Next month in Baltimore marks the 35th year since the first TCI EXPO – the largest and most comprehensive trade show and conference in the tree care industry! Each year, the TCIA staff delivers a well-
organized, well-planned and professionally run trade show and conference. The bar gets raised each year as the industry learns more about safety, professionalism, new equipment and new services, and as more of us network and connect to make each other better.

TCI EXPO week is one of my favorite weeks of the year. It is a great week to connect with so many like-minded, passionate people. There is a heck of a lot of special that happens when you bring thousands of tree care professionals and the staff of more than 270 supporting exhibitors together in the same city and convention hall. There are hours of networking, exploring, demoing, learning, experiencing and bonding that occur during EXPO week.

I’ve been attending TCI EXPO since 2015, and have seen the show grow each and every year. Attendees and exhibitors continue to level up what they want to see and to show. Both small and large labor-saving equipment has increasingly become a major draw for the show, from compact lifts to huge knuckle-boom crane trucks to all things electric and plenty more. Vendors are showing increasing levels of safety and technology to the industry. Plant-health-care equipment and services continue to shine, as does software and insurance. The EXPOClimb area continues to impress, with training and all of the equipment that goes right along with it.

Exhibitor perspective

Coming from the exhibitor side and working the Vermeer booth for years enables me to shine a little light on what goes into pulling off a great experience for customers.

Budgeting and aligning new products to launch at the show have to be coordinated well over 12 months in advance. Making sure we have the proper booth space, a draft of the booth-space plan and what models to include and not include all come into consideration. What is the marketing plan, is this an anniversary year of a product or the company or are we focusing on a new product launch? What is our message and theme for the tree care industry next year? How many show workers should we have for Baltimore? Which of our dealers will be there? Even, how do we organize a lunch schedule?

But the fun is moving more than a dozen chippers, stump grinders, mini-skids, articulated loaders and attachments from the trucks onto the show floor in a coordinated manner to line them up perfectly for display. Each morning of the show, after the dust from setup settles and the units have been detailed, the Vermeer team meets in the booth for a final walk-through to make sure everything is as it should be. We do a team cheer – and the doors open.

As an exhibitor, it is so exciting to watch attendees hustle to their favorite booths and start striking up conversations. I’m looking forward to that same scene next month.

Lean in

If you are a veteran attendee, TCI EXPO is an opportunity to reconnect with friends you’ve met at past TCIA events and to connect with new faces in our industry. If you are new, I encourage you to lean in, introduce yourself to others, ask questions, listen to the conference speakers and get out of your comfort zone.

I look forward to seeing many of you on the trade-show floor next month. Safe travels!

Austin Bonnema is vice president of sales with Vermeer Mountain West in Salt Lake City, Utah, a branch of Vermeer Corporation, a 41-year TCIA member company based in Pella, Iowa. He also is a member of the TCIA Board of Directors.