Part 2: An Insight Charcuterie Board

Quotes From SYNKD Live 2024

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Presentation: Landscapes of Tomorrow: A Connected Future

"There are so many improvements that are made just by making and adapting to little changes. Noise pollution, all these different things that we can effectively change and make a vast improvement with. What we need to do is a better job of letting the public know that we care … and that we are going to do what we can to make the world a better place. That is what we do every day. It starts with landscape architecture and gets down to when you’re actually maintaining the turf."

–Frank Mariani, Founder & Chairman of Mariani Premier Group

Presentation: Videos, Oceans, Air Planes and Rodeos: An Innovator’s Guide to Boosting Business

"How many of us run into obstacles in our businesses and we stop at the first obstacle and go, ‘Oh, it wasn’t meant to be’ ... Self-limitation is almost more damaging sometimes than the problem itself. Thinking outside the box is absolutely challenging when you don’t have the mindset yet … Sometimes next solutions come as you begin to act."

–Robyn Schmitz, CEO of High Prairie Landscape Group

Presentation: Landscapes of Tomorrow: A Connected Future

"We have to come together and understand that we are all connected. We all need this environment. Honestly, it is imperative. I don’t want to scare people, but it is about survival when you think about it … The land is what brings us together, and in many cases, we don’t treat the land as well as we should. That is going to bite us and it has. I think that is a great opportunity for us, for this collective green industry. We are very powerful when we come together."

–Kona Gray, Principal at EDSA

Presentation: Growing Through Mergers & Acquisitions

"I’ll only be here on this earth for so many years. I don’t know how many years that is, but I only have so much time. There is only so much I can do in a day. If I can leapfrog myself forward, [years into the future] by buying [another business], why wouldn’t I do that?"

–Marvin Salcido, Owner of Salcido Home Solutions

Presentation: The New Communication of Leadership That Gets Results

"Love, it is the core of the new language of leadership … It is our ability as leaders to be vulnerable, to be authentic, to be relatable and to connect with people on a human level, to connect to their hearts."

–Pam Dooley, Owner of Plants Creative Landscapes

Presentation: Furfurylated Wood: A Green Alternative to Tropical Hardwoods

"The chemical we use to modify [Kebony] lumber is a bio-based liquid. It is a byproduct of the corn and sugarcane industry called furfuryl alcohol. You could actually use our boards as cutting boards to eat off of. It’s non-toxic, just ground-up corn and sugarcane and the liquid that comes out of that. It’s a very eco-friendly process with easy modification … We’re the only dually modified product on the market. It’s a heating element and a chemical element that modifies the wood on a cellular level."

–Andy Kelly, Southeast Regional Sales Manager for Kebony North America

Presentation: Water: The Next Gold! Upselling Sustainability to Clients

"Water conservation is a big deal to me personally, and it’s a big deal to the organization I represent … In today’s day and age, everybody wants to put a piece of technology on something and call it efficient. With an irrigation system … there are two goals. Goal number one is to maintain a vibrant, healthy green space. Goal number two is doing it while applying the least amount of water possible. With that, I’m going to look at two pieces … We’ve got the brain, which is the controller, and then, we have the body. The analogy I like to use a lot is, ‘I’m a basketball fan. If you give me Michael Jordan’s brain, don’t expect me to slam dunk a basketball.’"

–Kevin Battistoni, National Customer Experience Manager for Hunter Industries

Presentation: Stop Using Old Plant Varieties (Use Better Versions!)

"Salvia ‘May Night’ [is an example of a] traditional plant that has always been on the market and has always been a [strong] variety, but what Darwin Perennials has been able to do is take that plant and make it better. That is the basis of my conversation today, because there are plants out there that [seem] tried and true, but they’re not … until you make them better."

–Sarah Houtsma, Account Development Representative for Ball Horticultural Company