The Nursery/Landscape Expo was held on August 8th through 10th this year in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas, and featured a Wizard of Oz theme. Rather than AMAROK exhibiting at a booth this year, we decided I would attend the show on foot to see what I could find. This was a great choice for really taking in all the exhibits, which I might have missed otherwise.
Contrary to my expectation, there seemed to be a minority presence of landcare companies. A few of them were scattered about, but most exhibitors were growers and dealers. Don’t worry, it’s not how it sounds. There were growers of magnolia trees, live oaks, ferns, flowers, etc. And the dealers were manufacturers and wholesalers who sell landscaping and construction machines to businesses like United Rentals, Sunbelt, Brightview, Yellowstone, etc.
I compared the full Top 100 Landcare Companies with the list of exhibitors and only ONE was listed—#3, The Davey Tree Expert Company. I walked over to their booth to give them a big congratulations on ranking #3 on the list! They thanked me but one of the three booth attendees looked a little puzzled. I figured he was unaware of the ranking and continued, “I also want to congratulate you for being the ONLY one of the top 100 to be here today!” Then, one gentleman said, “Thank you! But I think you have the wrong company.” I said, “No? Davey Tree Expert Company, right?” Then, they pointed to the booth next to them. Welp, 0 for 0.
They noted they would happily accept the trophy and prize! I explained I wasn’t the trophy-giver-outer but, we could pretend they were with Davey Tree and snap a picture to celebrate. Hey, I’m convinced.
Walking the show was very educational. I learned one of the soil businesses in attendance was experiencing their vehicles constantly being stripped of parts, and they were sure that, “Security is the topic right now.” Then there was a nursery that continued to have many plants stolen—they were ready to give us an ear and learn about our layered security.
One equipment manufacturer has even benefited from their own customer’s misfortune. Their customer had experienced EIGHT large losses due to break-ins, meaning more orders for the equipment manufacturer, but hard times for their customer. We exchanged information in the hopes AMAROK could help relieve that pain for their customers. I’m not sure if they realize when we eliminate their customer’s theft issues, they will receive less re-orders but…I wasn’t going to go into detail.
All in all, this was a successful show. I look forward to building more connections and growing our presence in this industry in the days to come!
Here’s a little peak of the expo… and my dog, Zoey, looking just like Toto!
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