Will you be at TCI EXPO in Columbus OH - November 8 - 11?

[Joe@TCIA]

Dear Tree Care Industry Professionals:

TCIA is excited to announce that our new and improved ONLINE REGISTRATION is now open for TCI EXPO 2005 in Columbus, OH!

TCI EXPO will take place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center from November 9-11, 2005. Also, don’t miss TCIA’s excellent Pre-Conference Tree Care Academy Courses & Workshops on November 8, 2005. Register today (by visiting www.treecareindustry.org and clicking the register now button).

Please note new 2005 TCI EXPO Days:
Preconference Tree Care Academy Workshops: Tuesday
EXPO Conference & Tradeshow: Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday

Why should you attend?

• TCI EXPO is the world’s largest show for tree care! We are anticipating our biggest EXPO ever

• Networking: Meet and learn from friends and colleagues in the industry

• Over 180 Exhibitors - See and touch all the latest equipment

• , products, and services

• Education: TCIA has an excellent educational program to meet the needs of all your employees. Bringing all your employees is an excellent way to show your appreciation and help them with their professional development. Many CEU’s are available

• Opening Reception: Come help us kick off TCI EXPO 2005 while you enjoy food, drink and live music

• Many Opportunities for CEU's: In addition to the excellent education sessions attendees can earn CEU's in the Tree Demo area and TreeWorker Booth

• Meet the TCIA staff and learn more about what TCIA is doing to “Transform the Industry”

• Visit the tree climbing demo area and learn new techniques

• Enter to win Arborbucks gift certificates that can be used with any participating vendors on the show floor

• Enter to win TCIA prizes

• Come experience some of the new enhancements we have made to TCI EXPO

Some new and exciting features available in the new online registration include:

• At the end of the order, click the “Email a Friend” button to invite your friends and colleagues to attend TCI EXPO

• Set a reminder in your outlook calendar by clicking the “Add to Calendar” button

• See a map of the Columbus area and print driving directions by
  clicking the “Map & Directions” button

• Save big (up to 20% off) on a select number of TCIA signature safety products

TCI EXPO is available to everyone in your company and we strongly encourage you and your colleagues to REGISTER NOW for the event. Early registration discounts available! Also TCIA has arranged special rates at the host hotels so be sure to reserve your room early for best rates and accommodations.

For more information regarding TCI EXPO in Columbus, Ohio, please visit: http://www.treecareindustry.org/cont...O_05-About.htm or call 1-800-733-2622.

To view the educational agenda, click here: http://www.regonline.com/EventInfo.a...bId=&MemberId=

We look forward to seeing you in Columbus!

Sincerely,
Joseph A. Grant, Jr., CAE
Vice President, Member Experience

Posted with permission from Darin Johnson - arboristsite.com Administrator

[pantheraba]

I just visited the TCIA site and perused the expo offerings. I am not a professional arborist (or arborist period) but do work some with trees.

I am considering attending for the technical educational possibilities (e.g., climbing, roping, rigging...) moreso than the conference seminars and workshops. I do not have a tree care business and am not concerned with issues related to the business aspects.

I would like to attend "Lessons Learned from Accident Research – Dr. John Ball" on Thursday. Other than that, I would attend the demonstrations by Dunlap, Chisholm, Arbormasters, etc.

For those who are interested in the same things as me, I extracted the info below from the TCIA info:

Wednesday Tree Demos:

Mark Chisholm, lead presenter (10:30, 12:05); Chris Cowles & Mark Bridge (1:15, 2:05)

Thursday Tree Demos:

ArborMaster Training Staff (10:30, 12:05, 1:15, 2:05)

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10
Student Skills Competition (off-site): mentoring from Mark Chisholm 8-11 am. Events 8 -5.

Friday Tree Demos (3):

Hubert Kowaleski – Using mechanical devices in double rope climbing systems (10:00);

Tom Dunlap – Climbing & working with SRT(11:05);

Tom Dunlap - Rigging principles & techniques (1:05)

[pantheraba]

Mark,

On THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10 at the TCIA expo, you are slated to be in charge of:

Student Skills Competition (off-site): mentoring from Mark Chisholm 8-11 am. Events 8 -5.

Can you give any details?

What are the skills for the competition?

What specifically will you be mentoring?

Where will this be (how far off site)?

Thursday is the day I hope to attend " Lessons Learned from Accident Research – Dr. John Ball" from 9:45 - 10:45. Will I still be able to do that and then link up with your class?

Thanks.

[Joe@TCIA]

Excellent. When we create the TCI EXPO program, we try to address the needs of all arborists - from treeworker to owner. I hope to see you there in November.

For anyone who is running a business or would like to start their own business in the future, I would highly suggest the pre-conference presented by John Spence titled "Strategic Business Planning" on November 8, 9:00 am -4:00 pm (lunch on your own. Noon - 1:00 pm).

Why you may want to consider attending.

There are many tree care companies who are doing okay business and have a strong desire to move to the next level. You know the old expression..."time flies when you're having fun."

Often times, you enjoy what you are doing so much, that you lose site of the business aspects of your business. Then... 10 years go by and you aren't where you hoped you would be.

Over the past year, I have asked established businesses (5, 10, 15 years) if they are in a position they wished they would be 5, 10, or 15 years earlier. The answer is almost always "No."

The followup question is did you have a business plan? The answer to this questions was either "yes, it was in my head" or "No, I didn't think I needed one." In both answers the respondents did not have a solid business plan to keep them focused on their future.

So what are some possible goals and objectives you may have?

* Sell your business in 10 years and retire off the proceeds
* Transition your business over to a son, daughter, or other relative
* Dissolve your business and become a consulting arborist
* Grow your business from 3 employees - generating $175,000+ in revenues to a 100 person operation generating $4+ million in revenues.
* Develop new divisions or focus on a niche market

You can certainly go day to day and hope that by chance you stay focused and reach your desired outcome or you can create the map and path that will lead you to the goals and objectives. This session will help you understand the principles to creating that blueprint.

Having this map will also help your company if it ever needs to obtain financing from a financial institution. Banks, venture capitalists, and angel investors, will only invest in companies who have a solid plan for growth. This usually means - show me in black and white, what you hope to become and how you plan on getting there. In other words, show me that you have given careful and realistic consideration to my return on investment.

Whether you attend this Strategic Planning seminar or not, I stongly advise any tree care company to develop a business plan in order to create the focus and path necessary to take your company to the next level.

Stay up-to-date with your technical training. Continue Safety training throughout your company to create a strong culture of safety. Enjoy what you do and have fun, but always remember...that you are still running a tree care business.

Hope to see everyone in November!

JG

[Darin]

Thanks for keeping us up to date and keeping the members informed on the lastest and greatest.
If you all will notice in the original post that I have given my permission for this thread. Please don't report this thread. I was respectfully asked if this could be posted and I feel it is important that it is.

[treeseer]

Originally Posted by pantheraba

I am not a professional arborist (or arborist period) but do work some with trees....I am considering attending for the technical educational possibilities (e.g., climbing, roping, rigging...) I would like to attend "Lessons Learned from Accident Research – Dr. John Ball" on Thursday. Other than that, I would attend the demonstrations by Dunlap, Chisholm, Arbormasters, etc.

If you work with trees, you are an arborist, at least in part. Just fyi re thursday afternoon, the Risk Assessment and Mitigation session will be presented from a *climber's* point of view. It will consist totally of case studies where there was a difference of opinion on whether the risk was so great the tree had to be removed.

In all these cases the decision was made to prune the tree, and this lessened the risk to a level acceptable to the owner and the arborist. If this is of interest to you, please attend. I can't promise much, but it will NOT be boring old stuff. If you have an interest in trees beyond removals, the following talk on Compost Tea should be of interest.

Friday morning Dr. Kane will present Tree Risk Assessment, focusing on whether the the tree is safe to climb and rig.

[Joe@TCIA]

Creating an agenda that works for all is always a challenging process. We try to put together a decent offering; however, with only 3-4 days and the large tradeshow floor; unfortunately there will be some overlap.

This is why seminar surveys are so important. Please make sure you give as much detail on each survey so we can continue to make enhancements to future TCI EXPO's.

For now, my best advice is to view the educational agenda, at http://www.regonline.com/EventInfo....obId=&MemberId=. When you go the page, select the TCI EXPO seminar radio button for a complete listing of the seminars. Then, for more details on each seminar, click the details button.

Hope this helps.

JG

[pantheraba]

Originally Posted by treeseer

fyi re thursday afternoon, the Risk Assessment and Mitigation session will be presented from a *climber's* point of view. It will consist totally of case studies where there was a difference of opinion on whether the risk was so great the tree had to be removed.

Friday morning Dr. Kane will present Tree Risk Assessment, focusing on whether the the tree is safe to climb and rig.

Thanks for the synopsis on the Risk Mgt. session...point of view does make a difference in whether to attend or not. This seminar and Dr. Kane's both sound interesting.

Mark, I got your PM on the expo...thanks. As a result, I tracked down info on TCIA Student Career Days that seems to be directly related to what you are doing.

My thanks to both of you for the follow-up.

[Tree Machine]

Hey Joe, thanks for starting this thread. We had one started a week or two ago, http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=23848 . In this we discussed how we arboristsite guys could meet one another personally, in an organized manner. I've offered to spearhead this effort, and was going to contact Mark Garvin to ask permission. Instead, I elect you to be our point man.

Our mission would be two-fold; for us to be able to connect with one another and meet face-to-face, and for other arborists and groundsmen who don't know about Arboristsite, to inform them and welcome them to come here and visit.

We want to keep it simple, a sign-in board near the concession stand, and allowing us to gather there informally every hour on the hour. This would give everyone 6 or 8 opportunities every day to meet other AS members and read the board to see who else is around.

This is in support of TCIA and Arboristsite in the name of community and comradery. Any thoughts, Joe?

[Tree Machine]

Be patient, Joe is getting clearance from above. We want everyone to be all right with this.

The way I see it, this is an example of synergy. In nature, those are good relationships, where two parties' efforts toward each other becomes a result bigger than the sum of the parts. Here's the magic.

If we were granted a table, and a space, somewhere on the expo floor, some out of the way space, minimal, and allow us to be part of that space for the three days, coming and going throughout, it would give us forum guys that much more incentive to come to the show. We would know we have a spot where we can come sign-in, shake hands, see the listings of the shows events and have a bulletin board / dry erase board so we can communicate with each other.

In return, we will tell our readership more about the Expo, what to know and why they want to go; in other words, get as many of us to go as possible.

We'll look forward to your reply, Joe.

[John Paul Sanborn]

What I would like to know is why they had to make it W/T/F this year instead of Thursday - Saturday!

I find it hard to justify the expence as it is, now it takes another work day away?

I really wanted to go this year, and bring my wife, but this really makes it a problem.

[Koa Man]

JPS,
I consider it a vacation.

[Tree Machine]

Well, Welcome to the mainland, Koa. I hope your vacation is a fine one.

We must hook up, possibly partake of the commercially available, carbonated malt-type beverege some evening, yes?

Well you guys, I wrote Joe and Mark Garvin at TCIA. I asked them if we could have a space somewhere on the convention floor where we could call our own for the three days. We don't need much, like half a booth space. Anything. The problem is the floor is jam-packed wall-to-wall with vendors and manufacturers. It is an exceedingly great year with Dunlap doing a couple climbing clinics, and Treeseer doing a meaty tree risk assesment and mitigation. A small group is continuing Shigo's earlier research in tree cavity and hollow prevention. We want to put up that poster and share the biology and new theories. There is no space. But we really need a space....., quite Frankly, we need a space.

It's critical that the space is inside the convention center, somewhere on the Expo floor. We are asking for a special privledge and our intent is to contribute to arboriculture through what happens in this space over those three days.

We need a space, and TCI Expo needs more arborists and ground guys and newbies to show up in Columbus and be part of it. Bring your entire company. Bring your family. Come one day, or all. This is going to be an awesome EXPO, I mean, KOA MAN's gonna be there!

This is our big, annual shindig. Our Treeguy Convention. Mucho, mucho good time. I'd like anyone to know there's a space where information will exchange, communication and connection will happen, we have a place where we can meet each other. I would hope this would be incentive for a bunch of us cyberArborists to get our butts away from our computers and come in to the Expo and buy yourself some new gear.

[chicken89]

i have never been to one, do attendees get name tags? if so, is there a way to put chat forum screen names so we can identify each other? having a booth for members to sign in would be nice if we are looking for someone

[Tree Machine]

That's a good question. Yes, you DO get badges, and you can have them read however you want. I suggest the name you put on your badge be your online name, or have your online name instead of your company name. That way if we would spy your nametag we could reckonize you.