COVERSTORY Are You Ready for Round Two of By Jill Odom


ATTENDEES FOR THE INAUGURAL ELEVATE CONFERENCE AND EXPO HAD an overwhelmingly positive experience, with 97% saying they left with new ideas, insights and concrete takeaways. This year’s ELEVATE will take place in Dallas, Texas, at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center on Sept. 10-13. This event provides the opportunity to hear from top industry leaders, connect with your peers and talk with manufacturers about the latest in products and technology.


“You will leave ELEVATE feeling ener-


gized, motivated, excited, and ready to bring back what you learned and put it to work,” says Kim McCrossen, associate director of education for NALP. “We really want people to leave with key takeaways that they can implement immediately. I can also guarantee you will leave with some new connections.”


EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS TE f


es 39


ELEVATE features 39 education sessions develosessions developed by the ELEVATE pr


ade


through in- dep


depth


discussions and experience sharing, we can get a strong pulse on some of the big issues and trends affecting us and our industry,” says Doug McDuff, one of the program committee members. “We shoot to pick topics that we feel are compelling, innovative, timely, and ad- dress concerns and challenges that are affecting all of us in the green industry.” ELEVATE program committee chair Claire Goldman says once they identi- fied the program sessions, they began thinking through speakers.


TE progp ogram committee. “We eWe’rre fortunate to have a dedicat ma


a dedic ed committee made of our peers, and thro g d pth


“Many people stop us at events or email us with ideas for topics and speakers, so we keep a list going all year,” Goldman says. “We start fitting the p


pieces t g


e speak who we


qualified to speak on the topic and are known to present well.” She says these sessions reflect the


ogether and invite speak who w


speakers know


ow are


state of the industry, give solutions to issues many people are facing, and allow them time to think and work on their companies. “There’s always something to learn,” Goldman says. “If you don’t think you have anything left to learn or anything to improve in your company, you are probably the problem. I don’t say that to sound harsh, but humility and an ea- gerness to learn and grow are essential to building your team and your brand to the next level.” The program committee’s goal this year was to analyze and address feed- back received from the first ELEVATE. While the event was extremely well-re- ceived, Goldman says some of the opportunities for adjustment include having some 60-minute sessions and other sessions lasting 45 minutes. There will also be more time for Q&As during sessions t


sessions to allow for peer learning and networkinrking. “We k


n e know one of the many rea- sons you sons you come to ELEVATE is to


22 The Edge //July/August 2023 202 23


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