What Inspires Us PUSHING THROUGH CHALLENGES
> When I shared pictures from the photo shoot for this month’s cover story (p. 22) with Wendy Rockcastle of Rockcastle Florist, she laughed. “We look much more invincible than we feel,” she admitted. I think a lot of floral community members feel that way right now, as they’ve faced down challenge after challenge during the first half of 2020. (The photos taken at the Rockcastles' business also represented our first photo shoot during the pandemic. We wanted to be sure to highlight the best practices at the shop, including masks, in the story. The family mem- bers removed their masks for the cover photo.)
And yet… talking to florists for our cover story, which I co-wrote with Senior
Contributing Writer and Editor Katie Hendrick Vincent, there is a theme of resil- ience — if not invincibility. In many ways, our story this month is the third part in a series we started with our April/May issue, when we provided a kind of oral history of the early days of the pandemic, and continued in June, when we high- lighted lessons learned from a surprisingly busy Mother’s Day — and how those lessons might be carried forward. (You can find both of those stories at safnow. org via the Floral Management archive.) Even in these extremely challenging times, when it’s hard to plan beyond a 24-hour period, floral industry profession- als are banding together and finding their footing and creating new ways to stay connected with their communities and their customers. One of the ways they’re connecting is LinkedIn. Even before the pandemic,
Society of American Florists members had shared with our team that the social media platform was an underutilized tool. This month, Vincent talked to florists who are leveraging the site to keep their local connections strong, even when in-person gatherings are impossible (p. 30). We’re also grateful, as always, for the expertise of our longtime contributor Paul Goodman, MBA, PFCI, who shares an update on PPP this month on p. 36, including the factors and dates you need to keep track of to secure your loan forgiveness. The pandemic wasn’t the only crisis our country faced these past months. In
our Viewpoint (p. 2), Snapshot (p. 12) and Industry News (p. 38) columns, we’re proud to share some of the personal stories and reactions industry members are having to the Black Lives Matter movement, and our national reckoning with racism and inequality. These are conversations that will continue during SAF’s Reinvention Summit,
which was just about to kick off as this issue went to press. The five-day virtual event included afternoon keynote, panel and roundtable sessions; registered attendees have access to all recorded programming until Sept. 1. (If you missed the event and want to know more, please reach out to our team at SAF.) This program represents a shift for our association, too, as we adapt to a
world where large in-person gatherings aren’t safe, for now. Even though the format has changed, our goals — whether we’re creating an event or planning a magazine issue — are the same: We’re here to help your business succeed. So please don’t be shy about reaching out and telling us what you need right now, to navigate these new challenges and to find those new opportunities.
Mary Westbrook, Editor in Chief
mwestbrook@safnow.org
LOVE YOUR LOCAL SAF has unveiled a suite of new local marketing materials to help reinforce your business as the go-to expert for your community members and their fl oral gift-giving needs. Find the latest tools, tips and resources at
safnow.org.
More Online
REIGNITE YOUR BUSINESS Throughout June, the Society of American Florists delivered focused webinars aimed at helping fl orists reboot operations safely and strategically. You can access our entire Reignite Your Business series, which was sponsored by Telefl ora and includes topics such as cross- training, website best practices and marketing messages that deliver at
safnow.org/moreonline.
PREPARE TO ‘PETAL’ Petal It Forward, SAF’s long-running pay-it- forward fl oral program, will take place again this year, with modifi cations to make the outreach safe, eff ective (and fun!) for fl oral industry members and their customers. Save the date for Oct. 21 — but head to
safnow.org today to get a jumpstart on planning this year’s eff ort.
4 FLORAL MANAGEMENT | July/August 2020 |
WWW.SAFNOW.ORG
SHUTTERSTOCK/ MY OCEAN PRODUCTION
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