Monday, March 17, 2008

Harvester Road Trip to Phoenix Yields Gold (and Red)


Recently Ed and I attended PLANET’s Executive Forum in Scottsdale Arizona. We came away with a “Bountiful Harvest” of ideas, relaxation and, most importantly, new relationships and renewed long-term friendships.

We listened to Dave Zerfoss, President of Husqvarna, whose key note focused on where we should be spending our time and making sure we’re keeping a balance in both our personal and professional lives. Well done, Dave. The main speaker, Paul Sessions, stressed the importance of organizations’ leaders putting a succession plan in place, well in advance of when they plan to leave their operation.

We played golf and spent some great quality time with old and new acquaintances: George from Davey, Rick from Husqvarna, Jack the entrepreneur. Rick actually told more bad jokes than I did, but played a much better golf game.

We met new folks from some great organizations that provide goods and services to our industry, like George and Tim from LandOpt, Kelly from EverGreen, Blake from Xmas Décor, and Ken from John Deere, to name but a few.

Yes, Ed and I did host a few wine tastings with existing clients, new folks and anyone else who shares our passion for the “Red”.

Once again, we learned that the greatest takeaway of all is meeting and re-meeting some of the greatest people in the industry and getting the chance to network and exchange ideas, frustrations and dreams that we all share. This event was truly golden, and the Red was pretty good, too.

See you next year in Orlando!

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