The Society of American Florists harbinger its premiere in - person events for 2024 , open to floral residential district member from all manufacture segments .
Next Gen LIVE ! , February 25 - 27 , San DiegoSAF is build on the achiever of the preceding two Next Gen LIVE ! conference and taking the event to the West Coast , where flowered pros 45 and under will tour flower farms , connection , and hang educational sessions tailored for their coevals , by their generation . The Next Gen LIVE ! 2023 conference in June drew 180 untried retailers , wholesalers , importers , cultivator , breeders , and manufacturers to Miami , where they got a glimpse into the spell scene , tour several Miami - are progressive floral shops , and hang educational school term focused on leadership , communicating , societal media science and more .
“ All of the sessions were dead incredible , but I think the thing that convert me the most was being around so many like - disposed individual — especially people so tight to my age , ” says Danae McKenna of Radebaugh Florist and Greenhouses in Towson , Maryland . “ To be around all of those people that can share their experience and give me advice on how they deal thing was just unbelievable . ”The event is unparalleled because it expose new floral professional to different facets of the industry and enable them to develop leaders skills and net with peers , which can assist keep them in and excited about the diligence , tell SAF CEO Kate Penn . “This event addresses a strategical priority for our manufacture : engaging the next generation of gift , ” Penn suppose . “ It ’s something the intact industriousness can really embrace because the achiever of the industry reckon on it . ”44th Annual Congressional Action Days , March 18 - 19 , Washington , D.C.Floral professionals will continue their study on Capitol Hill in March during Congressional Action Days , where in 2022 , they successfully lobbied for and fasten a $ 1 million increase in annual funding for the Floriculture Nursery & Research Initiative . During the March 2023 event , attendees successfully lobby to protect that increment in FNRI financing for the financial yr 2024 budget despite cuts across other domesticated spending syllabus . They also discussed the need to reform agrarian labor , put up access to duty - liberal flowers , and renew the Farm Bill , which provides funding for innovations , enquiry , and catastrophe relievo for long suit crops . At CAD 2024 , Farm Bill renewal talks will likely be front and inwardness on Capitol Hill and be at the top of the tilt of SAF ’s legislative asks . “Our legislators need to listen about the issues impact the flowered industry , ” President Michelle Castellano Keeler , AAF , says . “ We need as many voices as possible to join us and deal our priorities face up to face with Congressional government agency — especially in an election year . ”SAF Miami 2024 , August 6 - 9 , MiamiSAF ’s 139th one-year convention in 2024 is happening a month earlier than common at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa in Aventura , Florida . The date was lurch to early August in response to feedback that September is a meddlesome time of year with wedding and back to schooling , Penn says . “We go for that this clock time of yr makes it easier for our manufacture to step away from the clientele for a few days – and peradventure even add on a vacation while they ’re there , ” she say . SAF ’s one-year pattern features more than two XII educational sessions , the Sylvia Cup Design Competition , the Outstanding Varieties Competition , a Supplier Expo , and countless chance to web . “SAF ’s convention is one of the only places I know of where all floral manufacture segments come together to learn and get a better understanding of each role in the provision chemical chain , ” says Amy Desperito of Natural Flowers . “ The educational depicted object is exceeding , and the vigor is electrical ! ”
For more information : SAFsafnow.org
