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Re: New Flower show in the works for NY area

Title: Re: [GWL] New Flower show in the works for NY area
FWIW, I once did a Google on the Far West show here in Portland and was surprised when one of the hits was for a site that was something being used by the organizers to list all the companies displaying at the show, complete with contact information and any URL's.  I assume it was done as a way for the various people working on the show to keep track of the displayers and have the info easily accessible.   If this has been done for a lot of shows, it might be a way to find good displayers for your shows.    
   So start Googling other shows and see what you find.
-Lon Rombough

I spent a number of years in the planning group for the Philadelphia Flower Show in the 90¹s.  Just some observations for you to consider in starting a new Flower Show.  

The success of the Philadelphia Flower Show is largely a function of having a dozen or more very large, very extravagant landscape type floral displays presented by large landscape companies in the Philly area.  October is an unusual time for a flower show, but it may be easier to get several large landscape companies to join the new effort since they don¹t have to force so much stuff that is out of season.  I would give them free space and let them try to outdo each other and have prizes for the winners.  

The trade show is as much of a consumer draw as are the exhibits.  Almost half of the trade booths are companies, local and national, selling unusual plants; stuff you don¹t see in the local garden center; e.g. bonsai, orchids, tropicals, cactus, etc.  Being October, those people might be more available than in the spring when there are shows to work all over the place.  Those folks will pay money for the space and give the show a percentage of sales.

The garden club competitions at the Philly show are fiercely competitive.  Not only do they offer some pretty impressive displays, the clubs serve as part of the network getting the word out to the surrounding communities about coming to the show.  You don¹t make any money directly, but indirectly they become a powerful public relations arm.  

The book signing is a good idea; the folks at Philly go one step farther and all the authors have at least one hour to give a lecture around the subject of the book.  The authors don¹t get paid for these programs, but then their book is on sale during the whole show and they can sit and sign as long as they wish. These lectures become another important draw for the audience.  People time their coming to the show against the list of speeches.  There should be a good number of garden writers with current books living between Boston and Philadelphia, within driving distance to Long Island.  
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