for applying biocontrols to manage your pest problems. This workshop is not part of the complete seminar registration. Separate registration is required. Space is limited.

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