Garden Center Conference & Expo announces Leslie Halleck as keynote speaker

Valley View, OH – Garden Center magazine is pleased to announce that Leslie Halleck, Certified Pro Horticulturist, Consultant and Author, will be the keynote speaker at Garden Center Conference & Expo. With 27 years of industry experience, her session “Take Back Control: THE IMPORTANCE OF DRIVING TRENDS INSTEAD OF CHASING THEM” is sure to be one of the highlights of this 2 ½-day event.

Halleck joins an impressive list of speakers, who are among the most well-known and respected names in the independent retail garden center industry. Conference sessions and speakers have been carefully chosen by Garden Center magazine in close collaboration 2021 Conference Advisory Board.

Leslie is one of the driving forces behind the plant parenting movement and an avid advocator for independent garden centers. A Certified Professional Horticulturist, Leslie spent 20+ years working across the horticulture industry, before going full-time with her company Halleck Horticultural in 2012. Leslie provides consulting services to green industry businesses including horticultural consulting, business strategy and marketing consulting, staff training and coaching, company and product branding, and digital and print content.

Leslie is an author of several popular plant books and also a UCLA Extension Instructor for the Horticulture & Gardening Program and Horticulture Certificate Program.

“The momentum we’re seeing in the garden industry is so exciting and we’re thrilled Leslie is bringing her years of expertise to the conference,” says Kate Spirgen, Garden Center magazine editor. “Leslie is always thinking about the future and what IGCs need to do to be successful only today, but years from now. I can’t wait to hear her advice for garden centers that are striving to both guide and inspire new gardeners.”

Registration is now open for Garden Center Conference & Expo, which will be held at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate in Orlando, Florida, September 28-30, 2021. Building on the success of the Garden Center Executive Summit, this is the first year for this conference, which will include education tracks for both executives and their management teams.

Attendees also have access to an exhibit hall which boasts products and solutions from industry-leading companies.

Super Early Bird Registration rates are available until May 31, 2021. A group discount rate is available to 3 or more attendees from the same company. To register or learn more, visit www.gardencenterconference.com.

About Garden Center Magazine

Garden Center magazine is the leading industry trade publication serving independent garden center retailers in North America. Garden Center is known for providing relevant, timely and engaging content in every issue, with a focus on topics leaders need to thrive, including management, marketing, meeting consumer demands, trends and merchandising. With a suite of services — including monthly print and digital editions, daily news updates, virtual conferences, news, product e-newsletters and the Garden Center Conference & Expo — Garden Center provides business owners with the research, insight and analysis to help them grow their companies.

About GIE Media Inc.

Garden Center magazine is owned by GIE Media, based in Valley View, Ohio. GIE Media was founded in 1980 and has grown over 38 years into a leading marketing and communications business-to-business media company serving 17 industries — including the horticulture industry through its Horticulture Group (Greenhouse Management, Produce Grower, Nursery Management, Cannabis Business Times, Cannabis Dispensary, in addition to Garden Center). The company goal of Group Interest Enterprises is to publish the highest quality business magazines, websites, e-newsletters, conferences, reference books and other forms of business media in growth industries, with a quality standard based upon editorial value and market leadership.

The company employs nearly 100 editors, publishers, sales representatives, marketers and other professionals.