I have been speaking with some of our members recently and find it encouraging to hear how busy so many of you currently are in the lead up to Christmas. There are so many opportunities that you can take advantage of including sprucing up existing contracts and offering living seasonal decorations.
Your board has been very busy over the past months and have ‘Great News’!! Recently we approached Greenlife Industries Australia (GIA and formerly the Nursery and Garden Industry Australia) about providing a speaker at their ‘Healthy Plants Healthy People’ national conference which will be held in Perth 3-5th March www.greenlifeindustry.com.au
Current Board Member Gabrielle Stannus put forward a fantastic and comprehensive submission and was successful. The line-up of speakers at these conferences are always excellent and Gabrielle will do us proud. Congratulations to Gabrielle for a massive effort, I will be attending the conference in my role as Editor of Hort Journal Australia, and I look forward to being there to hear and support Gabrielle. I urge you all to think about attending this conference, we are a part of this industry and we need to be represented at this high level.
Congratulations also to Tropical Plant Rentals who won a 40 Year Recognition Award at the Nursery and Garden Industry NSW & ACT. Well done!
As the year is quickly coming to an end, we are trying to fit so many things in. Clients who want everything done before Christmas, even if they only thought to book in recently! Social events are popping up everywhere and deadlines to meet. As we try to be everything to everyone take a moment to take a breath and focus on what is most important.
I attended a book launch last week by a young and very successful business lady named Tina Tower. Her book is called ‘One Life’ In it she talks about the highs and lows of being in business and the importance of time management and doing what is most important first. The crux of the book though is about the fact that you only get one life and therefore focusing on what is important to you and your values. We waste a lot of time being ‘busy’ which Tina says is more about wasting time on things that are not important or relevant to your business. Tina also mentioned asking for help as many people think we can do it all and don’t want to ask for help. I couldn’t put the book down and it has made me think hard about my planning for 2020. Have a look at her website www.tinatower.com
Speaking of asking for help. It is the aim of the board to increase our membership to make the Interior Plantscape Association stronger, more financial and carry a bigger voice. We need your help to do this. You can do this by being involved and engaged with our association. Have you thought about asking your suppliers to become an allied member? Think about it, if each member manages to get just one more member, we double the size of our association. If you know of any suppliers that would be interested please let us know info@interiorplantscape.asn.au
Plans are still underway for our study tour to Singapore in the lead up to the Singapore Garden Festival, we are having a meeting with the Singaporeans to finalise logistics. Will keep you posted. Numbers are limited so if you are keen start saving. Once announced it will be first in best dressed!
I wish everyone a very Happy Christmas with some time to appreciate the rejuvenating benefits of plants, and a New Year filled with fresh opportunities!
Karen Smith – 2019 President
(M) 0425 349 137