Here is their website:
https://dga.memberclicks.net/
They are the membership association of companies that sell gardening products direct to consumers and pretty much every gardening company you've heard of is a member. They have conferences twice a year where they meet and talk about the business and all that.
This is my second time attending (first was in 2006 in Chicago) and it is a lot of fun. The owners of all the companies are here and it's a great experience to be able to talk face to face with the people I've known all these years. It's also enlightening to see how friendly, personable and warm they all are with each other, even though many are direct competitors. The spirit of collaboration is extremely strong in this group and it's a delight to watch relationships form during these kinds of meetings.
They keep pressing me to have ATP officially join and maybe one day we will. I definitely always encourage all the companies that sell gardening products to join. It's not cheap but the benefit they gain from these conferences is certainly much more than the cost to attend.
I really can't say enough good things about the fine people I have met at these conferences. The owners of all these companies are all excellent people.
While at this conference I had numerous people approach me and say they love what we're doing at ATP and that they want to sponsor upcoming raffles.
We might also have lined up a nice sponsor for the 2016 photo contest.
Ken Oakes (of Oakes Daylilies) is here and I spent a good deal of time talking with him. He wants to sponsor the entire daylilies database which would be awesome since he's got such a great company.
The president of Cobrahead tools is here, and he is also this year's president of the DGA. A very easy going and easy to talk with guy who I really enjoyed meeting.
The president of Gardener's Supply is here and I was able to visit with him about our businesses for over an hour. Gardener's Supply is lucky to have him as their leader.
I could go on and on.
