Pre-Show Workshops

Be the first to kick off iLandscape with four workshops to choose from. Take a deeper dive into these topics that will give you the tools to get the season started on the right foot!

A Blueprint to Your Peoples Success. Easy as 1, 2, 3

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

8:00am-11:30am

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Anyone involved in the onboarding process. Owners, managers, recruiters, and human resources.

Struggle to attract your entry level staff and keep them?  Stop offering a job, offer an opportunity to the life they want.  In the way that they want it.  After all, they were most likely you when you started in this field. Looking to find something to do with your hands where you could see the result of your work, make a living to enjoy life and still have time for family and friends.

This comprehensive three and a half hour workshop is for any owner or leader that struggles with hiring, retaining and promoting individuals that have potential into leadership positions. Let’s take 3.5 hours to create a blueprint for your next leadership team through hiring line level staff, meeting them where they are at and creating the environment for their success and yours.

This lively and interactive workshop will cover these three themes that will leave you with a customized blueprint for your staff to step into a fulfilling career:

• THEME 1: Map your career and what drives you.
• THEME 2: Create an organizational blueprint from grunt to leadership
• THEME 3: You as the leader, how to have the conversation to create the next level team

It is recommended you bring one other person from your organization to bounce ideas and strategies off-of and build a blueprint for a different position. However, the workshop is available to all who struggles to retain and grow line level staff with potential. The future of your sanity and ability to step out of the 12 hour days during the busy season may depend on it.

Key Takeaways

• Understand what drives your need for certain things in a job so you will be engaged and fulfilled
• Understand the different pathways through an organization that engages staff, keeps them fulfilled, and increases retention
• Define the key job and succession needs that the organization is currently experiencing
• Create multiple pathways that provide a visual outline of employee growth and ownership

**BONUS! Register for this workshop and receive a complimentary, three day education pass!

Workshop Pricing (Education Pass included!)

Member Rate: $250          Non-Member Rate: $375

Irrigation Contractor Essentials: 4-hour Refresher Course

Tuesday, January 30, 2024

8:00am-12:00pm

This course is approved by the Illinois Department of Public Health for 4 hours of continuing education that is legally required for all registered irrigation contractors in the State of Illinois. Course Approval #: 750-221-C3

Alongside RPZ fundamentals, this four part class covers the essentials for professional irrigation contractors. Join us for (4) round table education sessions which provide hands-on education covering the following topics:

• Wire Tracing – Learn how to trace wires and how to use your wire trackers with a hands on demo.
• Pump Basics – Learn how to size your lake pumps and booster pumps and basic pump trouble shooting.
• Decoders and 2 Wire – Learn about IVM controllers and two wire from Rainbird.
• Wi-Fi Fundamentals – Smart controllers and the new Hydrawise platform from Hunter.

Workshop Pricing

Member Rate: $125          Non-Member Rate: $190

Valuation: What is a Company Worth and How Can We Improve It?

Tuesday, January 30, 2024 

12:00pm-3:30pm

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: This exclusive workshop is for core decision-makers within a company. These can be owners, senior managers, or those in the line of succession. Attendees are encouraged to attend with key personnel to share strategies and ideas for improving the value of the business whether for immediate sale or long-term profit gains.

It is a seller’s market for landscape businesses. Whether next month or next decade, all businesses change hands. How do potential buyers look at landscaping companies and calculate what they are worth? What’s a good way to estimate a value for a company? How can a business create value within a company whether for a potential sale or transition to family, management, or a 3rd party. How does an understanding of what makes a business attractive help a business operate today?

This practical workshop will use a combination of hands-on learning, skills building, lecture, and practice to prepare attendees for a better understanding of how businesses are valued. The team of national instructors will evaluate a sample company’s current state, estimate a value for the company and identify steps that could be taken to increase the value and compare the future value.

Besides a current valuation using industry-proven methods, this workshop dives deeper. It will help owners and senior managers review the company’s current strategy while providing a road map for higher valuation. It will do a comprehensive review of what a successful business needs in place in order to achieve its goals including:

• People
• Leadership
• Financial resources
• Market potential. Who are your customers?
• Services and products
• What is your unique selling (or value) proposition?
• How does that compare to your competition now? In the future?
• Business Processes and systems

**BONUS! Register for this workshop and receive a complimentary, three day education pass!

Workshop Pricing (Education Pass included!)

Member Rate: $250          Non-Member Rate: $375

Landscape Design for Busy Landscape Professionals

Tuesday, January 30, 2024 

12:00pm-3:30pm

WHO SHOULD ATTEND: Landscape Professionals, Garden Center/Retail Sales Landscape Designers and landscape architects.

Join instructors from the North Shore landscape company Chalet for this immersive, hands-on 3.5-hour workshop. This workshop is tailored for landscape contractors that need to create quick engaging designs to present to clients. Using Realtime Landscape Pro software as the example, attendees will discover the power of this design tool, from basic setup to crafting stunning landscape visualizations. Learn site measurement essentials, types of photos needed, and how to create realistic custom renderings that will wow your clients.

Note: This workshop will focus on one specific software – Realtime Landscape Pro. The instructors receive no financial subsidy or incentive for this workshop. They are users, not sellers of Realtime Landscape Pro and want to share lessons from how they have successfully integrated the technology in their design-sales and enhancement processes.

Specific workshop sections will include:

1. Overview of the program – What it can and cannot do
2. Site measurement, photos and documentation requirements for the best results – Gather the intel so the tech works for you.
3. Create a design in the system – Use the digital tools to bring the design to life.
4. Set expectations with clients and use the technology to its full advantages
5. Time to play! Use what you learned and dive into the tech.

**BONUS! Register for this workshop and receive a complimentary, three day education pass!

Workshop Pricing (Education Pass included!)

Member Rate: $250          Non-Member Rate: $375

Become a member of the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association to receive the discounted member rate for the pre-show workshops and other educational events throughout the year.

To join ILCA, simply select you are not a member when registering for the workshop and follow the prompts to become one.