2006 GWA Conference

**"Noel Valdes" i*@cobrahead.com**

2006 GWA Conference

I know this is GWL, not GWA.   I would like to comment regarding the 
conference at Valley Forge.  I'm not a garden writer, but I am a gardener 
and a vendor in the "green" industry.

This industry is relatively new to me.  My secure spot is the architectural 
construction industry.  That's an industry still a long way from deserving 
"green" as part of their name.   The engrossing and challenging presentation 
of Mr. McDonough on sustainable design did show that the architectural 
industry has champions for a better path to whatever is ahead.

This is my second conference as a vendor, my son attended 2004 on Long 
Island as an observer/attendee and reported back - "dad, we gotta do this!"

The hotel in Vancouver was better than the hotel in Valley Forge.  Mostly 
for what greeted you when you walked out the front door.  I would rather 
have been in Philadelphia.

I'm surprised that many vendors do not participate in the tours and 
workshops but just do the trade show and get out of town.  I went to a lot 
of the workshops and even though I have different intentions than a writer 
or a photographer, most had interest for me.  If I need another career 
change, I'll opt for garden writing.

The tours were superior venues as far as both networking and seeing standout 
gardens that I would otherwise never see.  I tried to take every tour 
possible.  I outlasted my kids.  If you did it all it was a grueling event.

I did use the shuttle busses in Wilmington, and I didn't find that tour any 
more difficult or any less interesting than any other tour.  They told us 
what was going to be hard work, and there were a lot of volunteer guides 
around.  The afternoon was the hottest of the tour and that did not help.

If they were giving houses on the tour away, I'd take the Sanford estate - a 
pretty slick example of "instant old" architecture.

The parties at Longwood and Chanticleer made me feel like a rich man, having 
a splendid afternoon dinner on the grounds with my rich friends.

I wish I had gone to Valley Forge.  It was across the street from the hotel. 
B.C. Manion from Tampa told me she walked over there from the hotel, but it 
was a harrowing trip across freeways.  Had I thought, I might have taken a 
cab.

Mostly, I had a lot of fun.  The conference worked very well for me and 
apparently for the other vendors I talked with.

I hope my newfound garden industry is moving toward the reality suggested in 
the keynote address.  Architecture and technology are only secondary 
elements in saving the planet, though.  The salvation for humans is to tend 
garden earth with love and hard work.

Noel Valdes
CobraHead LLC
"The Best Tool in Earth"
W9545 Hwy. 18
Cambridge, WI 53523

866-962-6272 toll free
608-423-9119 tel
608-423-4884 fax
info@cobrahead.com
www.cobrahead.com 
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