Oh, hey, hello there! It’s been a few months — since April — that I last occupied this space in the magazine. But even if you haven’t been reading me, you’ve been seeing me — if you’ve been to any industry events over the course of the last eight months, that is. That’s because my team at LM and I have been everywhere.
Orlando, Louisville, San Diego, Houston, Charlotte, New Orleans and Denver all in the last eight weeks. And that’s just me! My team has also been out on the road at both events we’ve covered in the magazine and online, and even to one event where everything we saw and learned must remain confidential for a few more months! (Yes, it feels very Mission: Impossible). It’s been an absolutely crazy end to 2024, but in a good way.
A frenetic, fantastic end to 2024
LM Editor-in-Chief Scott Hollister and I decided to take on Equip Exposition ourselves since we had extra help attending the conference when our marketing team joined up. Big mistake! Between all the meeting requests, the educational seminars we hosted and the evening events and dinners, we were stretched thin. But these two old guys kept pushing each other to the tune of more than 40 interviews we’re sharing in the magazine, in our LM Direct! e-newsletter and on our YouTube channel.
Scott told me at the end of the event, “I’ve been to 25-plus Golf Industry Shows, and none of them were that busy!” Ha! Welcome to the industry, Scott — and I agree.
Only three weeks later, as the National Association of Landscape Professionals’ Elevate conference wrapped up, Scott and I found ourselves at Charlotte Beer Garden — which boasts the most draft beers in one restaurant in America — filming a post-event video for the website. We were exhausted but also exhilarated by the people we met, the things we learned, the opportunities being offered to us. All of that was enough to keep the energy level high as we wound down.
Consider this: at Equip Exposition, even though we did 40-plus video interviews, there were still dozens of other companies that reached out to us to try to acquire some of our precious time. Why? Because they’re eager to connect with our readership: 93,000-plus magazine subscribers, 100,000 monthly website visitors and (gulp!) 126,451 e-newsletter subscribers.
Try as we might, we couldn’t get to everyone. I cringe when I think of what great story or product launch I might have missed out on … but then I take solace when I remember that we have 12 magazines to publish in 2025, 52 weekly e-newsletters to send, a YouTube channel that never runs out of space and a team in place ready to take on 2025 with a renewed fervor and hunger to connect our readers with the latest news the industry has to offer.
Even in this issue you hold in your hands or read on your screen, we’re sharing dozens of products recommended to us by our readers. It’s our first ever “Pro’s Toolbox” issue. The theme is simple: we asked readers for their favorite tool to get the job done. Some of their responses were obvious while others were a surprise. What might be in this story that could change the way you get the job done and maximize your efficiency? What products did we miss? You’ll have to let us know.
As we close out 2024, I want to thank you all for reading and supporting us this year. It was a great feeling this summer at Jeffrey Scott’s Growth Summit in Kansas City when I was asked by so many people to explain what was happening with the magazine as the news of Scott joining the team was fresh.
I assured everyone, I wasn’t going anywhere — and at the same time I was going everywhere. Here’s to what was a great 2024 and to what I hope is an even better 2025. Happy holidays to you all, we’ll see you in the new year.
