Episode 591: Debra Prinzing Reflects on Slow Flowers Society’s 2022 Year in Review

https://youtu.be/80v_1Q_wX_0 With 2023 here, it's fitting to say goodbye to 2022 as we review the year's highlights. All I can say about 2022 is that after slogging through the pandemic in 2020 and its aftermath in 2021, this past year felt like a sprint, not a marathon. The year seemed to race by so quickly, week by week, month by month, and the march of time propelled our beautiful and inspiring Slow Flowers community through the year, as we sought fulfillment, prosperity and peace -- and balance in all things, right?! We lived our values, communicated our message, and supported one another in our shared mission. But wow, as much as the word *slow* is at the heart of all we do here, 2022 was anything but *slow*. Yet, the annual ritual to pause, review, evaluate, and celebrate - as well as learn from -- the lessons and experiences from our past year are activities I wouldn't miss - and I want to share with you! One personally meaningful major milestone was the 10-year anniversary of the book that started us off on the Slow Flowers journey -- The 50 Mile Bouquet. When it was published in 2012, The 50 Mile Bouquet was the first book to spotlight a major cultural shift and a transformation around how cut flowers are grown, designed and consumed, closely mirroring the culinary world's locavore/slow food revolution. "Brimming with Blooms" documents the origins of the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market in The 50 Mile Bouquet. One decade ago the floral industry was just beginning to ask for changes, seeking alternatives to imported, mass-produced and chemical-laden flowers. The 50 Mile Bouquet introduced some of the innovative voices of the dynamic new Slow Flower Movement: the organic flower farmers, the sustainably-motivated floral designers . . . and the flower enthusiasts who were increasingly asking, 'Where and how were my flowers grown, and who grew them?' Melissa and Tutta Bella appeared in The 50 Mile Bouquet The 50 Mile Bouquet included documentary-feature reporting and full color photography to bring readers into the farms and design studios of Slow Flowers practitioners. As the book that coined the phrase "Slow Flowers," its relevance today is more important than ever, considering issues around climate change, supply chain limitations, and equity and inclusion in the floral marketplace. Fast-forward, here we are wrapping up 2022, and the issues around flower sourcing are just as timely and more important than ever! From my original storytelling in the pages of The 50 Mile Bouquet, the Slow Flowers Movement emerged, with the launch of the Slow Flowers Society and so many meaningful conversations through the Slow Flowers Podcast interviews and our other programs, content, advocacy and outreach to floral professionals and flower lovers alike. Let's take a look at our Membership! We know that joining Slow Flowers Society as a member takes a financial commitment, a modest one that I believe offers incredible value for anyone in the business of communicating their brand in alignment with slow, seasonal, local and sustainable. 2022, for some, was a challenging year, as flowers continued to be bought and sold in a marketplace that is often based on cheap and convenient. Against that backdrop, we are so grateful to welcome 75 new flower farmers and floral designers who joined Slow Flowers Society as members in 2022. One Hundred percent of our focus is to add value to your investment in this organization. Since launching Slow Flowers in 2013, all of our revenue from membership subscriptions and partner sponsorships are poured right back into building Slow Flowers Society into a relevant and significant presence in the floral marketplace. Our strength in numbers has earned Slow Flowers a place at the table in mainstream floral circles, in the media, in conversations about the future of floriculture and floristry. That is priceless! In the past year, Slow Flowers Society has produced hundreds of hours of educational resources for you, from the weekly Slow Flowers Show and Podcast (and supporting blog posts) to our monthly Virtual Membership Meet-Ups, and info-packed monthly newsletters, to stories you read on slowflowersjournal.com and in our quarterly digital magazine Slow Flowers Journal, to the feature reports we produce with Johnny's Selected Seeds for their newsletter - and more. It's all about education, from growing and design advice to small business and marketing resources. When you add it all up, that's incredible value for a small membership subscription. In 2021, we hosted 10 Meet-Ups on a variety of topics important to our members, beginning with our January session when I co-presented our 2022 Slow Flowers Insights and Industry Forecast with Bloom Imprint's creative director Robin Avni and closing up the year recently with our December Meet-Up focusing on value-added flower farm product development with Natasha McCrary of 1818 Farms and Sarah Wagstaff of SUOT Farm & Flowers. Thousands have watched the replay videos with close to 8,000 impressions our YouTube channel! This is evergreen educational content always available to you and you can find the YouTube link to search all of our 2022 videos from the homepage of SlowFlowersPodcast.com. October was our membership appreciation month, with our focus to highlight members and their floral stories ~ all across the continent. During October, we brought weekly member conversations to IG Live and the Zoom Room, with even more opportunities to learn and hear from our members -- people at the heart of the Slow Flowers Movement. The social media exposure was incredible, generating thousands of views and impressions. You met and heard from October 4th: On Farm Events with Chelsea Willis of @sweetdelilahfarm and Misty VanderWeele of @all_dahliad_up who shared how they stage on-farm events; we discussed retail floristry with Jill Redman of @forageflorals + Angela Turner of @belfiorefarm; Pam Parker of JP Parker Flowers led a tour of her retail flower shop and discussed being a farmer-florist, and wedding designer Jessica Stewart of @bramble_blossom_pgh shared her tips for keeping your studio sustainable. We also produced a new Member Benefits Booklet with discounts and coupons from Slow Flowers Society and our sponsors. If you can't find the link to the booklet, please reach out and we'll be happy to share it with you. Speaking of reaching out, our membership services gained a boost this past September when Tonneli Gruetter joined us as community engagement and member manager. A flower farmer herself, Tonneli has jumped right in to connect with you, and enhance membership engagement -- if you have a question or suggestion, she's your front-line contact and you should feel free to reach out to her at membership@slowflowers.com. In November, we surveyed the Slow Flowers community - an annual exercise that informs our planning and forecasting for the year to come. Here are some highlights: We asked Members how they engage with Slow Flowers Society and about their participation in the long list of benefits and features for 2022; Our Members cited the original benefit of joining Slow FlowersSociety, dating back to the launch of slowflowers.com as an online directory in 2014. Nearly 70% of you mentioned the value of your Slow Flowers directory business listing found at slowflowers.com. 43% of you use our Slow Flowers badges and logos on your businesses' branding and communications. One-third of you value being featured in Slow Flowers' social media posts as a popular feature. When it comes to Member Benefits Respondents ranked top member benefits as follows: 69% Business listing on Slowflowers.com 43% Used Slow Flowers badges and logo on business branding/communications 34% Featured in social media post @slowflowerssociety 28% Purchased discounted tickets for Slow Flowers events 20% Attended Slow Flowers virtual meet-ups 20% Collaborated with other Slow Flowers members for special projects 18% Interviewed as guest on Slow Flowers Podcast 12% Participated in American Flowers Week 11% Participate in Slow Flowers Facebook Community Where do you fall on this list? Are you missing out on features and programs available to you as a Member?! Take a moment to align our services with your floral enterprise! In 2023, we will continue these features, so if you're not participating, that means you're missing out on all the benefits of your membership! Relating to Member Value, I'm so encouraged with these numbers: 81 percent of you rate the value of your Slow Flowers membership as high value or very high value - up from 75% in 2021and 82 percent of you are very satisfied or extremely satisfied with their Slow Flowers membership, up from 78 % in 2021 We asked members to share key ways in which they find value in their Slow Flowers member benefits.The top items: 80% of you say: I want to Align my business with the values of the Slow Flowers Movement and Show my support for the mission of the Slow Flowers Movement70% of you say: I want to connect with like-minded floral professionals and Educate myself and/or my staff about the importance of Slow Flowers.We chose two thank-you gifts for our name drawing of those of you who completed our survey - and congratulations to our winners! On December 14th, I drew the names and announced the winners during an IG Live with Niesha Blancas, our social media manager: Adrianne Gammie of Marilla Field & Flora received a Complimentary Premium Level Slow Flowers Society Membership for 1 year April Vomfell of Flathead Farmworks received a Complimentary 2023 Slow Flowers Summit registration - June 26-27, 2023 in Seattle, Washington Congratulations to Adrianne and April! -------------------------------------------- For 2022,