Highlights from SAF Convention in Miami
For the first time in years, Vonda skipped SAF Convention — so this week she plays interviewer while Lori, just back from Miami with Ellie, reports on everything she missed. (Lori estimates she spent 35% of her time answering "Where's Vonda?") Between the laughs, this recap is packed with leadership ideas, design inspiration, and one moment that perfectly captures why our industry exists.
Developing leaders, not training them
Lori moderated a session called "Unlocking Hidden Potential: Training New Leaders" — though she opened by announcing she'd say developing or mentoring instead, since her boss Vonda insists you train dogs, not humans. The panel — Lenny Walker of Kennicott, Mike Black of Jet Fresh, and Angelique Witcher of Accent Decor — spent serious time on one question every shop owner should sit with: how deep is your bench? If a key person left tomorrow, is anyone ready to step in? With a room full of retail florists and no retailer on the panel, Lori made a point of translating big-company answers down to the five-employee brick-and-mortar reality.
She also shared a framing from a leadership book she read on the plane: your people are either sowers and growers or managers and maintainers — neither is wrong, and a balanced business needs both. Figure out who plants seeds and grows people, and who thrives on spreadsheets and day-to-day maintenance, whether your company has four people or four hundred.
Ian Prosser's experience zone and rentable event pieces
In the experience zones, Ian Prosser — sponsored by Accent Decor — worked with no script, pausing mid-demo to swap one element and completely transform a design from wedding to corporate event. Lori's favorite: modular arches that break into three pieces and redeploy around a reception room. Her practical tip for shops doing weddings and events — invest in versatile pieces like these and rent them out; they can pay for themselves within a couple of uses. Bonus news: Ian and his daughter Zoe agreed to come on the podcast to talk wedding and event trends. Amy Balster also delivered a great Ball-sponsored session.
Tip Jar Culture: sip, request a slip, leave a tip
The main-stage highlight was Gregory Offner, a dueling-piano performer and author of Tip Jar Culture, who spoke, played, and pulled a Flower Clique member named Caroline on stage for an all-audience "Sweet Caroline" singalong, phone lights waving like a concert — at 8:30 in the morning. His piano-bar framework maps straight onto a flower shop: sip (get to know each other), request a slip (write down the order), and leave a tip — where he brought the room to a lump-in-the-throat moment. The tip isn't always monetary. Every employee's "tip" — what gives them meaning and drive — is different, and it's the boss's job to find out what it is and build into it.
That flower feeling, proven live
At an industry roundtable on trends and challenges, diverse tables of retailers, wholesalers, and growers wrestled with how to get younger generations buying flowers — including the "That Flower Feeling" campaign. Then the campaign proved itself. At the end of Lori's panel, Mike Black stood up, noted that panelists always get bouquets but moderators never do, and surprised Lori with a massive bouquet of her favorite Miss Piggy roses. Instant tears. "Not only are they beautiful, but they thought of me and they know my favorite." That, she says, is the feeling we have to bottle in our marketing — getting flowers never, ever gets old.
One more endorsement for going: a longtime AIFD member Lori met at the airport attended her first SAF and left amazed at meeting growers and wholesalers — a whole new view of the industry's ecosystem. Both events matter, and you're never too old to learn.
Key takeaways
- Ask yourself how deep your bench is — have someone developing toward every key role before you need them.
- Identify your sowers-and-growers and your managers-and-maintainers; a healthy team needs both.
- Learn each employee's "tip" — the non-monetary meaning that keeps them engaged — and build into it.
- Versatile event hardware you can rent out pays for itself in a couple of bookings.
- Your happiest members and customers are your best salespeople — put them in front of prospects.