Last weekend we exhibited at the 2007 Michigan Floral Association Conference and Trade Show in Grand Rapids.

This was our second time at this show and it was just as good as our first time around. Thank you to Rod and the other MFA volunteers and - especially - all the florists who came out in such awful weather! We'll be back there again in 2008.

We are very please to announce that Kathy Johnson has joined the FloristWare team and will head up "Practical" support - helping florists get the greatest possible benefit from the FloristWare POS system.

You can learn more about Kathy and her background on her page in the personnel section. It is an interesting read - you'll see that we could not have found a better person for this position if we had been able to actually create them from scratch!

We are pleased to announce that FloristWare has been invited to take part in an open house presented by the Academy of Floral Design Pacific Rim – Vancouver on Saturday June 9 & Sunday June 10, 2007.

The event will include a number of topics of interest to the independent retail florist including:

Point-Of-Sale Systems
Learn more about inexpensive, easy-to-use alternatives to complicated, over-priced POS systems and how they can increase your sales while saving you time and money.

Affordable Wire Service Alternatives
Learn how newer more cost effective wire services can help you save money while still allowing you to provide your customer with the ability to send orders anywhere in the world.

The event will be held at the address below:

The New Westminster Floral Company
Home of Academy of Floral Design
335 East Columbia Street
New Westminster, BC (604) 525-5819
Across from the Royal Columbian Hospital in Historic Sapperton.

If you are interested in attending please call (604) 525-5819
to reserve a space.

On Sunday, May 27, 2007 FloristWare will participate in the MyFloraBiz Summit in Mississauga Ontario. The event - sponsored and hosted by Golden Rose, a premium fresh supplier - is being billed as follows:

The 2007 FloraBiz Summit is an opportunity for florists to learn, network and grow. Featuring presentations from floral marketing experts and strategists, the FloraBiz Summit will give you the ability to enhance your business practices and show you how to provide value to your customers.

Some of the companies involved include:

Golden Rose (Host, Sponsor & Organizer)
Golden Rose has been in the wholesale business for over fifteen years, providing florists with the finest selection of roses and flowers. Golden Rose maintains the highest level of quality and consistency by growing roses on Golden Rose’s own farms in Ecuador, and by maintaining strategic alliances with premium growers. Golden Rose is committed to providing unparalleled customer service and education and is devoted to the success of their customers.

myFloralogic
myFloralogic is a market-leading provider of customized and self-service marketing solutions for the floriculture industry. The company leverages its marketing depth and experience along with current industry trends to deliver products and services that help florists of all sizes realize superior marketing results. myFloralogic provides the tools necessary to manage all aspects of a companies marketing campaigns, both traditional and electronic, ensuring the right message is sent to the right person at the right time. In addition, myFloralogic fully automates campaign execution allowing individuals to eliminate the manual marketing tasks that would otherwise compromise the quality of marketing and promotional campaigns.

FloristWare
FloristWare is an easy-to-use and affordable POS system designed specifically for the retail florist. It combines an incredible depth of features with the most user-friendly interface in the business to create a package that is sure to save the average florist time and money while increasing their sales.

n49
n49 Interactive is a Toronto-based web design and online marketing firm. Since its inception in 2000, N49 Interactive has been creating industry leading interactive multimedia solutions.

Canadian Florist
The Voice of the Canadian Floral Industry for over 100 years. Canadian Florist magazine is dedicated to providing relevant and timely information to the floral industry. We will continue to ensure that our readers have the tools they need to run their businesses as successfully as possible, with maximum efficiency and reliability.

clearRoot
clearRoot is an innovative software firm focused on providing community based solutions tailored to the needs of retail florists. clearRoot's inaugural product is a sophisticated, risk-free, grassroots floral network designed to minimize fees and maximize efficiency in maintaining and tracking wire orders.

Flowers Canada
Flowers Canada is an association of floriculture professionals – florists; distributors and industry associates – united for positive goals. Goals like cost savings through partnership, product research, consumer development, professional accreditation, legislative action and much, much more.

If you are interested in attending (and we hope that you are!) please call 905-795-0389. you can also find more information on the official event website.