This Month's Speaker Highlights

The 2010 Minnesota Green Expo features nearly 90 education sessions. Here are highlights from two speakers:

Jim Paluch loves to speak. But more than speaking he loves to listen and it has been his outstanding listening skills used in working with hundreds of organizations over the past 20 years that have helped him become an unforgettable and inspirational public speaker. Jim understands people and knows how to create an environment where they can learn and have fun at the same time. With an energizing and down to earth delivery, Jim is able to captivate every audience regardless of its makeup and send every individual away with knowledge to implement for immediate results in their business and personal lives. Jim has three highly acclaimed books that have been classified as Motivational Novels and have together sold nearly 500,000 copies around the world. As president of JP Horizons, Inc, Paluch and his team are sought out nationally for their business coaching expertise and implementation of their People Solutions Programs in more than 50 companies each year. Jim has had a successful career as a Landscape Architect, in sales, and in developing residential communities in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Here is information on two of the seminars he will present:

Selling the Experience

Jim Paluch’s career as a trainer started 19 years ago as a result of his tremendous success as a sales person. It is clear that the simple basics of sales can sometimes be the most profound concepts to learn and apply. Understanding that people only buy on price if we allow them to, opens up the discovery of the importance of developing relationships, creating awesome experiences, and building a client base that looks forward to spending more money with you. Jim has helped hundreds of individuals double and triple sales goals through his fun and effective approach to sales.

Making the Best Use of Time

During the research for his second book, Leaving a Legacy, Jim Paluch asked senior citizens what they would do differently if they could live their life over again. The answer in most cases related back to one thing, "Make better use of my time." In this interactive seminar, Paluch builds on this common challenge we all share and gives insights on how to utilize our most valuable commodity, TIME. By focusing on the Time Wasters and Time Makers participants, find out how to find more time every day and leave with a written plan of action to make the best use of their time.

Tim Thoelecke is the past president and Fellow of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and has been in the landscape design profession for 20 years. He has been published in more than 70 different publications, including Crain's Chicago Business, Better Homes and Gardens, This Old House Complete Landscaping and 5 Sunset Books. His current venture is the American Academy of Landscape Design, a professional development program that improves the confidence and skills of landscape designers and landscape architects. He resides in Glenview, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago with his wife Chris and three children. He is also a member of American Mensa, enjoys Duke basketball, Chicago sports, magic tricks, computers, gardening, golf, hunting, and anything that makes him laugh. Here is information on the seminars he will present:

Deconstructing the Garden: Exploring the Design Process

Using case studies, this lecture explains the thought process one designer uses when formulating a design. A well-designed landscape does not occur by accident. There are deliberate decisions made in the creation of the design. In this lecture, Tim takes you through the steps in his process with before, during and after illustrations and photos from the drafting board to installed project.

Taming the Paper Tiger

Relieve stress by creating systems to manage your landscape design business. Whether you are a sole practitioner or you have 5 landscape crews, the mind set is the same. If you spend some time designing your business, the payoff is immeasurable. Beginning with initial contact, a Landscape Designer goes through a series of steps in the process of getting the job done. This process is crucial to the success of the project and critical to the ultimate satisfaction of both client and designer. This presentation includes strategies for documenting conversations, changes, and using technology to make your life easier, as well as the "Ten Step Design Process,” a proven strategy for dealing with a project from initial contact through final installation.

Click here for a complete schedule-at-a-glance for the Northern Green Expo!