2017 Management Institute - Thoughts from a First Time Attendee

Laura Jacobs, Jacobson Floral

Laura JacobsThis was my first Management Institute, and as a newbie to the floral industry, my first experience with WF&FSA. I was incredibly impressed with the event from start to finish. I applied for the Mike Garcia Scholarship and, to my great honor, I was selected as the 2017 recipient. As a result, WF&FSA gifted my hotel accommodations and my registration fee! The Embassy Suites was great, and it was so fun being located in downtown Denver.

The Management Institute started with a field trip outside and around Denver to wholesalers, a grower, and a floral shop. The opportunity to go behind the scenes of other industry businesses was invaluable especially as I build my understanding of the floral world. The field trip was also a fun way to start to meet the people I would be spending the following two days with at the educational presentations and networking events.

The educational presentations were held on site at the Embassy Suites ballrooms. The topics included driving and increasing sales, inventory control, and employee retention practices. The speakers were incredibly engaging and knowledgeable and the content was absolutely relevant to my company, Jacobson Floral. The presenters made themselves available to answer specific questions and strategize solutions for Jacobson’s challenges.

The networking events were outstanding. Every meal provided was an impressive spread and dinner was served with beer and wine. One night, local breweries hosted a tasting of their microbrews accompanied by hors d’oeuvres, carving stations, and a mashed potato bar (omg!).

At the end of the three day event, I made dozens of connections, learned new ways to tackle my company’s challenges, and had an amazing time doing it. I left the 2017 WF&FSA Management Institute inspired and ready to impart lasting change on my company. The WF&FSA staff was awesome, helpful, and so positive. I cannot recommend this experience enough.

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2 Comments

Sandra Cortes   on Tuesday 08/22/2017 at 12:18 PM

Hi Laura,

I totally agree with you. The
speakers showed to have a high-level expertise in their topics, and offered us
innovative ideas that we can share and apply in our job. In addition, every day turned very interesting. The road trip was a great idea to make new business connections not only
with other attendees, but also with owners and workers of other floral business.
I also recommend any member
to attend.

It was nice meeting you!


MARLA O'DELL   on Tuesday 08/22/2017 at 05:21 PM

Glad you got so much out of Management Institute Laura! The scholarship was well deserved and your blog was nicely written and a great recap.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the comments shown above are those of the individual comment authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of this organization.