Find Your Local Florist:Everything you want to know about flowers!
A florist is so much more than a person who delivers flowers. They are stewards of life’s celebrations and most important occasions. Betsy Hall of Hall’s Flower Shop & Garden Center in Stone Mountain GA really says it best in this clip from the 2012 Great Lakes Expo interview with FSN’s Brock Atwill. Truly a must-see!
Over the weekend, our team headed to the 2012 Great Lakes Floral Expo in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There, we met up with Betsy Hall, Hall’s Flower Shop in Stone Mountain Georgia.
FSN’s own Brock Atwill had the opportunity to interview Betsy.
Thanks so much Betsy for the interview!
Keep an eye on the Bloomin’ Blog for more from the Great Lakes Floral Expo 2012!
Yesterday in the blog we shared a little bit about our recent trip to the Tennessee State Florist Association Convention, but today we’re taking you along for the ride!
I (Mandy FSN) kept my video camera with me as I strolled through the convention. I set out to make a video for our florist friends who couldn’t make it to this particular convention, so they could be part of this event too. Hope you enjoy!
Would like to say a special thanks to everyone who helped out with this video!
Terry Chapple
Karen Ramsey from Miller’s Florist in Madison TN
Janet Frye from The Enchanted Florist in Asheville NC
Rae Roberts-Griffith from True Colors Artistry in Springfield IL
Regina Berryman from Horn Lake, MS
Roddy Bird from Roddy’s Flowers in Johnson City TN
And EVERYONE else who was at this year’s Tennessee State Florist Association’s Convention! Hope to see you next year!
Jamie from FSN had a great opportunity to interview Tim Huckabee, president of FloralStrategies at the 2011 SAF Growth Solutions Conference in Dallas. FloralStrategies is the only on-site training program in the entire floral industry that teaches critically important customer care skills. [Read more…]
We just got back from the Illinois State Florist Convention in Springfield IL. The theme was “Let it Rock” and a rockin‘ time was had by all! We enjoyed great presentations, delicious food, and wonderful shopping at the trade show. Above all else, this show had the most floral designs I think I’ve ever seen at one show — table after table of jaw-dropping, show-stopping floral ART!
These shows are so important for florists to come out and be apart of the experience. Not only will you learn all of the NEW things happening in our industry, you will be filled to the brim, if not overflowing with creativity and NEW ideas. While at the show, I met up with Rae Griffith, President of the Illinois State Florists Association. She was kind enough to give me and all of our Flower Shop Network followers a walking tour of the whole show! I wanted our florists who had never been to anything like this to see just what they’re missing! Come on out and recharge your creative batteries at your state floral convention! Be sure to check out the video below! [Read more…]
This year’s Great Lakes Floral Expo was a big hit! Flower Shop Network had a fantastic time meeting many of our Northern florist friends.
In the above video, Loranne Atwill of Flower Shop Network interviews Rod Crittenden, executive vice president of the Michigan Floral Association. Rod tells FSN followers all about the incredible show they’ve set up this year. Florists enjoyed an amazing design contest, 7 design workshops and an all-day workshop by J. Swanke. There were 10 business sessions, 6 stage design shows, and more! (View video on YouTube)
As a florist, it’s so important to stay on our heels when it comes to business. Attending these floral conferences is the best way to stay ahead in this industry.
We can’t wait to see YOU at our next convention!
At the Tennessee State Florist Convention, FSN had the great chance to interview two great marketers in the floral industry, Rick Rivers and Ryan Freeman. They give us ideas on how to expand our ‘ponds’ or online customer base. Also ideas on promoting your shop both on and offline.
Rick encourages florists to build a pond around their customer pool and keep those customers for yourself. You can’t let your competitors fish your pond out! To build this pond, florists can use a multitude of service platforms like social networks, reminder services, great customer service, and staying in touch all year long.
Ryan recommends having your own website, and promote this through other platforms. You can’t put all of your resources into a third party site, like Facebook, because you never know how things are going to change. Use services on and offline to promote your website.
The Harwood Cup Competition at the Southern Retail Florists Convention is a very challenging interpretation competition.
Each contestant has 2 hours to interpret a chosen artwork — in this case, a beautiful raku ceramic vase created by Kerry Gonzalez, Winston-Salem, NC. Designers push their creativity to it’s limits for this challenging competition. Each entry was completely different that the last, from color to materials to size…
Flower Shop Network got to see this competition first-hand over this year. Check out our mini-documentary all about this competition, as well as interviews with the winner and runner up!! Great inspiration for florists everywhere!
This article is brought to you by local Winston-Salem NC florists.
Not in Winston-Salem? Use Flower Shop Network‘s handy directory of real local florists to find a florist near you!
Flower Shop Network and Suzanne Baillie talk about the exciting events going on at the Southern Retail Florists Convention in Concord, NC. Florists from 17 states visit this show— lots of great networking opportunities for florists. There are competitions, hands-on workshops, educational presentations, marketing seminars, and much, much more!
No matter where you live, there is bound to be a floral show near you! We hope every florist has the chance to visit at least one show this year! Just listen to all of the great things you can do:
This post was brought to you by local florists in Concord, NC.
Not in Concord? Use Flower Shop Network‘s handy directory to find YOUR real local florist.
