Learn from the best

NOTE: As of 7/1/2013, BloomaPalooza 2013 has been canceled. Click here for more information, https://www.gardencentermagazine.com/bloomapalooza-2013-cancelled.aspx

The countdown to BloomaPalooza has begun. This landmark event will take place this August 1-3 at the Raker Trial Gardens in Litchfield, Michigan. We’re excited to present to you five of our speakers.

Dr. Charlie Hall
Dr. Charlie Hall grew up in the industry on a nursery in Western North Carolina. An economist by training, he is currently a Professor in the Department of Horticultural Sciences at the Texas A&M University and also holder of the Ellison Chair in International Floriculture. His major areas of specialization include innovative management and marketing strategies, financial analysis and benchmarking, and the situation/outlook for nursery and greenhouse crops.

An Honorary Lifetime Member of the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association, Dr. Hall has also received TNLA’s Award for Outstanding Service to the Nursery Industry. He is a member of the Hall of Fame and Honorary Lifetime Member of the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association as well.

He is particularly known for the enthusiasm, passion, and intensity he exhibits when speaking. You may have seen him speak recently at ANLA/OFA’s Next Level conference in Nashville, Tenn. Dr. Hall’s presentation “Knowing enough to know the difference” focuses on determining which economic indicators are the most important for your business, and how to survive in tough economic times.

Sid Raisch
Sid Raisch is a consultant to garden centers, suppliers and manufacturers in the US. Raisch’s “plain English” style of communicating with straight talk and probing questions enables owners and managers to clarify their own situation with understanding that they are not alone in their problems, as well as to find hope and inspiration.

A full-time consultant since 1999, Raisch has empathy and understanding for the dynamics, challenges and benefits that are likely and possible in a family business, having grown up in an entrepreneurial home himself. He has acquired unique insights into the complexities of the horticulture industry arising from his extensive experience of more than 35 years in top positions in production and sales in the nursery, lawn care, landscape design/build/maintenance industries.

His presentations will cover a variety of topics, including how to become more involved in your local community and making your garden center more eco-friendly.

Woody Tasch
Woody Tasch is Founder and Chairman of Slow Money (www.slowmoney.org), a 501(c)3 non-profit formed in 2008 to catalyze the flow of investment capital to small food enterprises and to promote new principles of fiduciary responsibility to support sustainable agriculture and the emergence of a restorative economy. Tasch is chairman emeritus of Investors’ Circle, a nonprofit network of investors that has facilitated the flow of $152 million to 250 sustainability minded, early stage companies and venture funds.

Tasch is an experienced venture-capital investor and entrepreneur, has served on numerous for-profit and non-profit boards, and was founding chairman of the Community Development Venture Capital Alliance, which supports venture investing in economically disadvantaged regions. In 2010, Utne Reader named Tasch one of “25 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World.” Tasch’s presentation, “Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money: Investing as if Food, Farms and Fertility Mattered” focuses on the value of investing in the local economy.

Lily Brislen
Lilian (Lily) Brislen is the founding director of Think Local Umpqua in Douglas County, Oregon, a very successful rural Independent Business Alliance that integrates farms, businesses and community. Brislen prides herself on providing workshops that are fun, as well as productive and informative.

Brislen has written for rural development groups on many aspects of localization and entrepreneurial development. After her time in Oregon, she moved to Lexington, Ky., where she earned a M.S. in Rural Sociology, and is currently working on a PhD in the same area with a focus on food systems and community development. Brislen’s presentation examines how independent businesses can thrive through local teamwork.

Michael V. Geary
Michael V. Geary, a Certified Association Executive since 2000, has more than twenty years of association management and organizational development experience. He joined OFA, the Association of Horticulture Professionals, as its chief executive officer in 2010 and assumed the role as executive vice president of the American Nursery & Landscape Association in 2013. He leads both organizations concurrently.

In his spare time, he serves as the treasurer of America in Bloom and president of his condominium association. Geary also volunteers his time for the American Society of Association Executives on its Government Relations Section Council. Geary will be hosting the Garden Idol contest at BloomaPalooza, as well as speaking.

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For more information on these speakers or attending BloomaPalooza, visit www.BloomaPalooza.com.