We are excited to present this guest post by Renee Tucci, AIFD, who was pivotal as the Fresh Flower Procurement Chairperson at this year's AIFD® Emerge Symposium. Her insights offer a unique behind-the-scenes perspective on the collaboration between designers, partners, and Details Flowers Software. We're honored to support the floral industry and help make the symposium successful through our innovative software solutions!
Guest Blog by Renee Tucci, AIFD
Every summer, the American Institute of Floral Designers (AIFD®) hosts its yearly symposium to bring education, inspiration, and leadership to the floral industry. The 4-day symposium includes Main Stage design programs, several hands-on workshops, intimate to extravagant meal functions, and floral décor in every nook and cranny of the host hotel.
Producing this event is a giant feat that takes a small army to accomplish. Key volunteers organize and coordinate everything from Volunteer work shifts to running the workroom like an efficient flower shop. One of the biggest undertakings is managing the Procurement wish lists for all of the featured designers.
As this year’s Fresh Flower Procurement Chairperson, I worked with 35 different designers and 36 different partners. Our partners are made up of flower farms or wholesalers who generously source and supply the wish list items for our designers. My counterpart, Bill Hattel AIFD, worked on procuring hard goods. Bill and I were both pleased and relieved when we learned that Details Flowers Software would return as our event Procurement Partner. Using Details as the home base for this project over the past several years has streamlined our processes and made the seemingly overwhelming task not only achievable but, dare I say… pleasant?!
Although our event takes place in July, the work starts six months before the designers submit their request lists to our AIFD® Details account. The Details Team works hard to set up the back end in our account so that each designer has their own space within the software. In this way, each mini-event within the Symposium has its own wish list, and we can stay organized with who wants what and when! For anyone who hadn’t had the chance to get to know the software, the Details Team also hosted multiple webinars to accommodate everyone’s schedule and ensure that the process was simple for everyone.
Once all lists are submitted to Details, with just a few clicks, they are all consolidated and exported into one master spreadsheet. This master spreadsheet became my home for the next four months. I visited it daily, sometimes for hours and hours, sorting which requests should be submitted to which partners, adjusting for what was and was not available, and working and reworking the cells, lines, and columns. By the time July rolled around, my fresh procurement spreadsheet was 970 lines long and, for a spreadsheet nerd like me, a thing of beauty!
When two Armellini trucks showed up at the Hilton Bonnet Creek Hotel delivery dock in Orlando on June 29th, I finally got to see the spreadsheet come to life. Over the next three days, everything was unloaded, processed, sorted, and distributed. These incredible blooms created magic, evoked emotions with their messages, and made everyone a stronger designer for investing in themselves and their education.
AIFD® is incredibly fortunate to have Details Flowers Software as a Platinum Partner. They are always an email or a phone call away, with dedication and helpful advice. Their company culture shows how their team members support and champion the floral industry in every interaction. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to get to know the Details Team and their software even better through this project. Simply put, from simple and small to symposium-sized events, it is worth it to work with Details!
Thank you so much to Renee for the kind words and for taking the time to write for our blog! If you want to read our official 2024 AIFD Emerge Symposium recap, click here!