Whether you’re attending the GIE+Expo or staying home this year, Landscape Management’s GIE+Expo Insider is the place to get the low-down on show highlights and information.
Here are three things not to miss at this year’s “big show”:
1. Education sessions
The GIE+Expo Workshops, sponsored by the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) and the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute (ICPI), are a taste of the full conference programs available to landscape and lawn care, grounds and hardscape professionals. Sessions cost $50 each to attend and pre-registration is required.
PLANET’s Green Industry Conference (GIC) is one of the landscape industry’s most comprehensive educational events of the year, featuring speakers from inside the Green Industry and out. If you’ve never been, it’s time to check it out. Here’s just a sample of the lineup:
• My Biggest Mistakes in Building a Landscape Company, Mark Bradley, TBG Landscape Professionals;
• Fast Track to Excellence: Peer Groups Make Growth in the Right Direction the Trip of a Lifetime, Panelists: Jim McCutcheon, Landscape Industry Certified Manager, Highgrove Partners; Burt DeMarche, Landscape Industry Certified Manager, The LaurelRock Co.; Mark Schlossberg, Landscape Industry Certified Technician, Pro-Lawn-Plus, Inc.; and
• The Life Cycle of a Landscape Business, Ken Thomas, Envisor Consulting.
GIC registration costs range by full/daily registration and member/nonmember fees. Some events are separately ticketed.
Hardscape North America’s education component includes courses put on by the ICPI and the NCMA. Classes comprise a variety of categories, including those with installation, business management and operational focuses. Fees range from $50 for a single session ticket to $195 for a six-session package (and less for members).
Education options are also available for grounds managers and dealers.
2. Product research and demos
One of the best things about GIE+Expo is the ability to try before you buy at the Outdoor Demo Area. The 19-acre space is open Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m and Oct. 26 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Another great product area to check out is the New Products Showcase, an area on the show floor that gives you a one-stop look at “what’s new.”
3. Network, network, network!
Bring a stack of business cards—you’ll need them. Between the workshops and conference sessions, social receptions and the free GIE+Expo Concert Series, the people you meet and share ideas with will be some of your best dollars spent.
