A total of 1,800 attendees came to Elevate, held at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, from Sept. 18 to 21. The event was the first standalone conference presented by the National Association of Landscape Professionals, Fairfax, Virginia.
Landscape contractors met to network with other professionals and learn new approaches to the industry from instructors, covering topics such as developing good hiring practices, using battery-powered equipment and maximizing efficiency in design.
“I came to get some fresh ideas and some help with recruiting and retention,” says Heidi Clark, exterior and holiday manager at Growing Green Inc., St. Louis. “We’re just trying to find the best way to get valuable employees and get them to stay.”
The education sessions ran Monday through Wednesday of the conference before the opening of the show floor, giving contractors the opportunity to focus on building industry knowledge and get hands-on time with products.
“The education sessions today have been really good. There’s a lot of good information there,” says Chris Coley, director of operations at Paulk Landscaping Inc., Cochran, Georgia.
In addition to the general education sessions and the show floor, the conference offered peer-to-peer sessions and the NALP’s Breakfast with Champions roundtable discussions.
“There are a lot of great sessions this week on safety and how to build the culture that you want,” says Andrew Tilley, landscape professional at White Pearl Management, Washington, D.C. “That’s been very helpful for me. Everybody’s so friendly in this industry, it’s just cool to be with people who are trying to help us succeed.”
Attendees could also be part of a company tour of a Massey Services facility or watch the Ultimate Green Battle, a quiz show styled after Family Feud but covering landscape and green industry topics.
Next year’s Elevate conference will be held Sept. 10 to 13, 2023, at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Conference center in Dallas.
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