Education Designed for IGCs -- Supercharge Your Business
-- Choose from many specialized education sessions for collaborative, tried-and-tested solutions

Explore. Learn. Ignite. A Conference Program Designed for You!

Replay of 2022 KeyNote: The Omni-Experiential Future of Retail Marketing
Speaker: Bob Negen, co-founder of Whizbang! Retail Training
Now and in the future, consumers expect many (omni) ways to shop, interact, and buy from a brand. This talk is an exploration of this trend and how to get on the front (and profitable) side of this trend.

Replay of 2022 KeyNote: How to Find Good Employees
Speaker: Tom Shay, Principal, Profits Plus Solutions
Based on this ground work, your staff will develop for you the necessary job descriptions, policies, and procedures required for the successful operation of your business. Tom Shay shares this information based on his extensive 30 years as a small business owner.

Replay of 2022 KeyNote: Brands, Brains and Buying
Speaker: David Kepron architect, artist, author, educator, podcaster
David shares 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.

Review 2022 Conference Programs ..... STAY CONNECTED with Speakers / Supercharge Your Business!

Boot Camp: How to Run a Business That Doesn't Run You!
Do you ever feel like your business has taken over your life? Maybe you thought owning a store would give you more freedom and instead you feel trapped? If you answered "yes!" then this seminar is for you!
Speaker: Bob Negen, co-founder of Whizbang! Retail Training

KeyNote: The Omni-Experiential Future of Retail Marketing
Now and in the future, consumers expect many (omni) ways to shop, interact, and buy from a brand. This talk is an exploration of this trend and how to get on the front (and profitable) side of this trend.
Speaker: Bob Negen, co-founder of Whizbang! Retail Training

Curb Appeal - Getting most out of valuable front-of-house real estate
Impressions and perceptions are formed before they ever drive onto your lot or step into your store. After hearing this presentation, you’ll never look at your storefront the same way again.
Speaker: Lyn Falk, Owner/President, Retailworks, Inc.

How to Master SEO and What to Know About Retargeting
Today small business owners struggle to figure out how to make time for all the marketing activities necessary to stay top-of-mind with customers and get new foot traffic in the door. In this session, Andrea Hill will introduce you to small business automation techniques and tools you can implement right away.
Speaker: Andrea Hill, CEO, Hill Management Group (StrategyWerx)

Opening Up to E-Commerce
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.
Speaker: Ron McCabe, President & Co-Founder, Everbearing Services

Get Your Life Back With Small Business Automation Strategies
Today small business owners struggle to figure out how to make time for all the marketing activities necessary to stay top-of-mind with customers and get new foot traffic in the door. In this session, Andrea Hill will introduce you to small business automation techniques and tools you can implement right away.
Speaker: Andrea Hill, CEO, Hill Management Group (StrategyWerx)

Keynote: How to Find Good Employees
Based on this ground work, your staff will develop for you the necessary job descriptions, policies, and procedures required for the successful operation of your business. Tom Shay shares this information based on his extensive 30 years as a small business owner.
Speaker: Tom Shay, Principal, Profits Plus Solutions

Keynote: Brands, Brains and Buying
David shares 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.
Speaker: David Kepron architect, artist, author, educator, international speaker, podcaster

Dealing with Tough Customers: How to Turn Them Into Loyal Clients
The session will encourage small group discussion, reflection and sharing of scenarios and how to deal with tough customers. This will be facilitated within the framework of how various customer challenges impact business results and employee engagement.
Speaker: Kim Hartmann, Consultant, Hartmann Consulting

2022 Garden Trends: From Crisis to Innovation
Why should you care about trends? It’s simple. Trends drive consumers and consumers drive sales. When you’re ahead of the curve, your company becomes a trendsetter and you become the go to place for what’s new – whether you are a breeder, grower or retailer.
Speaker: Katie Dubow, President, Garden Media Group

Experiential Merchandising: Increase Profits, Create Stronger Visual
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.
Speaker: Joe Baer, Co-Founder and CEO, ZenGenius, Inc

Speak the New Gardeners' Language
Let's keep the 18.3 million new gardeners the industry got last year. Learn how to speak their language. This session shares report highlights, industry implications, and connections with upcoming trends.
Speaker: Katie Dubow, President, Garden Media Group

Lessons of the Decade (so far) and Where They're Taking Us
Panelists/Guests: Lawson Thalmann, Ecommerce & Technology Manager at Chalet. Hearing from other IGC professionals, they'll share lessons we want to take with us into 2023 and ones to leave behind.
Speaker: Susan Markgraf, Chief Adventurer, GreenMark Media

Creating Effective Social Media that Doesn't Drive You Nuts
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!
Speaker: Ron McCabe, President & Co-Founder, Everbearing Services

Lighting, Color, Signage - Critical elements: Are you doing them right
Lighting can make or break a selling environment. Without the right lighting, you’re no doubt losing sales. Color works hand-in-hand with lighting, and makes a difference in how someone perceives your space.
Speaker: Lyn Falk, Owner/President, Retailworks, Inc.

Meeting the Needs of Today's Garden Center Customers
Now more than ever, people are getting outside, enjoying nature and getting more involved in gardening. In this panel discussion, we will listen to four typical garden center consumers discuss their expectations and needs for their local garden center.
Speaker: Kim Hartmann, Consultant, Hartmann Consulting

Embracing Change Begins with a Story
Understand why strategic storytelling for business matters, get the basics for telling your brand's story and learn why, if you aren't telling your brand's story strategically, you should be.
Speaker: Susan Markgraf, Chief Adventurer, GreenMark Media

KEYNOTE: Where Can I Find Good Employees
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.
Speaker: Tom Shay, Principal, Profits Plus Solutions

Are Shipping Rates Killing You
Learn everything you need to know about shipping. Get the insights from Gretchen as she presents and interviews representatives from R&L Carriers and JA Frate.
Speaker: Gretchen Peczkowski, Owner, Steel Heart, LTD

Reaching the Techno Kids Generation
You're less likely to bring them into your center, so how do you reach them. Get back to sustainable self reliance with the power of web based apps, including social media, podcasting, video training and more!
Speaker: Mike O'Rourke and Scott Sandstrom, Your Midwest Garden Podcast

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