Annual Meeting - Program Schedule
Thursday, August 15
PRE-SYMPOSIUM WORKSHOP:
12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Pre-Symposium Presentation Workshop ($65) *Limited Availability
Selling the Excitement: Developing and Delivering Vibrant Presentations
This workshop will show you many tricks of the professional speaking trade that will guarantee repeat bookings and rave reviews. Learn how to perfect your presentations and better market yourself to broader audiences. Find out how to craft stories that make your points “sticky,” add original humor, improve visuals, and refine your body language. Discover how to make all your topics resonate with any audience. Presenter: C.L. Fornari, author, speaker, host of GardenLine on WXTK.
Friday, August 16
PRE-SYMPOSIUM WORKSHOP:
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Pre-Symposium Presentation Workshop Cont.
8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Trade Show Move-in, The Québec City Convention Centre, Canada
11:00 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. Conference Registration Opens
Name badge holders sponsored by Osmocote Plant Food (www.plantersplace.com) and lapel pins sponsored by Sun Gro Horticulture (www.blackgold.bz).
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Regional Meetings
Join your Regional and National Directors and other regional members to discuss current GWA events and to find out what is happening in your region.
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. First-Timer & Mentor Reception (1st Time Meeting Attendees Only)
The GWA Annual Symposium is an extremely busy event and having a mentor can be very helpful if this is your 1st time attending. Come meet some long-time GWA symposia attendees who can give you pointers on how to maximize your meeting experience and opportunities.
3:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Garden Products Information Exhibit Opens
With over 60 booths, the 2013 Garden Products Information Exhibit is the perfect opportunity to learn about new products and to network with new and old friends. Also, stop by the Garden Writers Association Foundation booth to learn more about the spectacular prize drawings. Computer sponsored by Sun Gro Horticulture (www.blackgold.bz) and iPad sponsored by The Davey Tree Expert Company (www.davey.com).
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Reception in Exhibit Hall
The exhibit reception will offer a wine and beer bar.
7:30 p.m. Exhibit Closes; Dinner on your own
Saturday, August 17
7:00 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. Breakfast @ The Québec City Convention Centre
Sponsored by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (www.scotts.com).
8:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. Keynote Opening Session Québec City, World Heritage City
With its fortification walls, narrow winding streets and historic buildings, Québec City is renowned for its beauty and history. In 1985, Québec City became the first city on the continent to be placed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO. Besieged six times in its history, Québec City was finally conquered by the British in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759. Capital of New France, then capital of British North America, Québec City is, today, the heart of French culture in North America. Discover four centuries of history and horticultural traditions: from the gardens of 17th – and 18th – century of French aristocrats; to the gardens of Catholic religious institutions established in Québec City City during the early 1600s; to the estates of well-to-do 19th century British wood merchants and shipbuilders; to the fine public gardens of today. This lecture is richly illustrated with historic maps, illustrations and superb photographs. Presenter: David Mendel, President of Mendel Tours.
9:15 a.m. Coffee Break
Concurrent Sessions
9:45 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Elsie Reford’s Garden Paradise: the Story of Les Jardins de Métis
Elsie Reford created one of Québec City's storied gardens. She transformed a fishing lodge into an ornamental garden on a large scale. Open to the public for fifty years, the gardens are a national historic site. Alexander Reford, great grandson of the founder and current director of the gardens, will present the unique story of Reford Gardens and their recent development. Presenter: Alexander Reford, Les Jardins de Métis.
GWA’s Sustainable Gardening Virtual Library Demo
The Sustainability Committee takes the wraps off GWA’s virtual library. Find out how GWA is positioning itself to take a leadership role in sustainable gardening education by partnering with public and private non-profit educational institutions (public gardens, arboreta, etc.), academic institutions, government agencies, and professional associations to create a centralized information hub where members and consumers can access a vast and diverse array of vetted information. Presenter: Lois de Vries, Freelance, Chair GWA Sustainability Committee.
An Eye for i: Phone Photos With Power
iPhones and other smartphones are ever-ready cameras, always ready to play. Learn how to get the most out of your phone camera at the time you tap the shutter and then how to enhance your photos using apps like Camera+ and SnapSeed before sharing them on your blog or Facebook page. Photo basics like composition and seeing the light matter. So does a playful spirit and the freedom to experiment. Presenter: Mark Turner, Turner Photographics.
Concurrent Sessions
11:15 a.m. -12:15 p.m.
Let's Talk Plants
Join Melinda and Nicholas as they interview a series of guests about new plant introductions. This lively presentation will be quick-paced in order to showcase as many plants as possible. Learn about the hottest new plants you’ll be able to write about this season and next. The guests will discuss regional appropriateness, best attributes, and commercial viability of each plant. You’ll love this marathon of exciting new plants. Panelists: Nicholas Staddon, Monrovia and Melinda Myers, freelance.
More Than a Picture: Learn How to Engage With Visually-driven Social Media
Social media can offer unexpected revenue streams. Mary Ann Newcomer and Katie Dubow will show how you can use Pinterest, Instagram, Sulia and other new forms of social media to ramp up your online presence. Doing so can:
· Offer your company new ways to display product information and news
· Help a nursery interact directly with its customers
· Promote a garden show to a much larger audience
· Assist you in ways to sell your book or display your articles online
Also, learn how to create a core group of industry professionals who assist each other online. Crowd sourcing isn't just for creative content. Instead, it's a way to spread the love. Panelists: Mary Ann Newcomer, Idaho Gardener and Katie Dubow, Garden Media Group.
Niche Writers Share Secrets to Success
What do other niche writers know that garden communicators don't? This session answers that question by uncovering the most effective business strategies used by successful writers in a number of different specialties, like travel, technology, finance, food, home and parenting. This multimedia presentation is sure to spark creative connections across genres. Presenter: Jodi Torpey, WesternGardeners.com.
12:15 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Grand Gardens Story Tour & Lunch (box lunch at the Convention Centre)
Today’s tours will take you on a round-robin circuit of three of Québec City’s largest gardens, all in Sainte-Foy, to the west of the Old City.
The Roger-Van den Hende Botanical Gardens, Québec City’s only official botanical garden, began as a teaching garden for the students of the Faculty of Laval University. The garden covers 15 acres on a wind-blown plateau and displays over 4,000 species of plants. The heart of the garden is the Herbacetum, a systematic garden where plants are laid out according to their family. But there is also an arboretum, water garden, rose garden, ericacetum, a climbing plant collection, annual trial gardens, a compost demonstration area and much more.
Parc du Bois de Coulonge garden dates back to 1653, when the third Governor of New France, Louis d’Ailleboust, decided to establish a private estate outside of the city. The mansion burned to the ground in 1966. The government decided not to rebuild the mansion, but instead eventually opened the estate as a vast public park. It currently represents a 19th century English landscape garden with woodland gardens, orchard, bowling green, collections of groundcovers and working sugar bush.
Domaine Cataraqui, a former private 24-acre estate, was only officially opened to the public in the fall of 2010. The recently restored gardens offer vast lawns, an arboretum, a rock garden, a rose garden and a vast kitchen garden now supplying Moisson Québec, Québec City’s main food bank.
4:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Final Exhibition Period
Don’t miss the final exhibition period to continue to network and learn about new and exciting products.
6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Reception in Exhibit Hall
The exhibit reception will offer a wine and beer bar.
7:30 p.m. Exhibit closes; Dinner on your own
Sunday, August 18
6:00 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. Early Morning Photo Shoot Departs for South Shore (Must Register in Advance)
8:00 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. South Shore Story Tour with Breakfast & Lunch
It’s off to the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River today, starting with Domaine Joly-de Lotbinière. Photographers will be able to catch an early bus while the rest of the group will follow.
Domaine Joly-de Lotbinière, founded in 1828, was notably the home of Sir Henri-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière, Premier of the Province of Québec from 1878 to 1879. A passionate horticulturist, he turned his vast estate into a trial garden for new and exotic plants. In his most famous experiment, he imported 10,000 black walnut seeds (Juglans nigra), a species not considered hardy enough to survive in the Québec region (Zone 3b), from the northernmost limit of its range, hoping to acclimate this noble tree.
Only a few hundred survived the harsh winters, but from them was established a hardy strain that is widely grown. In fact, if you seea black walnut growing anywhere in Canada, it probably had its origins here. Some 100 ancient walnut trees from the original experiment still tower over the estate today. Today Domaine Joly-de Lotbinière continues to experiment with new plants and you’ll be able to visit not only its trial gardens of 2,300 of the latest varieties of perennials, annuals and vegetables, but its duck ponds, woodland garden, vegetable garden and rare plant nursery.
After leaving Domaine Joly-de Lotbinière, we’ll head back to Québec City, but stopping in Lévis, just across the river, for visits of some stupendous private gardens. These three smaller gardens were lovingly created by their owners who agreed to open them specially for our group.
Concurrent Sessions
1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.
EcoBeneficial Gardening: Because Sustainable Isn’t Enough
Sustainability has been embraced as the gardener's holy grail. But is it enough? Gardeners can actually improve their ecosystems, not just sustain them. Learn how to make a garden "ecobeneficial." Presenter: Kim Eierman, Founder, EcoBeneficial!
Why Should They Care and Why Should They Share?
We used to tell stories around the campfire; we now tell them around the virtual campfire. And just like all stories, the good ones get retold. So how do we choose which of the many virtual campfires, or social media channels, in which to engage? In this workshop we will explore social media objectives and techniques for creating compelling social media content designed to develop meaningful engagement with your target audience: storytelling that will build community, ignite conversation around your “brand,” and help achieve your objectives. Presenter: Robin Horton, Urban Gardens.
Practice What We Preach
During the past four years when the economy collapsed, so did many GWA incomes. But in that same period two writers have seen their incomes pop. Find out how two garden writers independently built their speaking businesses after joining the relatively inexpensive Toastmasters program.
Join us if you are looking for a way to boost revenue while diversifying your skills. If you have an interest in projecting yourself via YouTube videos, lectures, seminars or podcasts, you can sharpen the skills you need. Panelists: Donna Balzer, Donna Balzer Consulting and Colleen Plimpton, Morning Glory Gardens.
Concurrent Sessions
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Understanding How Genetic Engineering Works
This session provides a thorough explanation of genetic engineering in simple terms that a non-scientist can understand. Rather than talking about the controversy around the topic, this talk will be focused narrowly on the facts of the technology so that garden writers on all sides of the issue can approach it with more understanding. Presenter: Joseph Tychonievich, Arrowhead Alpines.
Photoshop Skills for Garden Communicators
A working knowledge of Photoshop is increasingly useful for garden communicators. Without an understanding of what this software can do, however, it’s difficult to judge whether it’s worth the expense. This talk will illustrate some of the ways Photoshop is useful for our businesses. You’ll learn about: preparing photos for any publishing format; creating custom slides including virtual before-and-after and humorous illustrations; removing hoses and dead leaves; designing business cards, flyers or one-sheets; the basics of layers. Presenter: C.L. Fornari, author, speaker, host of GardenLine on WXTK.
3:30 p.m. Coffee Break
Concurrent Sessions
4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Mosses: Ancient Plants for Contemporary Gardens
Despite their unique charm, mosses are only marginally used in North American gardens. Yet, horticultural interest for these plants is growing, not only for the subdued tranquility and patina of time they add to gardens, but also because mosses have qualities which make them allies to modern gardeners. During this presentation you will hear about how mosses differ from other plants, how they fit current gardening trends and see examples of projects realized in Québec City using nursery-grown carpets of mosses. Presenter: Suzanne Campeau, Bryophyta Technologies Inc.
2013-2014 Trends
What are the hot garden trends and why should you care? Susan McCoy will connect the dots between the hottest new trends in gardening and consumer behavior and explain how you can use them to write content editors and readers want. She will share current and emerging gardening trends and tips and examples to use in stories. Presenter: Susan McCoy, Garden Media Group.
Communicate With Humor
Hear tips on how to introduce humor into writing, to develop a rapport with an audience and to present serious information in a manner that will retain the attention of an audience. Presenter: David Hobson, www.gardenhumor.com.
5:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Peat Bog Party
Monday, August 19
6:45 a.m. - 8:00 a.m. Breakfast & GWA Annual Business Meeting
Join us for the annual membership meeting to hear the annual report from the Board and dynamic plans for program and organizational changes for GWA as part of our Long-Range Plan.
8:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. City Gardens Story Tour & Lunch
Jardin Jeanne-d’Arc was designed in 1938 by landscape architect Louis Perron. It is a sunken garden with a statue of Joan of Arc donated by American sculptress Anna Hyatt Huntington to “the most beautiful city in the world.” The garden is a small part in the much vaster National Battlefields Park. The park was designed by Frederick G. Todd, a disciple of Frederick Law Olmsted.
Jardin le Tournesol is Québec City’s largest and oldest community garden, founded in 1982 on land loaned by the Augustine Sisters whose monastery is located next door. It has been an organic garden since the very beginning and serves the needs of the residents of the Lower City. Besides the usual garden plots, there are play areas for children, a compost preparation area and a communal tool shed. Among the more unusual features are the reconstituted marsh and pond that have brought wildlife (ducks, frogs, muskrats, etc.) back into the city.
Maison de Lauberiviére, a former hotel, is now Québec City’s largest homeless shelter. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of its program is its rooftop vegetable garden. This vast container garden covers 6,000 square feet and produces about 1.5 tons of vegetables a year.
Québec City’s newest park, Promenade Samuel-de Champlain, opened in 2008 for the 400th anniversary of the city’s founding. Named for the city’s founder, Samuel de Champlain, the park follows the shoreline of the Saint Lawrence River for some 1.5 miles. It includes lawns, gardens, fountains, sculptures, sports fields, walkways and cycling paths. The park has won numerous prizes for its unique design, both in North America and in Europe.
Concurrent Sessions
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Gardens of the Past for Today
This session will discuss the preliminary steps in designing a historic landscape from determining the approach to be taken, through the development of a master plan. It includes discussion of how to merge the historic design intent with the needs of modern living, where to find documentation to guide the historic design and selection of appropriate plants and materials. Presenter: Laura L.S. Burchfield, Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow Design.
Eavesdrop on the Editors (panel)
Ever wanted to be a fly on the wall and hear what your editors are saying? Here is your chance to hear what editors are discussing amongst their peers. What are their biggest challenges and concerns? Where do they see the future of publishing? What are their biggest writing and submission pet peeves? What tools do they love and recommend? These topics and much more will be discussed in a roundtable panel of garden publication editors. Followed by a short audience Q&A. Panelists: Ethne Clarke, Organic Gardening magazine; David Ellis, The American Gardener; Kathy Jentz, Washington Gardener magazine and Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp, author.
Pecha Kucha Demonstration (panel)
It makes sense that garden writers speak, but can they speak and illustrate a compelling story in 400 seconds? Being brief is valuable and vital. Six GWA-member guinea pigs will entertain you and show you the effectiveness of short-take talks. Or they will wilt trying.
The topic today is “new” and speakers might discuss a new book, a new plant, a new marketing strategy or a fabulous new social media. It doesn’t matter as long as they show 20 slides for 20 seconds each. Come laugh and enjoy an action and information packed session where the slides keep moving, even if the speaker doesn’t. Participants will distill a topic or get clapped off the stage trying. The learning opportunities for the audience and speakers are huge in this “speaking as a competitive sport” session offered for the first time at a GWA meeting. Moderator and Panelist: Donna Balzer, Donna Balzer Consulting. Panelists: Sharon Asakawa, GardenLife; Kirk Brown, Joanne Kostecky Garden Design, Inc.; Mary-Kate Mackey, freelance; Colleen Plimpton, Morning Glory Gardens and Debra Prinzing, freelance.
Concurrent Sessions
3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Gimme Green: Understanding North America’s Lust for Lawn
Grass is the single most frequently used landscape plant in North America. This panel examines the ecological, cultural, economic and political implications of our obsession with perfect turf. Panelists will discuss the history of lawn, the economic and environmental costs of lawn and offer an opportunity to look anew at lawn and its many alternatives. Moderator & Panelist: Miriam Goldberger, president, Wildflower Farm, author and sustainable landscaping specialist. Panelist: Evelyn Hadden, author, Beautiful, No-Mow Yards, co-founder, Lawn Reform Coalition.
4:00 p.m. Coffee Break
Concurrent Sessions
4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Backyard Foraging: Familiar Plants You Didn’t Know You Could Eat
When you think about hostas and daylilies, you probably focus on their appealing foliage and vibrant blooms. But did you know these perennials are delicious as well as lovely? A number of our favorite garden plants can feed both body and soul...all you have to do is know where to look. In this lecture, you'll learn how to harvest and prepare surprising edible plants, while maintaining their ornamental value in the landscape. Bring your sense of adventure and your appetite! Attendees will receive a plant list and recipes. Presenter: Ellen Zachos, Acme Plant Stuff.
Finding Your Niche As a Garden Coach
Call yourself a coach, consultant or whatever term fits your niche, use your expertise as a garden consultant. Tap into the DIY market by giving professional advice to homeowners and gardeners, who want to do the work themselves but need inspiration, advice and direction. Topics include finding your specialty as a coach, marketing tactics, the PR game, keeping clients long-term and the basic how-to’s of the coaching business. Presenter: Sue Goetz, Creative Gardener.
Unlimited Opportunities to Self Publish Using iBooks
Our instructor will do a step-by-step demonstration of a simple, versatile tool that can launch your on-line publishing career using familiar media to create engaging iBooks to sell. Presenter: Dr. Bill Fonteno, NC State University, Raleigh, NC.
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Awards Reception and Banquet: 2013 Garden Media Awards Presentations
The Québec City Convention Centre is the perfect setting for the 2013 Garden Media Awards presentations and Honors Ceremony. Join us for an evening of networking, friendship, and celebration as we congratulate and honor our colleagues. Also, hear about next year’s symposium plans in Pittsburgh, PA! Banquet wine sponsored by Proven Winners ColorChoice (www.provenwinners.com).
9:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. Karaoke
Tuesday, August 20
OPTIONAL BUS TOURS:
*Limited Availability
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Optional Tour Ile d’Orleans & Lunch ($50)
Íle d-Orléans (pronounced ell door-lay-awn) is an island just northeast of the city. Accessible only by one bridge, it has retained a rural atmosphere in spite of being only a stone’s throw from the city and several of the houses are over 300 years old. A circle tour of the island is practically a must for tourists to the region. This round-robin tour will include the following visits.
Montmorency Falls, a spectacular 275 feet high, 150 feet wide waterfall, located on the mainland just before we cross to the island, 100 feet higher than Niagara Falls.
Cassis Monna & Filles, producer of crème de cassis (black currant liqueur) just as the currants reach their peak.
Cidrerie Verger Joe Giguére, a vast apple orchard where you’ll discover how cider is made…and also try samples.
Seigneurie de L’île d’Orléans displays six gardens of various styles that present a sensory experience. There are also fields of lavender, a boutique and much more to explore.
Lunch will be served in the famous restaurant, Relais des Pins, specializing in Québécois cuisine.
Le Jardin des Arts, an upscale garden boutique specializes in products of local L’île d’Orléans artists. There will be a tour of the garden and time to visit the boutique.
8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. North of the City Tour ($25)
Beaulieu/Gagnon Garden, the surprising gardens of Marcel Beaulieu and Alain Gagnon feature plants rarely seen in home gardens.
Bernard Carrier is one of Québec City’s most noted plant collectors and his yard is full of surprises like the variegated crabapple ‘Rainbow’.
Les Jardins vivaces, a retail nursery specializing in perennials, all locally grown. To the surprise of visitors, plants aren’t grown in pots, but are instead dug up individually as required.
Wednesday, August 21
OPTIONAL BUS TOURS:
*Limited Availability
8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Optional Tour Jardin des Quatre-Vents Gardens ($60)
(Lunch on your own while on tour)
We have received a special invitation to visit le Jardin des Quatre-Vents in beautiful Charlevoix county, about 2 hours from Québec City. This grand garden – largely the work of American Francis H. Cabot — is considered one of the foremost landscape gardens in North America. It is now being maintained by his son, Collin. Lunch will be on your own in the quaint village of La Malbaie.
*Note: This is a limited invitation: there are only 40 places. First come, first served.
2013 Registration Form
webtech@gardenwriters.org