Every year, the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) hosts an event called “Landscapes” (relaunched as Elevate for 2022). This event is one of the largest in the industry and provides classes, continuing education opportunities, and thought leadership talks to key members of landscape teams across the country.
This year, I was able to attend for the first time!
The event itself is overwhelming in the best sort of way. Not only does the NALP host the Landscapes event but together with a couple of other industry associations, they also host an enormous tradeshow expo. At any given time, there are thousands of people walking around the tradeshow floor and attending demonstrations and classes.
While the tradeshow and expo were exciting, by far the most valuable part for me was the opportunity to meet and learn from some of the most successful people in the landscape industry.
After leaving this event, it took me a full week to process all of the information I had gathered!
Once I was able to digest all that I had learned, my takeaways for myself and for our team were simple:
- Focus on our customers (you!) with clear and consistent messaging, offering more curated options for all services, and dedicating our team to nurturing the relationships we have built with our existing customers. Every year, we look at ways to improve your experience with us — whether that's through our designer's, manager's and crew leader's relationships with you or updating our property care plans.
- Focus on conscious and intentional innovation by identifying ways to simplify and streamline behind the scenes, looking at new technology that can help us do that, and thinking creatively about problem-solving across the company. Recently we've innovated sustainably by launching our Husqvarna Automower program, investing in smart irrigation technology and going public with our plans to go electric by 2024.
- Focus on growing our team through comprehensive training, clear paths for individual and team growth, and recruiting amazing new team members.
I walked away from “Landscapes” in awe of the industry as a whole. The people leading the way in landscaping, our owner Pam Dooley included, are forward-thinking problem-solvers who revel in the challenge of bringing an industry not often thought of as particularly innovative into a new era.
Overall, it was an incredible event that I feel privileged to have been able to attend. I even loved it so much that I have volunteered to be a part of the planning committee for next year’s event!
