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2011 IGC Show Keynotes

Navy Pier Ballroom, Navy Pier, Chicago    Free to All Attendees

 

Thursday, August 18   9 – 10 am

IGC CELEBRITY KEYNOTE

Paco Underhill, Retail Visionary    Presented by 

“What Women Want”

“Consumer is King,” or should we say, “Queen!” Women account for 80 percent of independent garden centers’ customer base. You need to know what they want in order to profit. And what she’s looking for is cleanliness, control, safety and considerateness, according to retail visionary Paco Underhill.

 

 His latest book, What Women Want: The Global Market Turns Female Friendly, analyzes the ways women’s choices are changing the retail environment, and warns retailers who ignore their preferences do so at their own peril.

 

Underhill, Founder of Envirosell, a marketer to major retailers including Microsoft, McDonald’s and Adidas, is an internationally renowned author and speaker on consumer behavior and trends, and one of the era’s leading shopping anthropologists. His groundbreaking bestseller, Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, published in 27 languages, is a staple for retailers worldwide. During his IGC keynote, “What Women Want,” Underhill turns the focus on just how important women are to your bottom line. What makes garden center products, packaging, shopping environments and services female-friendly? With the same flair and humor that made his previous books universally appealing, he examines how a woman’s role as homemaker has evolved into homeowner, and what women look for in their home and garden. “Paco Underhill is Sherlock Holmes for retailers … . This sleuth makes shoppers view stores with more critical eyes,” writes Trish Donnally of the San Francisco Chronicle. Don’t miss this opportunity to take a fresh look at the way you should be selling to your primary customer base. FREE TO ALL ATTENDEES

 

 

Tuesday, August 16   1 – 2 pm

P. Allen Smith, Garden Media Celebrity    Presented by

“Do You Really Know Your Customer?  Consumer Trends in the Marketplace”

P. Allen Smith is among America’s most recognized and respected garden design experts. He is the host of the public television program P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home and the syndicated television show P. Allen Smith Gardens, as well as a regular guest contributor on NBC’s Today show. He is the author of the bestselling Garden Home series of books, including his most recent, P. Allen Smith’s Seasonal Recipes from the Garden. He appears frequently in national publications, including The New York Times, Woman’s Day, Home, House Beautiful and Southern Accents. As a fourth generation nurseryman who owned and operated his own garden center, Smith gained a decade of practical experience guiding the gardening public before launching his media career.

 

During his IGC keynote, “Do You Really Know Your Customer? Consumer Trends in the Marketplace,” Smith examines the ever-evolving retail customer, and zeros in on the real-world ways your garden center can engage them so they spend more at your store. Homeowners are staying put and looking for ways to improve their outdoor spaces for recreational purposes, he’ll explain. They are adapting to the economy by learning new money-saving skills like gardening and cooking and by taking on more DIY projects - all potential profit centers for IGCs. Garden centers have an unprecedented opportunity to engage customers and increase sales with user-friendly, well-priced merchandise, Smith says, and to establish relationships that will last for generations to come. Learn how during this eye-opening presentation. FREE TO ALL ATTENDEES

Wednesday, August 17   9 – 10 am

Larry Winget, The Pitbull of Personal Development    Presented by 

“Truth Be Told”

Larry Winget, trademarked “The Pitbull of Personal Development” and “The World’s Only Irritational Speaker,” is an in-your-face author, TV personality and professional speaker on the topics of money, personal success and business. The five-time New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author is the star of A&E’s television hit Big Spender, and has starred in his own PBS special. He has commanded the spotlight on CNBC’s The Millionaire Inside, NBC’s Today show, Larry King Live and The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, and is a frequent contributor on MSNBC, FOX News and FOX Business.

For those who can handle the brutal truth and want to be challenged to take your life and garden center business to the next level, look no further than Larry Winget’s IGC keynote, “Truth Be Told,” featuring wake-up calls to action from his bestselling books Shut Up, Stop Whining & Get a Life; It’s Called Work for a Reason; and People are Idiots and I Can Prove It!

 

Winget’s aggressive and intense style doesn’t try to comfort his listeners, it confronts them to make changes and take control. He believes work is the key to success, not talking about work, having meetings about work or writing reports about work - just work. This motivating, thought-provoking hour will leave you fired up and ready to take on next season with a gameplan for success. FREE TO ALL ATTENDEES