October 9, 2018
For the past 46 years, Landscape Ontario’s Congress Conference has connected green industry professionals with leading experts from various sectors and industries from around the world.

The prominent speaker lineup for the 2019 conference was recently announced and includes a mix of practical sessions, owners only workshops, an opening day lunch-time keynote, and mid-conference networking lunches.
Conference session topics provide time saving advice, information on the latest trends, innovative marketing ideas and many insightful tips and processes to empower both business owners and staff to grow and prosper.

For 2019, organizers are shaking things up with an all-new Thursday format. From 7 a.m. to noon on Jan. 10, conference sessions will be led by a select group of successful trade show exhibitors. These Congress Education Partners all have a proven track record of providing excellent education to their customers and will share their own tips on increasing profits and improving business operations to delegates at the conference.

The Congress Education Partners include: Techo-Bloc, Jim Pattison Lease, Lawn Life, LMN, Load Army, SiteOne Landscape Supply, Tradewinds International, and Workplace Safety and Prevention Services.

The Thursday Education Partner sessions are available to attendees with a full or one-day conference pass.

Conference pass holders can also attend the opening mid-day keynote on Jan. 8. George Kourounis, explorer, storm chaser and host of Angry Planet, will compare his thrilling, around the world experiences with the types of challenges we all face in the real world.

Kourounis’ one-hour talk in the Cohen Ballroom at the Toronto Congress Centre will help attendees to set goals, take risks and weather the storm through everyday workplace and personal challenges.

“Dynamic weather patterns, new government regulations and rapidly evolving technology are hitting all professional sectors of the landscape industry with a wallop,” explains Heather MacRae, Director of Events and Trade Shows for Landscape Ontario. “Unforeseen consequences have huge ramifications for the success of their businesses, and at Congress, we work hard to present a full schedule of guest speakers, seminars, networking events, innovative products and services and suppliers to help green professionals’ weather the storms and grow in personal and professional prosperity. Congress is the ideal platform for discovering innovative ways to expand their businesses.”

In fact, the educational programming of the conference actually kicks-off the day before the trade show on Warm-Up Monday. The day offers sector specific professional development via three events: the IPM Symposium, Landscape Designer Conference and Peer to Peer Workshop. All have become perennial staples in the Congress program and offer affordable rates those who wish to attend.

“For those wanting to explore concepts and ideas disrupting the green professions, this conference provides information and tools to prepare them for the challenges brought on through change,” says Amy Buchanan, newly appointed Conference and Events Coordinator for Landscape Ontario. “Our goal is to give delegates an unparalleled opportunity to meet change armed for success.”

Among those keys to success are some big name presenters such as Paul Zammit, Nancy Eaton and member-preferred speaker, Mark Bradley.

The highly-anticipated Congress Conference has been formatted and scheduled to allow delegates to maximize their time learning, networking and interacting with over 600 leading manufacturers and suppliers on the 10 acres of trade show floor. Close to 14,000 green professionals from around the world attend the three-day trade show to connect with exhibitors and with each other.

The trade show offers guests even more learning opportunities, with Hardscape Live!, Green Live! and Drive Live! all held directly on the show floor. In addition, the latest products and technologies are on display in the New Product Showcase.

Registration for the Congress trade show and conference is now open. Visit LOcongress.com for full details on the conference, to see the floor plan, exhibitor directory, features and conference and speaker line-up. Start planning for Congress’19 now. Cost for both the full and one day conference pass as well as trade show only pass go up after Dec. 14.