Articles: "Green Zone" at IFMA World Workplace Conference and Expo Was a Hit For Green Plants for Green Buildings

Loveland, OH--Approximately 5000 facility executives and building owners from around the globe gathered in New Orleans for the 28Th annual IFMA World Workplace Conference and Expo, the largest gathering of its kind in North America. Making its end-user debut as the new 501c3 educational organization, Green Plants for Green Buildings (formerly Plants at Work), stood its own as one of the major national green facility resources at the show.  

Found in booth 112, the front aisle of the Green Zone, GPGB drew and maintained major interest fro


Lynn Tomeny Stuckwish, CLT
Vice President Sales & Marketing
Heroman Services Plant Company, LLC, Worked the Booth Every Day with GPGB's MJ Gilhooley. The lush plants and trees were generously provided by Heroman. www.HeroMan.biz
m facility executives on the cutting edge of their profession throughout the 4 days at the show.  The group achieved their mission to educate facility decision makers, according to one inspired executive visiting the booth, "I just left a large group of FM's discussing what they had learned from your booth at lunch today. Everyone got it!" She continued.
GPGB reaped the benefits of its presence, returning with more serious and qualified leads than the five previous IFMA shows. "Being in the Green Zone certainly attracted more eco-minded facility executives. Sharing how Co2 is absorbed by plants in the exact ratio that it is in the environment was one of the key compelling facts for many 'new converts.'" states MJ Gilhooley, Media Coordinator for the program and the trade show representative for the group. "Until this show we've never had people handing us their card requesting provider information on interiorscapers for million+ square feet of commercial buildings across multiple cities," added Gilhooley.  The group also developed a full color four sided pamphlet for the show and a corresponding poster that was displayed in the booth. Anyone who is a current GPGB sponsor (or who is willing to become one) can get a free pdf of the pamphlet e-mailed to them by writing to susan@gilhooleyconsulting.com.  This can be color copied and used for any end user purpose (sales, with invoices, annual renewals, etc.). 

 

Booth visitors requesting provider information hailed from notable corporations such as Hyundai-Kia, NIKE, Amerigroup, Abbott Laboratories, Houston and San Diego National Airports, and intercontinental Hotel's Group, reported McRae Anderson, President of McCaren Designs and President of GPGB. "Each lead has already received post show packets including detailed information on our sponsor companies in their region. This year the Facility Executives will have the full responsibility to follow up on the provider details, allowing interiorscapers to only get sales inquiries from serious FMs who are ready to incorporate the GPGB message directly into their properties,"  McRae added.

 

Look for new list of sponsor benefits and new materials from the group unveiled at TPIE, January in Ft. Lauderdale Florida.

 

Green Plants for Green Buildings or GPGB recently went through a complete restructuring, becoming an independent educational entity, achieving 501c3 status and most importantly, drawing a formal board of directors to support the organization for the first time. An important component of the program is offering sponsor companies the GPGB provider status for continuing education units for the USGBC members (United States Green Building Council), BOMI (BOMA members seeking CEU's through the Building Owners and Mangers Institute International) and the AIA (American Institute of Architects). The next scheduled training for current program sponsors will be offered during TPIE (Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition) in Orlando, FL - January 17-19, 2008. Please contact Kathy Fediw at kathy@jfaconsultingbiz.com to register for this important opportunity to become a valuable resource for end users in each market.