Wow, Todd Davis is a cool guy! His recent editorial about OpenHort has brought a lot of new traffic. Thanks, Todd!
For those new to our conversation, this site is intended to be a place for “open-source” green industry marketing--a place for us to share what we’re doing and what’s working (or not). Our industry is great about sharing growing techniques and cultural practices, but we need to step up our marketing abilities--and our openness in this area.
I started this site after the 2010 ANLA Management Clinic. I was a moderator for a session called the “Swap Shop,” where the central topic was along these lines, “Okay, growing these plants is the easy part now. How do we sell them?” I wanted to continue and broaden the conversation we started then…and to actually do something instead of just sit there and say, “somebody ought to do X,Y and Z to promote this industry.”
Every generation has had it’s effort to create a “national marketing campaign,” and each time it’s suffered an ugly abortion. What I hope for us to do here is sort of a “grassroots national marketing campaign.” With the media tools we have, the creativity we possess, and the great story we have to tell--what’s stopping us? We don’t have to ask anybody’s permission. Before we get consensus, let’s get diversity. We don’t need a budget (yet.) Let’s see if we can get something rolling. (I will post at a later time on what will cause us to fail in our efforts, so you can look forward to that!). I’m doing what I can…and I hope you’ll join me!
I want this to be a collaborative effort…I didn’t call it OpenArt. In fact, I’d prefer to remain annonymous as much as possible. And at risk of seeming like I think I’m the only one who has anything to say, I’m determined to keep posting and not wait for others to step up and do this. But this site is very Open. It’s in the name! If you have an idea…Let’s do it!
Much of what I’ve contributed over the past few months have been videos. Here’s a few that I like:
Shovel Ready.This one was made in February, right after the Management Clinic. The idea came from Dan Mulhall of Omaha, Nebraska.
Mother’s Day.This one has a simple message: Get her something as beautiful as she is.
Snapdragons. My daughter Julia promotes a very kid-friendly flower.
Father’s Love: I give my daughter a rose. Message: Grow some love.
Plants vs. Zombies: ever heard of this video game? I’ve posted on it a lot!
Fall is For Planting: dusting off an old slogan.
The Pansy: my first video-poem in honor of a great flower.