The Tuesday talks were really uneven they went from the really well done. To completely missing the mark and leave the audience wanting more.
The 1st thing I attended was a talk by Dr. Charles Hall on the Economic Worth of the Industry, the information was well presented, well laid out, and Dr. Hall turned what could have been a very dry talk into a good informative presentation. This study he spoke on, I would guess you could say the numbers and the facts need an entirely different post and I hope to speak to that later this week. Dr. Hall is from the Univ. of Tennessee.
At 9:00 I attended bill Hendrick’s talk on Bamboo. Bill’s talks at the CENTS Show are always a hit and there’s a reason for that-he’s knows his subject matter, he’s passionate about the industry, and his delivery style is well done. Bill can present on any plant and by the time you leave the talk, that plant becomes your favorite. Bill runs Klyn’s Nursery in Perry, OH. One of Ohio’s finest wholesale nurseries. As a small disclaimer, I got to say I have spent a few dollars there for my own personal projects and have specified a lot of Klyn’s material for other clients.
10:00 was a disaster, in my mind anyway, and judging audience reaction I was not alone. I also spoke to several others who ‘sat’ through James Hiss’s talk and were less than overwhelmed-if you know what I mean-know what I mean? Hiss’s talk was titled High End Landscaping-How They Do It.
It should have been 13 minutes on design philosophy, “oh we got a new edition of the book coming out”, and here’s my portfolio of some old residential installs . . . . too long? Probably so, but that’s what they should have called it. At least it would have been truthful. Hiss is a former professor at the Ohio State University, and is one of the principals of the Edge Group.
The Changing Face of the American Gardener presented by Dr. Bridget Behe (Michigan State) was the final lecture of the morning. More statistics, from a well-done survey, done very well. Dr. Behe proclaimed herself as a “statistic’s pig”, but she didn’t have all of us wallowing in numbers. Well done Dr, Behe, well done. I’ll also have more on this with links, when I get home, there’s some information here everyone in the industry should see, at the very least be aware of.
The Whispering Crane Institute 