ALEXANDRIA, VA — Ready to hit the ground running in 2018?
For a jolt of energy and education, join your peers and some of the brightest minds in the industry on Sunday, January 14, in Omaha, Nebraska, for the next stop in the Society of American Florists' popular 1-Day Profit Blast series.
"We're thrilled to continue spreading advice to help florists increase their profitability and to become better acquainted with our members in the Midwest," said SAF CEO Kate Penn.
Sponsored by the Bill Doran Company, the Omaha event packs design, sales, technology and management education into an 8-hour program, along with a Supplier Showcase where floral industry vendors share their newest products.
"We feature some of the best speakers on the topics florists tell us are most important to them: the ones that ultimately impact their bottom line," Penn said.
Omaha's event will feature the following:
- Fourth-generation florist Laura Daluga, AIFD, of The Department of Floristry in Ann Arbor, Michigan, will share enchanting designs that maximize negative space and thoughtful ways to appeal to consumers' emotions in "Exceeding the Demands of Today's Gift Givers," a presentation sponsored by Smithers-Oasis.
- Paul Goodman, CPA, MBA, PFCI, author of "The Profit Minded Florist" and a Floral Management columnist, will offer tips to increase efficiency in his presentation, "A Roadmap for Profitable Deliveries."
- Rakini Chinery, AAF, AzMF, of Allan's Flowers in Prescott, Arizona, has made increasing her online visibility a top priority and has consequently converted a number of third-party shoppers to direct clients, drastically improving profitability and customer satisfaction. She'll explain how she did it in "Driving Local Orders to Your Shop."
- Sales and customer service guru Tim Huckabee, the founder of FloralStrategies, will break down bad habits that drag sales numbers and simple tweaks to reverse them in "Smart Selling LIVE."
Since launching the conference in 2014, SAF has brought Profit Blast to Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Cincinnati, Columbus, Des Moines, Denver, Philadelphia, Louisville and Seattle.
Penn is quick to give credit to the underwriting wholesalers for the fact that the conference has traveled to so many cities.
"We developed this event so we could give SAF members affordable and schedule-friendly access to the kind of high-quality education we offer at our annual convention," she said. "But in order to keep the registration rate low ($139 for the first member registrant and $99 for additional registrants from the same company), we rely on wholesaler partners to help underwrite the costs."
The Bill Doran Company is sponsoring SAF 1-Day Profit Blast in Omaha with Hortica sponsoring the Networking Breaks and Lunch. Previous underwriters have included DWF Wholesale, Frank Adams, Greenleaf and DVFlora. In addition, Syndicate Sales, Rio Roses, Smithers-Oasis and Design Master color tool, Inc. have sponsored the design program at several of the previous events.
Past attendees have described the event as a quick shot in the arm that rejuvenated their attitude and approach toward their business.
"I was finally able to take advantage of SAF Profit Blast and I'm so glad I did," said Connie Butler, of Botamer Florist & More in Elyria, Ohio, about the Columbus program last year. "The presentations were entertaining, fresh and informative. My enthusiasm for my business is back."
Janet Killian, of Killian Florist in Laramie, Wyoming, had a similar experience in Denver. "The time spent gaining better information, new techniques for sales, and bottom line basics was worth the registration fee many times over," she said.
SAF 1-Day Profit Blast in Omaha will be at the Omaha Marriott Hotel. The early-bird registration fee is $139 for members and $189 for non-members, and just $99 for additional registrants from the same company. For more information and to register, go to safnow.org/1-day-profit-blast.
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About SAF
The Society of American Florists is the leading organization representing all segments of the floral industry. SAF is proud to provide marketing, business and government services to its members, including growers, wholesalers, retailers, suppliers, importers, educators, designers and allied organizations. The association was chartered by an act of Congress in 1884. To learn more about SAF or to join, visitsafnow.org.
Source: The Society of American Florists
