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  • From: Lynn Jenkins <jenks@iquest.net>
  • To: "Garden Design, Inc" <gardendesign@enter.net>, gardenwriters-on-gardening <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc:
  • Subject: Re: [gwl-g] GWA symposium
  • Date: Fri, 01 Oct 2004 20:28:37 -0500

OK, I'll bite...
 I agree and disagree:
It was a GREAT trade show!  Lots of good info and contacts.
But I really enjoyed the 3 half-day tours.  All day on the bus is a bit too much for me. I didn't know why it was done that way until you mentioned the lack of space, but I would hope all future committees would consider these arrangements. Half day of presentations, and half day of travel works great for me.
Lynn



At 07:16 AM 10/1/2004, you wrote:
Hi all:

    Thank Melanie and Jo Ellen for sparking debate on the recent symposium.
I had a great time because for me it's always been about the networking--and
Long Island's networking was awesome!

    The committee did a great job with the scheduling difficulties with
which they were presented.  Because the trade show space doubled as the
lecture halls, they couldn't have seminars on the days that were set up for
the show.  That meant that the traditional all-day tour format that I've
grown accustomed to had to be changed to three 1/2 day tours.  Not and ideal
situation considering the excessive amount of travel time built into the
planning.  On one six hour tour day, I believe we spent over 4 hours on or
waiting in the bus.

    The first day's photoshoot at Farmingdale was a highlight for me as well
as the entirety of the optional Tuesday tour to Wave Hill, an inner city
neighborhood garden, and the NYBG.  Tuesday tours have always been the best
for me over the last five conferences I've attended.  I especially want to
thank Melanie for her personally guided tour of Planting Fields and Old
Westbury.  It's always nice to have an insider's eye--and it made it
possible to see all of both of them.  We did not have enough time anywhere.

    A note on the Tarr plotz:  When I told the architect/landscape architect
in my office that Tarr was on the tour, they were jealous.  It has won every
major landscape architectural award in the book!  Now that I've seen it, I
have no idea why.  But that's why the members of GWA who saw it should let
other people know.  This award-winning design was about as sterile a garden
as we've ever toured.  The hillside of dying lavender planted in that
geometric grid was horrendous.  I quote Liz Ball when she said, "It looks
like they laid it out to serve as some sort of extraterrestrial pattern to
attract other aliens."  Somebody else thought it looked like Arlington
National Cemetery on a bad day.

    The trade show was one of the best ever.  There were a great group of
new plants to trial.  The new exhibitors were all worthy of the exposure
that they hoped to get.  Even being opened as much as it was, the show was
still a challenge to work.  I didn't manage to talk to everyone.

    The hotel had a great layout for the attendees.  Lots of large spaces to
sit and talk.  But the service was severely lacking.  Jo Ellen's note about
the last night's banquet didn't elaborate enough.  It was embarrassing at
our table.  Half of us were served while the other half waited over an hour.
The house also shorted the pick-up breakfast and lunches on the tour days.
That resulted in the buses leaving late because the kitchen had to pack more
before we could leave.

    The seminars were for me uniformly excellent.  I had the pleasure of
moderating for Tamson Yeh.  She was the most dramatic and dynamic speaker on
bugs and soils that I have even heard.  And her knowledge and intensity were
amazing.  Stephanie Cohen and the man from Hines Horticulture offered a good
round-robin teaming that worked for almost two hours.  That tape would be a
good buy for anyone interested in dozens of the new plants that we should be
selling.  All of the other programs that I attended have already been
covered.

    So, in all, the minor inconveniences of hotel (mis)management didn't in
the least dim the excellent speaking program, interesting tours, the best
trade show and unsurpassed networking.

    Has anyone booked their flight to Vancouver yet?

Kirk R. Brown
Joanne Kostecky Garden Design, Inc
4905 Hamilton Boulevard
Allentown,  PA  18106

610-530-8752
FAX 610-530-8754

www.gardendesigninc.com


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