Dave returns from the windy city.

Tonight I have returned from a trip to Chicago, where I moderated a panel discussion at the winter conference of the Mailorder Gardening Association.

The panel discussion included representatives from eight of the top 30 companies in the Garden Watchdog. Those on the panel were:

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Bluestone Perennials
Brent and Becky's Bulbs
Brushwood Nursery
Garden Crossings
Gardener's Supply
Oakes Daylilies
Old House Gardens

The panel was very well attended, and the participants all did a phenomenal job talking about their companies and why they are successful in this industry. Bravo to you all, and thanks to the MGA for inviting DG back.

dave

Wowzers! Dave way to go and welcome home.

Terrific! Both DG and Plants by Mail FAQ have come a loooong way, baby! :)

Hey Dave, I'm glad you had a good trip! Did you get some Deep Dish??

Next time you will be up in our area, let us in the UpperMidwest Forum know and we will take you out for some killer Deep Dish or Brats, lol.

mg

Did the panel members mention DG?

This message was edited Mar 18, 2006 6:39 PM

Wow, that is fantastic. And what a great plug for DG and the Garden Watchdog! I was glad to see Oakes Daylilies on your post!

Congrats to you Dave! :-D

The panel members did indeed talk about DG. Brushwood and Old House went ON-And-ON about DG and how great it was. Several other members also had much to say about it. DG got tremendous exposure in front of all these companies. Very nice!!

Moderating? Do you know anything about THAT? ROTFLOL

WB Dave! Always happy to know you are safe at home!

So exciting.

I'm always interested in what new happenings are going on with DG out in the garden (commerce) world.

Thanks for telling us about it.

mornin_gayle - we didn't eat any deep dish. In fact, we didn't see the city except from our hotel. We stayed in the hotel the entire time. As soon as the conference was over, we left. Maybe next year we will plan a few extra days for "fun stuff".

dave

Dave
Of course January is the worst time to be there, so you can be forgiven for not sight seeing.
The river boat tour was great and in the summer downtown is just glowing with growing jewels in massive planters their mayor is real proud of.

Welcome Home Dave and thanks for sharing your "what sounds like FUN meetings" with us.

Always glad to hear that DG is getting exposure to all the other people in the plant world :-)

dave,
this has got to be so overwhelming for you at times!! just think a few years ago you started your own online journal and you have managed to become a household name to some of the biggest names in the business!
kudos to you!
jen
p.s. not to mention that i'm proud to be a part of it!

That is just great, Dave. Just be careful when resting on your laurels, you might fall backward into them, break the branches and have to do an emergency pruning job! DG has indeed come a long way from it's humble beginnings. I'm very glad to have been a part of it all these years.

I have to say I don't understand why the MGA holds their winter conference in Chicago and their summer conference in Florida. It would seem much more fun to visit Orlando in January and Chicago in June ;o)

Then again, if they want to make sure everyone is actually attending the conference events (and not out sight-seeing or generally goofing off) then the way they do it makes perfect sense ;o)

So was that snow we got on Friday night for your benefit???

Sounds like you had a good trip!!

Deb

The meeting is always in Chicago in January because there is another show going on at the same time that most of the members also wish to attend. Therefore they plan the MGA conference to coincide with this other conference.

The summer conference is rotated around different cities. This summer, it's in Providence, RI.

Deb: It took me 1.5 hours to get out of Chicago thanks to the freezing rain/snow. Once I got out of town I hit the gas and the cold front chased me all the way home. :)

Dave

OMG, dave... you drove all that way!? Now, that's dedication!

I have to say, I continue to be highly impressed at the effor you put into this "project". Going to conference specifically aimed at one of our major goals is very commendable. I think it'd be easy for someone in your position to say "eh, it's like a BIG hobby... " and not really go to such lengths to keep yourself on top of the goings on in the "mailed plant" world. Kudos, Dave! :)

Sarah

Thanks Sarah. :)

The drive was easy - 14 hours (15 hours down, not counting the time it took to leave the city) thanks to the weather).

It would have taken 8 hours of travel time to fly, so 14 wasn't that big of a difference to me.

dave

I'm a little late adding my congratulations Dave. I too am very glad to be part of such a great organization. Glad you were able to attend and that DG got much deserved notice. Also glad you had a good driving trip after leaving the Windy City.

DonnaS

Congrats again Dave. Just found this. Everything is so new around here. Quite the garden journal. And more impact than ever you coulda dreamed.

What with parking your car, the preflight hour or more in the airport, the flight time, the leaving the airport time, etc etc. sometimes it's a blessing to drive instead. How brave of you to tackle Chicago in the winter.

It's just great that you attended, Dave. DG is so unique in that we have actual contact with you, and I'm sure that online companies feel the same way. I was born and raised about 120 miles east of Chicago, but seldom visited there. I do recall that a winter walk along Lake Street was a 'chilling' experience! Lake Michigan is a force to be reckoned with.

Up until today..we had had over 40 days of above average temps. It was in the upper 40's most of last week, and in the high 30's, low 40's for most of January. I'll take it! Chicago is my home.

Up until today..we had had over 40 days of above average temps. Today, it was average. It was in the upper 40's most of last week, and in the high 30's, low 40's for most of January. I'll take it! Chicago is my home. I'm glad Dave had some "good" weather for his trip.

The thing about Lake Michigan is that it keeps the city cooler in the summer, and warmer in the winter.

Dode.
'

Boy, I was born and raised close to the southern tip of Lake Michigan, and it seemed pretty hot to me! You could have fried eggs on the white sandy beaches! It came to me yesterday, as I was washing dishes, that the name of the famous Chicago street is Lake Shore Drive, not Lake Street! It truly lives up to Chicago's nickname 'The Windy City'.

Dave said: "It took me 1.5 hours to get out of Chicago thanks to the freezing rain/snow"

Sounds like Italy, except not the reasons of freezing snow. We drove to Rome a few years back, it took 2 weeks as a casual drive. A place called Vermicelli we got stuck on a roundabout, cars 3 rows deep all the way around it. A funny rule they have there, cars go to the right but you have to give way to cars FROM the right coming onto the roundabout! We go to the left and give way to the right, that works. It took some time to move off, took the first exit we found, after pushing our way from the centre 'row', that is funny if you have a sense of humour, no-one wants to give way to anyone, imagine cars at all angles crammed nose to tail all hooting at each other!

Rome was OK going in, on Sunday, but going out on Monday evening took 1 and 1/2 hours, it was funny to start with as we couldn't find our way the right way up a divided dual carriageway, kept going around in circles, and each time we came back to the T-junction at the bottom of the slope we encountered little old ladies dressed in black shouting at Fiats as they ignored the Pedestrian crossing, that is usual! From the time we got in the right direction it was bumper to bump all the way.

Pisa was another story, I thought it would be easy, no traffic as such and a smaller place, it took the same time! Kept going around in huge circles, their road signs were a little lacking, what should have been a straight over junction was actually a turning to the right and some distance to a left turn. It got hilarious as we once again faced the mountains! From there it was murderous, 5 hours to do 125 miles, decided to go the auto-route as opposed the scenic.

Nice to have a ramble down memory lane! So Dave does this make us official members of the most important Garden site there is? Great stuff!