2022 At-A-Glance Schedule

• Monday, August 8

• 1:00 - 5:00 p.m.

  Bob Negen

  Half-Day Boot Camp: How to Run a Business That Doesn't Run You!

• Tuesday, August 9

• 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

  Bob Negen

  KEYNOTE: The Omni-Experiential Future of Retail Marketing

• 1:00 - 1:45 p.m.

  Lyn Falk

  Curb Appeal: Are You Getting the Most out of this Valuable Front-of-House Real Estate?

• 1:00 - 1:45 p.m.

  Andrea Hill

  How to Master SEO for Small Business Owners

• 4:00 - 4:45 p.m.

  Ron McCabe

  Opening Up to E-Commerce

• 4:00 - 4:45 p.m.

  Andrea Hill

  Get Your Life Back with Small Business Automation Strategies

• Wednesday, August 10

• 8:00 - 9:00 a.m.

  David Kepron

  KEYNOTE: Brains, Brands and Buying

• 10:00 - 10:45 a.m.

  Kim Hartmann

  Dealing with Tough Customers: How to Turn Them Into Loyal Customers

• Wednesday (cont.)

• 10:00 - 10:45 a.m.

  Katie Dubow

  2022 Garden Trends: From Crisis to Innovation

• 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.

  Joe Baer

  Experiential Merchandising: Increase Profits by Creating Stronger Visual Experiences

• 1:00 - 1:45 p.m.

  Katie Dubow

  From Seed to Social Feed

• 1:00 - 1:45 p.m.

  Susan Markgraf

  Lessons of the Decade (so far) and Where They're Taking Us

• 1:00 - 1:45 p.m.

  Ron McCabe

  Creating Effective Social Media that Doesn't Drive You Nuts

• 4:00 - 4:45 p.m.

  Lyn Falk

  Lighting, Color, Signage - Critical Elements to Creating an Effective Shopping Experience. Are You Doing Them Right?

• 4:00 - 4:45 p.m.

  Kim Hartmann

  Meeting the Needs of Today's Garden Center Customers

• 4:00 - 4:45 p.m.

  Susan Markgraf

  Embracing Change Begins with a Story

• Thursday, August 11

• 8:00 - 9:00 a.m.

  Tom Shay

  KEYNOTE: How to Find Good Employees

Session Descriptions

• All
• Human Resources
• Keynotes
• Management
• Marketing
• Merchandising
• Operations
• Retailing
• Trends
• Workshops

Keynote: Brands, Brains and Buying

August 10, 2022

David Kepron will share his visionary ideas on how brand strategy, brain science and emerging technologies are changing guest expectations about relationships they want to have with brands and how companies can remain relevant in a digitally enabled marketplace.

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2022 Garden Trends: From Crisis to Innovation

August 10, 2022

As the world opens back up, we move from Crisis to Innovation. Garden trends are more important than ever to guide us in uncertain times and give us hope. Join global trendspotter and QVC guest host, Katie Dubow, and learn how to apply new research and inside information to help you grow your business.

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How to Master SEO for Small Business Owners

August 9, 2022

This learn-to-understand-SEO session is for small business owners looking for an affordable and sustainable way to increase their SEO and SERP. Andrea makes this topic easy to understand and will tell you where your priorities should be.

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Creating Effective Social Media that Doesn't Drive You Nuts

August 10, 2022

Attend this session and let us show you how to create robust social media that drives customers to your doorstep throughout the entire year. Gain insight into creating content, attracting customers to your pages, and define the skills and resources needed to manage your social media!

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Get Your Life Back With Small Business Automation Strategies

August 9, 2022

Did you know that you can spend less time on busy work, do more authentic and personal marketing, and conquer the chaos with simple, affordable, small business automation methods? In this session, Andrea Hill will introduce you to small business automation techniques and tools you can implement right away. 

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Dealing with Tough Customers: How to Turn Them into Loyal Customers

August 10, 2022

The Dealing with Tough Customers Workshop will guide attendees through a variety of tough customer types and typical scenarios in the garden center environment.

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From Seed to Social Feed

August 10, 2022

Understanding communication patterns of new gardeners is critical to garden marketers, the industry and influencers in relating to the gardening public. Katie Dubow presents highlights, industry implications and connections with upcoming trends.

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Meeting the Needs of Today's Garden Center Customers

August 10, 2022

In this panel discussion, we will listen to four typical garden center consumers discuss their expectations and needs for their local garden center.

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Keynote: The Omni-Experiential Future of Retail Marketing

August 9, 2022

The pandemic has accelerated change in retail, but particularly for small to mid-sized independent retail. Pre-pandemic, the store was the focus of the brand, and driving in-store traffic was the main goal of most marketing. Now and in the post-pandemic future, consumers expect many (omni) ways to shop, interact, and buy from a brand.

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Experiential Merchandising: Increase Profits by Creating Stronger Visual Experiences

August 10, 2022

Learn how to improve your store’s profitability and your customer’s shopping experience from the owner and Creative Director of ZenGenius, Joe Baer. Join this session to learn the best visual merchandising practices and techniques to engage your customers and grow sales.

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Keynote: How to Find Good Employees

August 10, 2022

Tom Shay shares how to use ongoing education and employee development to create an atmosphere that draws good employment candidates to your store.

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Boot Camp: How to Run a Business That Doesn't Run You!

August 8, 2022

You can get control of your business and your life if you know what to do, and understand how to do it. This fun, lively half-day boot camp will show you how it's done!

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Opening Up to E-Commerce

August 9, 2022

Attend this session and let us show you how a fully integrated, custom e-commerce solution can make selling online easier, and open your business to a whole new audience, without cannibalizing your existing customers. We will provide a concrete checklist of the actions you’ll need to take to succeed when selling online.

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Keynote: Where Can I Find Good Employees?

August 11, 2022

The answer is that initially you have to build your own good employees. This requires an ongoing educational program (not training). As you convert your current employees into good employees, you will find that the good employees from other businesses will arrive on your doorstep and will want to apply for a job. This is because the good employees want to work with other good employees.

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Curb Appeal: Are You Getting the Most out of this Valuable Front-of-House Real Estate?

August 9, 2022

After your website and social media platforms, your storefront, parking lot, and outdoor gardens are your next biggest calling card. How are you communicating your brand to drive-by traffic, day and night? After hearing this presentation, you’ll never look at your storefront the same way again.

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Lighting, Color, Signage - Critical elements to creating an effective shopping experience - are you doing them right?

August 10, 2022

Lighting can make or break a selling environment. Without the right lighting, you’re no doubt losing sales. In this presentation, you'll learn quick tips on how to illuminate your space properly, selecting the right colors and placing them in the right spots, and how to set up your signs so they will get read!

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Lessons of the Decade (so far) & Where They're Taking Us Panel

August 10, 2022

The decade of the 2020s have (so far) brought unique marketing challenges. Hearing from a panel of IGC professionals, what lessons are we taking with us into 2023 and which ones are we leaving in the rearview mirror?

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Embracing Change Begins with a Story

August 10, 2022

The way you communicate about your brand is changing, along with the venues for delivering your brand's messaging.

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