In February we attended our fourth Tree Care Industry Association Winter Management Conference, held just outside San Juan, Puerto Rico.
This 3-day conference is a gathering of leading arborists and tree care companies from all over the world and is always held in a nice warm location (a welcome escape from the snow and cold of Connecticut).
While you may think it’s just an excuse for a mid-winter vacation, the truth is that it’s the most valuable conference I attend all year.
Each year, TCIA brings in great speakers who really make you think about business-critical issues that we business owners don’t always pay enough attention to. Being able to get away from the day-to-day management of the company gives me a chance to learn new things and reflect on ways to make my business stronger, my employees more engaged and, most importantly, make us all safer.
The conference is also a fantastic opportunity to network and share with tree care companies who are similar to us, learn from the large corporate tree care companies, and provide mentoring to new business owners.
After all of these years attending the Winter Management Conference, we’ve made a lot of arborist friends from all over the country. The friendships are wonderful, and the added bonus is that when there’s some new uncharted area for the business or a question I can’t answer, there’s this awesome network I can hit up any time as a sounding board.
Where else can you spend three days learning new ways to improve your business, catching up with old friends, and trading tips with forward thinking individuals who are pushing the envelope of arboriculture and safety in the industry – all while enjoying a bit of warmth and sunshine in the middle of a frigid winter?
