Vol. 7, Issue 3 | September 2015

Message From Your President

John Zaplatynsky

As I begin my two year term as president of the IGCA, I would like to thank my fellow board members for their confidence in my accepting this challenge. I would also like to extend my hearty thanks to Rachel Doyle for her leadership of our association over the past two years and also to recognize our Past President, Nick Stodel for his years of wisdom and experience during his term as President and many years as a Director.

At our wonderful last-evening gala in Denmark I indicated that I had three objectives that I would like to achieve during my term. They are:

1. To continue to improve the value of attendance at our annual Congress. Our study tour has been an excellent vehicle to introduce a younger generation of leaders to the learning experience that comes from attending a Congress. Many other “older” attendees have said they would like to participate in a broader and more interactive number of activities. We have created a committee of directors to look into how we might do this and create more learning and sharing benefits of Congress attendance.

2. To continue to increase the number of member countries that are members of the IGCA. We now have 18 member countries and are investigating adding at least two more countries in the next two years. This will increase of travel and learning experiences.

3. To improve the idea sharing and learning opportunities membership in the IGCA offers. We have a number of resources available to our members by means of the internet and social media. We have another committee that will explore how we can share the great ideas and programs in our member countries so we all can benefit from countries that have developed success programs for their members and extend them around the world.

I look forward to hearing any ideas you might have to help us reach these objectives. Please feel free to reach out to me or your country association so we can work towards achieving these goals.

Best wishes for success in your businesses through the fall and I hope to hear from you or see you soon.

John Zaplatynsky
President IGCA, Canada GardenWorks Ltd.