Sep 25, 2017
GardenPRO Conference Debuts at Northwest Flower & Garden Show

The producers of the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, Feb. 7-11, 2018, are introducing a new, one-day conference during the 30th annual show at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.

Set for Friday, Feb. 9, the inaugural GardenPRO Conference will spotlight topics of interest to professionals in all areas of the green industry: landscape architects, garden book authors, horticulturists, garden designers, bloggers, arborists, garden media personalities, nursery owners and emerging garden professionals. The event will be held in The Conference Center in the Convention Center.

Plantsman Timothy Walker, a 2018 Show Judge and the former director of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, leads off the conference with his keynote presentation, “The Healing Power of Plants.”

Leadership speaker Matt Walker, author of “Adventure in Everything,” closes the conference with his inspirational “High Performance Living Every Day.”

In addition to the opening and closing presentations, GardenPRO Conference attendees may select from three seminars held during each of the three concurrent sessions throughout the day. Professional organizations have pre-approved the conference for continuing education units (CEU’s), including APLD (up to 8 sessions approved); CPH (7 credits); EcoPRO (5 credits) and LIC (5 credits).

Topics include “Romancing the Zone: Transplanting Life from Zone 4 to Zone 9” with 2018 Show Judge, Portland designer and horticulturist Bob Hyland; “Pitch Perfect: Polishing Your Writing Craft to Sell Your Ideas,” with former Sunset Magazine Garden Editor Kathy Brenzel, designer and author Susan Morrison, author Mary-Kate Mackey and author and publicist Katie Elzer-Peters; “Aligning Your Business with Today’s Garden Trends” is presented by Garden Media Group founder Suzi McCoy and creative director Katie Dubow. “Social Outreach: Crafting a Strategy for Increasing and Engaging Social Media Followers” includes author Debra Prinzing, author and blogger Stephanie Rose, Corona Tools digital marketing manager Chris Sabbarese and Katie Elzer-Peters.

The big line-up continues with “A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for a New Garden Future” presented by Benjamin Vogt,designer and author of the upcoming book, A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future; “From Meh to Wow: Take Photos to Really Sell Your Work” with photographer David Perry; “Creating a SITES Certified Garden” with Debra Guenther, FASLA, a 2018 Show Judge and partner at Mithun; and attorney Mike Atkins presents “Intellectual Theft: Best Practices in Protecting Your Work and Brand.”

Learn about “Getting the Most From Your Professional Certifications,” with moderator Will Bailey, LICM, EcoPro, and panelists Heather Harris, CPH, owner/operator of Calluna Fine Gardening; Lisa Port, APLD designer and owner of Banyon Tree Design; and Jay Nyce, CIC, CLIA, designer and co-owner of Nyce Gardens.

For more information and updates about the 2018 GardenPRO Conference, visit www.seattlegardenpro.com.