Katie Tamony, the chief marketing officer for Monrovia Nursery Company, will deliver the keynote address at the 2023 Farwest Show, the biggest green industry trade show in the West. The show takes place this year from August 23–25, 2023 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon.
Tamony’s keynote address, “How to See Differently,” will take place 11 a.m.– noon on Wednesday, August 23 in Room C123 at the Oregon Convention Center. All Farwest attendees are invited to attend.
“We’re thrilled to have Katie at Farwest,” said Allan Niemi, director of events at the Oregon Association of Nurseries. “Her insights on market trends have positively impacted the growth of all sectors of our industry. Everyone will want to hear what she has to say about the future of the retail green industry.”
Tamony is the former editor-in-chief of Sunset Magazine and Sunset Books, the premier authority on lifestyle and gardening in the West. She has more than 25 years of expertise in the lifestyle, leisure and horticulture industries. She has led Monrovia’s marketing team since 2020, and did so previously from 2014–2017 as well.
Throughout her career, she has been tracking trends to help companies prepare for the future. She has an intuitive sense of what drives consumer lifestyle interests and their relationships to brands. She has helped several companies and non-profit organizations attract new audiences and drive loyalty.
“Katie’s keynote will be deeply informed and insightful,” Niemi said. “It’s going to be a can’t-miss presentation for people invested in the future of the green industry.”
Tamony started her publishing career as a copy editor, rising quickly to editorial director and then editor-in-chief of Time Warner/Sunset Publishing. She has also held marketing and communications roles at Alluma (now One Degree), a national non-profit social enterprise that combines technology and policy to create better access to health and social services; and at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Registration for the show is now open at www.FarwestShow.com/Registerr For details on all Farwest Show events, daily schedules, speakers and education seminars, visit www.FarwestShow.com
The day before the show, on Tuesday, August 22, there will be two all-day tours of local nurseries and retail garden centers, starting at 8 a.m. These usually sell out, so it’s best to reserve your spot on the bus early.
The trade show floor will be open August 23–25, noon–5 p.m. on Wednesday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. on Thursday, and 10 a.m.–2 p.m. on Friday, and educational seminars will take place all three of those days. Money-saving early bird registration is available until July 31, giving discount pricing on floor passes, nursery tours and educational seminar passes.
For five decades, attendees and exhibitors have been coming from across the United States and around the world to see Farwest and its host state of Oregon. The state’s nursery and greenhouse growers sold $1.37 billion in nursery material in 2022, marking 10 consecutive years of sales growth, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
The show floor will be packed with more than 300 exhibiting companies, including wholesale growers, re-wholesalers, garden centers, landscape designers and service providers, allied service providers and suppliers, and more. An estimated 4,000+ attendees and guests will browse the latest plants, products and services available to horticultural businesses.
The New Varieties Showcase and the New Products Showcase will preview the best new genetic discoveries and hard goods coming to the marketplace in 2023 and 2024.
Experts from all segments of the industry will deliver more than 45 educational seminars throughout the event, including free mini-sessions that take place at the Solution Center right on the trade show floor. Attendees can earn continuing education credits, including 10 hours of pesticide recertification credit.
Farwest’s signature networking opportunities will take place during the day and evening, including the Emergent afternoon networking event for future leaders in horticulture on day one, the 50th Anniversary Celebration and Happy Hour event concluding the first day of the show, the yearly Women in Horticulture networking event on the second afternoon of the show, and the lively Farwest Pub Crawl at the end of day two.
