Whenever a group of floral industry professionals gather together there is always a lot of energy, and on June 8-10 when over 1,300 attended the International Floriculture Expo at McCormick Place in Chicago, the creative energy and enthusiasm were palpable. Hundreds of companies like 1-800-Flowers, Ahold, Albertson’s, Associated Wholesale Grocers, FTD, Publix, ProFlowers, Wegmans and Target attended the event to see the latest product innovations, network with existing vendors, meet new suppliers and participate in the education program.

J Schwanke, Paul Sable and Peggy Williams evaluate the winning display done in the Safari trend style during the ‘Merchandising Solutions: The Display is Right’ educational session at IFE.One especially high-energy session during the floral education program was “Merchandising Solutions: The Display is Right” presented by the team of J. Schwanke, uBloom.com; Paul Sable, Anagram International; and Peggy Williams, Burton + BURTON. After discussing four current design trends — “Wild Garden,” “Eye Candy,” “Dreams at Dusk” and “Safari” — the audience was divided up into four teams and assigned a team color. Each team was then given a supply of assorted floral display materials, assigned one of the trends, and given twenty minutes to create their best supermarket floral display based on their trend. The competition was intense, with loud cheering, waving of colored pompons and frantic design work. When time ran out, there were four completed displays with everyone cheering excitedly and the winning team (the “Safari” trend) received lots of praise, Visa gift cards and copies of J Schwanke’s book, Bloom 365: The Essential Guide to Arranging Flowers Every Day.

The IFE keynote speaker was Susan Packard, one of the co-founders of HGTV, and she responded to questions from Debora Coleman from Albertson’s about Packard’s journey navigating the corporate world as a woman. She spoke about the need for women to cultivate “gamesmanship” in the workplace — a strategic way of thinking that develops creativity, teamwork, focus and competitiveness. Attendees all received a copy of Packard’s book, New Rules of the Game, and a book signing was held after her presentation.

Lora Burns, conference coordinator, shared feedback on the education sessions in a news release. “Rooms were packed and some of our sessions saw a 100 percent increase over last year’s sessions. Hundreds of buyers and vendors expressed positive feedback on the programming and the keynote presentation by Susan Packard.”

The IFE Toast to the Industry reception featured the annual Merchandising Awards of Excellence and the Flower Naming Ceremony. The Merchandising Grand Award, the Borgen Cup, sponsored by Borgen Systems and Super Floral magazine, was presented to Cheryl Overland from Hy-Vee in Albert Lea, MN; and Maxine Burton from burton + BURTON was recognized by having a new pink dianthus named “Maxine” in her honor.

The trade show floor was bustling every day with over 160 exhibiting companies displaying diverse products and hundreds of floral professionals doing business and networking.

“We are very excited to have exceeded our key buyer attendance goals,” Justin Childs, marketing and key buyer manager at Diversified Communications, the expo’s organizers, told The Produce News. “More than 250 key buyers attended this year, representing a 23 percent increase year over year. We saw several new faces, including Walgreen’s which is a big draw for exhibitors.”

Pieter Landman, floral designer and president of Blooming Vision in Holland, emceed the eighth annual Iron Designer Competition where nine floral designers were given 20 minutes to create a floral design based on the theme, “A Fusion of Produce and Floral.” Joe Lesczynski from Phillip’s Flowers in the Chicago area won the coveted Iron Designer trophy and a cash prize.

The Best Booth Award, which is based on the highest number of votes by attendees, was presented to Gems Group from Miami on the last day of the show.

Compared to last year’s IFE in New Orleans, this Chicago show was bigger, there were many more in attendance, and it seemed like there was a lot more interaction between vendors and visitors. Plus, the whole vibe was more energetic and upbeat.

“It was a good show for us,” Eric Fernandez, director of marketing for Continental Flowers in Miami, told The Produce News. “It was better than last year and there were more buyers.”

That sentiment was echoed in a news release by Carmen Garcia from Monterey Bay Heather Coastal Nursery in Watsonville, CA. “This year marked a turning point for the show. In comparison to any other recent year, we saw much more traffic. We were able to conduct real business with real buyers.”

Next year, IFE will again take place with United Fresh at McCormick Place in Chicago, June 20-22, 2016.