Turn your TCI EXPO ‘26 experience into action. Here’s some advice from past attendees in English and Spanish.

TCI EXPO is more than just a few days of education, exhibits and networking – it’s an opportunity to bring new ideas back to your business. We asked seasoned attendees to share takeaways from past TCI EXPOs and offer this year’s attendees advice on how to make the most of the experience once they leave Ft. Lauderdale.

IMPACT: What’s one TCI EXPO takeaway that has impacted your company?

ACTION: What’s one thing attendees should do after TCI EXPO?

Kate Odell

CTSP, Apical Arboriculture, Peterborough, New Hampshire

IMPACT:
Delegating tasks that I am not good at and do not like! One of the presenters at TCI EXPO ’24 in Baltimore spoke about this, and it has really helped me. As a small-business owner, it’s easy to say, “I’ll just do it,” but time spent on essential tasks that I do not enjoy and am not good at ends up not just being a waste of my time, but also takes me away from the aspects of my job that I love and that really drive my success. Without this advice, I would have gone a lot longer without a bookkeeper and an accountant, and both my business and I would have suffered.

ACTION:
Put all the contacts you met and notes you took into an Excel spreadsheet right when you get home. It’s so easy to just get back into the swing of things, and all of a sudden, an entire year has passed. It has made it so much easier to actually follow up on discussions and implement the new ideas from the show. It helps me get the most out of TCI EXPO!

Chandra Brown

CM Tree Service & Removal LLC, Billings, Montana

IMPACT:
For me, one of the biggest things was realizing that we didn’t have to figure everything out on our own. Being around other companies and hearing how they were handling the same problems we were dealing with gave me a completely different perspective. Sometimes it wasn’t even a huge idea – it was one small process, one conversation or one way of looking at something that we brought home and changed. Now we go every year, looking for that one thing, and TCI EXPO always delivers.

ACTION:
Do something with what you learned right away. I am the queen of coming home with pages of notes and all kinds of ideas, but if I don’t decide pretty quickly what we are actually going to implement, real life takes over, and those notes just sit there. Pick one or two things that really stood out, talk them through with your team and put a next step on the calendar. You do not have to overhaul your entire business. Just start somewhere, and don’t wait.

Hollis “Les” Day

CTSP, Mountain F. Enterprises Inc., Arbuckle, California

IMPACT:
One of the biggest things I have learned is that you get much more out of TCI EXPO when you plan your time before you arrive. I review the schedule ahead of time and put the lectures and demonstrations I want to attend directly on my calendar. I also make sure I leave enough time to walk the EXPO floor. Looking at the exhibitor list beforehand and identifying the companies and people I want to visit helps make the EXPO a much more productive experience.

ACTION:
As soon as you get home, take time to document what you learned, then share it with your team while it is still fresh. Talk about the ideas, products, practices and conversations that stood out, what you took away from the conference and, most important, what your company can actually put into practice. The real value of attending TCI EXPO comes from taking what you learned and bringing it back to those who couldn’t attend.

Noel Boyer

CTSP, All About Trees LLC, Springfield, Missouri

IMPACT:
Many years ago, I attended my first TCI EXPO, and that event was when I learned that I am part of something much bigger than my own little company in my own little corner of the world. The tree care industry is an enormous group of professionals working together to share ideas about business, safety, equipment and professionalism.

ACTION:
My best advice is to keep notes of all the nuggets of information you collect while you are there. You may end up with dozens of ideas that you jot down. Then, as you review the list, make a star by three to five items that you can implement immediately, prioritize those items and put them into effect as soon as you get home. This breaks the ice on your progress and opens the door to other items on the list. The trip is wasted if you make the list and then go home and continue business as usual.

John Haehnel

CTSP, QT, Tree Care Partners LLC, Foxboro, Massachusetts

IMPACT:
One of the biggest impacts TCI EXPO has had on our company is seeing how far the tree care industry has come in safety. When I started in the early 1990s, items such as helmets, safety glasses and chain-saw chaps often were considered optional. Over the years, I’ve watched our industry make tremendous progress in prioritizing safety, training and protecting employees. That commitment to safety has helped shape the culture of our company and has had a lasting impact on how we operate today.

ACTION:
My biggest piece of advice is to share what you learned with your team. Don’t just talk about the new equipment and products you saw on the trade show floor. The educational sessions and seminars are incredibly valuable, and the ideas, practices and lessons learned there can have a real impact on your business. I also encourage business owners to involve their team members and bring them to EXPO whenever possible. The relationships and connections you build are just as important as the education. I’ve attended TCI EXPO since 1996 or 1997, and many of the people I’ve met over the years have become lifelong friends. Those connections are one of the things I look forward to most every year.

Mike Nezworski

CM Tree Service & Removal LLC, Billings, Mont.

IMPACT:
I learned that the industry is a lot bigger than I thought. It was overwhelming at first, but this is a very large family of guys and gals who also want to see each other succeed.

ACTION:
Debrief and prioritize. Every year, we come back with a ton of new ideas and strategies. Slow down, debrief and pick one or two things to focus on, then look forward to the next show!

Ash Connelly

Ash Advisors, Charleston, South Carolina

IMPACT:
Some of the most impactful things I’ve taken away from TCI EXPO weren’t necessarily one big idea, but exposure to how other successful tree care companies operate. Conversations with other owners, industry professionals and vendors challenged me to look differently at our own processes, equipment, technology and business practices. TCI EXPO has a unique way of showing you what’s possible outside the four walls of your own company, and sometimes one conversation or idea is enough to completely change how you approach an area of the business.

ACTION:
Don’t let your notes become a list of great ideas you never revisit. Have a team meeting scheduled within one week after EXPO to identify the two or three things from EXPO that could have the greatest impact on your business, and assign an actual next step, owner and timeline to each one. Consider designating a “champion” for each item to encourage ownership. You don’t have to implement everything you learned; you just need to turn the right ideas into action. The value of EXPO isn’t only what you learn while you’re there; it’s what you do with it when you get home.

Nicole “Carni” Benjamin

Women’s Tree Climbing Workshop, Pineville, North Carolina

IMPACT:
Oooh, it’s tough picking just one thing from a past TCI EXPO. I’ve learned countless new skills or “tools for the toolbox” on how to solve tree problems. Something I continue to learn about at every TCI EXPO is how our industry is continuously advancing: new technologies, bigger equipment, better ways to diagnose and remedy issues trees are dealing with, different climbing and rigging techniques and devices. You get three days to gather as much information as you can, and then you get to deep dive into what piques your interest or is going to benefit you or your company.
So, in short, the big impact is recognizing that you can fully immerse yourself in tree “nerd-ery,” and you still get to learn so much more after the fact. And the next year, there will be still more things to expand your knowledge and passion for trees.

ACTION:
As an introvert, I suggest sleep. Truly, though, I suggest this step before you leave, because exhaustion is real. Then, I make a list of things:

1. Speakers I enjoyed and why. Maybe they were entertaining, maybe they had insane knowledge, maybe a combination. I Google-creep to see if they are presenting at other events or have YouTube channels or platforms. If they made the learning enjoyable, it is easy for me to continue learning from them.
2. New climbing or rigging techniques. I’ll write them out and make a plan to try them myself, low and slow or in zero- or low-consequence situations at first. Sometimes that technique becomes a tool I use in my daily work, and sometimes it doesn’t, but I never know if I don’t try it.
3. Check in with friends. This is one I do when I get home. I check in on my friends to make sure they also got home safely and to see if they are as exhausted as I am, but also excited to go to work Monday. TCI EXPO is one of the events that fuels my fire for this industry and the people in it. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

TCI EXPO es mucho más que unos días de formación, exhibiciones y crear nuevos contactos: es una oportunidad para llevar nuevas ideas a su empresa.

Pedimos a asistentes veteranos que compartieran las lecciones aprendidas en ediciones anteriores de TCI EXPO y ofrecieran consejos a los asistentes de este año sobre cómo aprovechar al máximo la experiencia una vez que salgan de Ft. Lauderdale.

IMPACTO: ¿Cuál es una enseñanza o conclusión de la TCI EXPO que ha tenido un impacto en su empresa?

ACCIÓN: ¿Cuál es una cosa que los asistentes deben hacer después de la TCI EXPO?

Luis Macias

Townsend, Atlanta, Georgia

IMPACTO:
Lo que yo aprendí en la TCI EXPO en las conferencias sobre más personas y empresas que se dedican a lo mismo que nosotros y tienen algunas maneras nuevas sobre la seguridad muy interesantes que yo empecé a implementar para la empresa que trabajo y fueron muy eficientes y hasta el día de hoy trabajo en implementarlas para que mi gente trabaje con seguridad y regresen a casa sanos y salvos con su familia.

ACCIÓN:
Mi consejo para otras compañías o empresas es que deberían considerar mandar a sus empleados para que vivan la experiencia de la TCI EXPO y aprendan cosas nuevas conozcan a nuevas personas que todos los días trabajamos en lo mismo nueva herramienta que es más productiva y facilita el trabajo y es más segura para los trabajadores, nuevos métodos y maquinas que están en la industria.

Cosijoopi Montero

Reforestación Extrema, San Pedro Garza García, Nuevo León, Mexico

IMPACTO:
Las sesiones que abordan seguridad de los colaboradores son invaluables. Que otros profesionales nos compartan su experiencia a través de sus presentaciones, son un recurso estratégico para tomar mejores decisiones. Aprender de lo que podemos todos evidenciar en el trabajo habitual, es quizás una de las mejores fuentes de conocimiento para fortalecer a la industria, la seguridad de los colaboradores, mejorar nuestra imagen ante la opinión pública y por supuesto, crear riqueza para la empresa y valor para nuestras comunidades. El conocimiento es la base fundamental para ofrecer calidad.

ACCIÓN:
Estar presente en la TCI EXPO nos da la oportunidad y el privilegio de robustecer nuestros procesos operativos. La TCI EXPO es una herramienta indispensable para el crecimiento institucional. Si lo que queremos es mejorar y crear valor, debemos relacionarnos y convivir con los mejores. La TCI EXPO nos da a todos esa oportunidad. Una organización aislada que no interactúa sistemáticamente con otras organizaciones, está condenada a repetir los errores y a no mejorar la calidad del conocimiento. Asistir a la TCI EXPO es una inversión que te regresa multiplicado, cada centavo.

Erick Navarro Palacios

Instituto Internacional de Arboricultura, Chico, Calif.

IMPACTO:
Un momento de impacto para mí fue haber tomado el curso de CTSP antes de la TCI EXPO, me ayudó mucho para ampliar mi carrera y me dio herramientas para poder ascender los rangos de la industria y dentro de mi empresa.

ACCIÓN:
Mi consejo para los propietarios de empresas es que inviertan en sus empleados no solo vengan a la TCI EXPO pero continúen usando los recursos que TCIA provee y úsenlos para capacitar al personal en su empresa.

Daniel Aburto

Bartlett Tree Experts, San Diego, Calif.

IMPACTO:
Saludos, amigos de los árboles. Espero que puedan dar la oportunidad de acudir a la TCI EXPO aquí es un lugar en el que podemos aprender y compartir con colegas de la industria originarios de muchos lugares y no solo del país, así como ver de primera mano lo más nuevo que hay en equipo y conocimiento. Las ponencias que se dan nos ponen al día en las experiencias y descubrimientos en el campo. TCI EXPO siempre es un lugar del que se aprenden cosas nuevas.

ACCIÓN:
Lo más importante del conocimiento es compartirlo así llega a más personas y entre más se comparte más se aprende. Nos vemos pronto en esta nueva edición en Florida.