SNA Conference Will Once Again Co-Locate with MANTS in 2019
March 6, 2018 
The Southern Nursery Association (SNA) has announced, after positive feedback from the 2018 Conference, that plans are underway to hold the 2019 Conference once again at the Baltimore Convention Center. The event will take place Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 7-8, 2019, preceding the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS) on January 9-11, 2019.
Participants of the 2018 SNA Conference were positive about the location, the meeting space, and the added convenience of the conference being held two days before the opening of MANTS. According to conference organizers, participants were once again impressed with the plant conference speaker lineup and the quality of research papers presented at the research conference, and enjoyed the open format of the conference, allowing ample time for networking and discussion.
During the conference, Dr. Charlie Hall and Dr. Marco Palma of Texas A&M University teamed up to present “The Forecast — A Preliminary Outlook for the Spring Season.” The two green industry economy experts offered a preliminary economic outlook for the industry and the key drivers impacting the industry today. The complete video presentation is available online.
Craig Regelbrugge with AmericanHort also offered his insight on the ever-changing political landscape on Capitol Hill. Details can be found at Sna.org/page-1863049.
One component of the conference was the SNA Synergy Session featuring participant-driven roundtable discussions covering topics chosen by attendees. Topics included “Challenges in Plant Breeding” led by David Roberts of Bailey Nurseries; “Stories Behind the Plants” led by Richard Olsen of the U.S. National Arboretum; “Shrub and Tree Trends” led by Tim Wood of Spring Meadow Nursery; “Value of Our Products and Services” led by Raymond Evison of Guernsey Clematis Nursery Ltd.; “Hydrangeas” led by Rick Webb of Louisiana Growers; and “Plant Trial Programs” led by Leanne Kenealy of Hoffman Nursery. Details of the crowd-sourcing and concept of the session can be found here.
More Details on the Next Conference
In 2019, the conference will include more cross-pollination between the plant conference and research conference presentations. This means even more collaboration and synergies between all participants.
“Collocating The SNA Conference at the Baltimore Convention Center two days before the opening of MANTS offers many advantages to the audience of both events,” says Karen Summers, SNA Executive Vice President. “Participants have the convenience of attending the industry’s most widely recognized conference for new plants and quality research and attend one of the industry’s largest trade shows. The SNA Conference draws many of the industry’s top plantsmen and researchers, and I am confident this creates new synergies for everyone involved,” she added.
More details of the 2019 SNA Conference will be released in the coming weeks. For more information, contact the Southern Nursery Association, Inc. at 678-809-9992, via email, or at SNA.org.
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