Feb 6, 2012

What’s Next for the Clinic? By Tim Hodson

It looks like there are changes ahead for
ANLA Management Clinic.

The recently concluded 2012 Management Clinic has been a hot topic of discussion for attendees and non-attendees alike as people want to know what the future holds for the event.

Last week, ANLA sent out press release to update the industry on the current status of Clinic and what will be happening in the coming days.

According to Skip Shorb, ANLA treasurer, and chairman of the board of American Plant garden centers, “Clinic [2012] was, by most measures, a resounding success. It remains the top event where our industry’s owners, top managers and future leaders gather to learn, strategize and share the ideas that make our businesses successful.”

However, Shorb said Clinic cannot move forward in its current format. “The Clinic we know and love, at the Galt House in Kentucky, is built for 750 to 1,100 attendees. Our industry is not supporting that right now and the meeting has to change, just as we have changed our garden center to reflect the current economy.”

At the closing ceremony at 2012 Clinic, ANLA’s executive vice president Bob Dolibois told attendees, “Clinic today looks very different from Clinic two years ago. We have radically changed the format to meet the rapidly changing needs of our attendees. Clinic 2013 will again differ from Clinic 2012. What will not change is the creativity, innovative education and community — the strong sense of family — that makes Clinic so unique, and so special to our industry.”

Last week, I told you that ANLA and OFA were looking forward to investigating new opportunities for their memberships and it looks like Management Clinic could be one of those opportunities. During lunch with Dolibois at Clinic, he said ANLA and OFA were “still exploring a lot of options for the future” – it looks like the future is already here.

ANLA’s and OFA’s boards of directors will be meeting jointly later this month. The goal of that meeting is to develop a “framework for a new meeting that allows the organizations to engage their memberships in building a new event for 2013.”

It will be interesting to see what comes out of that meeting.

Did you go to ANLA Management Clinic this year? What did you think? What do you think the new meeting should look like? What would help you and your business?

Drop me a line at thodson@greatamericanpublish.com and let me know.