Group Gatherings Ahead!

by Danny Summers

The Power of The Group is probably most evident when we gather together, both in-person and virtually. The level of knowledge transfer and creative exchange is dramatic. I am always amazed in witnessing what can happen during Group Gatherings. And in the next three weeks, we will have four Group Gathering opportunities:

\Wednesday, January 10th - MANTS 2024 - Baltimore, MD
The largest of the "woody-focused" trade events will take place January 10-12. At the end of the first day, Wednesday, we will gather for The Best of MANTS at 5pm. This year, we will co-sponsor this hour+ gathering with Master Nursery Garden Centers and Prides Corner Farms to share our day-long experience. We will see a number of new faces this year and the hunt for "what's new" will certainly be center stage. If you will be at MANTS on Wednesday and able to join us at 5pm, be sure RSVP below. We hope you can be with us!

Thursday, January 11th - GROUPtalk LIVE Series
Our first GROUPtalk LIVE for 2024 will be a Group Sharing recapping Christmas 2023. While the season just ending is fresh on your mind, let's discuss observations, trends and ideas for planning for Christmas 2024. More details are below. Bring your own questions, ideas and challenges to contribute!

Friday, January 12th - A Special GROUPtalk LIVE Series
A Special Marketing Session: AI Applications for Retail
There has been many recent stories, programs and discussions on how AI (artificial intelligence) will change almost everything. It seems every news cycle, no matter the news platform, highlights something on AI these days. In this session we will explore several areas of how AI is already helping Garden Centers and how you can leverage new AI tools. Ken Lain, Watters Garden Center will share more details of how they are using an AI application to serve their Center's phone answering system and interact with their customers' in-bound calls. And Steve Kendall will share how AI can help end 'Writer's Block' and help jump-start your creative message development!

Wednesday, January 17th - TPIE 2024 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL
The largest Tropical Plant trade event in North America (maybe the world) will take place January 17-19. On Wednesday, Retailers (hopefully you!) will attend the General Session and then work the show and we will meet at the end of the day to share and nominate the best new plants and products for the Cool Product Awards. Judges vote on their top choices overnight and then we present awards on Thursday. If Tropicals is a important category for you, you need to be with us. Be sure to sign up below to gather with us for this fun and profitable experience!

The new 2024 year will get started with its share of Group Gatherings Ahead! Be there!