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Once again, the Gulf States Horticultural Expo was a huge success. This year was the 13th Annual Premier Winter Trade Show of the South and was held January 21-23 at the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center in Mobile, Alabama.
At this year’s show, there were approximately 440 exhibitors in 700 booths and 3200 attendees.
The opening day of the Expo was a full and exciting day. The day consisted of Educational Programs, the beginning of the Southern Nursery Association Research Conference, exhibitor move-in and the annual Thursday Night Reception.
While exhibitors were busy perfecting their booths, attendees of the educational programs were gaining knowledge in various areas of the horticultural industry including: Pest Management, Greenhouse/Nursery, Retail, Irrigation and Landscape.
This year, GSHE hosted the SNA Research Conference, which began on Thursday and ended Friday. Students from the Southeast and beyond participated in the conference.
The Thursday night reception was held at the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center in the Grand Ballroom and was sponsored by: Martin’s Nursery, Nursery Supplies, GreenForest Nursery, Bracy’s Nursery, Flowerwood Nursery, Kinney Nursery, Tom Dodd Nurseries and Harrell’s. Thank you to these wonderful sponsors!
On Friday morning, the Trade Show was in full swing. At 9 a.m. the floor opened for attendees and was packed until closing at 5 p.m. Exhibitors were pleased with the traffic the received at their booths on Friday and many were running low on materials in just the first few hours.
“We have been an exhibitor since 2007 and this is the best show out of the four years we have exhibited,” said Mark Chamblee of Chamblee’s Rose Nursery in Tyler, Texas. “There was a lot of traffic by the booth and we made a lot of new contacts. It was encouraging to see excitement during our poor weather conditions and stressful economic conditions.”
Saturday also brought in a large amount of attendees and many of the exhibitors were able to sell their booths.
Pam Lake from Lake Tree Growers in Whigham, Ga., said the GSHE is a place where exhibitors have the opportunity to grow their businesses.
“The Gulf States show brings in people from a large area and gives us the opportunity to meet and build relationships that otherwise would not be possible,” Lake said. “We have met buyers and growers from as far north as New Jersey to as far west as Texas and of course the east coast as well.”
Each year both exhibitors and attendees have a great time at the GSHE, so mark your calendars for next year’s Expo which will be held Thursday and Friday, January 20 & 21, 2011.
“It’s more important than ever to be in the Gulf States show to try to makes sure all of customers are aware of all of our products and offerings,” said Matthew Shreves of Ewing Irrigation in Mobile, Ala. |
2011 GSHE Booth Space Request
