IMPACT!
By Marvin Miller, AIB President
Someone recently asked me about the impact America in Bloom really has when a city only participates in the contest one time. He further challenged me about impact, noting the 20-something total cities in the contest over each of the last few years.
I proceeded to challenge his thinking by relating the story of Warwick, New York, a city that participated in the very first year of AIB contest in 2002 but has not participated since. We contacted an AIB friend in Warwick to ask why. In 2002, our friend, a local greenhouse grower, had brought together the owners of all of the town’s horticultural firms, including her greenhouse, a local nursery, garden centers, landscapers, and arborists, to discuss what they might do, working together, for the city. Several of these owners had never met previously, and several viewed others as “the competition.” My friend reported that the “Warwick in Bloom” effort was still quite functional. All 16 firms that originally had gathered were still in business. They still meet each winter to decide how to add to what they’ve been doing for the city. And every one of these businesses has grown its sales volume along the way. She was proud to announce their local effort had continued throughout the years, and that the citizens, municipality, and horticultural businesses were all beneficiaries.
This year, Warwick is competing in the International Challenge, sponsored by Canada’s Communities in Bloom program, with which AIB partners. (Winners of an AIB population category can enter the International Challenge, in which they compete with winning cities from a number of “in Bloom” programs around the world.) AIB typically has at least one of its judges serving as an international judge for this competition, which helps our judges “compare notes” with other programs and their judges. This allows all of the “in Bloom” programs to exchange ideas.
So, the truth is that while we may have only 20-something cities in the contest right now, we have many more cities that are beautifying their landscapes based on past experiences and the continuous improvement upon which they build. Indeed, since 2002, America in Bloom has hosted over 180 communities in the contest. Any many of these cities have repeatedly participated in the contest.
After a recent talk, an audience member commented about a neighboring community that has participated in our contest over and over again. He assured me they did this for the judges’ evaluations. “There is no better way to know how your city comes across to visitors than to get a written report from a pair of first-time visitors,” he suggested. “And the value of that report is a real bargain each and every time.” Indeed, the 20- to 30-page evaluation with comments on each of the eight criteria across all three judging sectors (citizens, municipal, and commercial) provides plenty of fodder for a city to use for this kind of continuous improvement. Mayors have compared favorably the AIB evaluation to expensive consultant reports.
In truth, the AIB impact is much greater than our city count or the 22 million residents of these cities. As I have noted in issues past, AIB often experiences a clustering of cities on our participation map. There is every reason to believe that additional cities see the transformations occurring in neighboring communities. In turn, these cities make improvements even though they may not enter the contest. The AIB reach goes much further than just the cities registered for the contest in any one year.
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A reminder to mark your calendars for September 30-October 2 for the AIB symposium and awards program in St. Louis. More details will be announced soon.
Though we’re excited about symposium in St Louis, plans are already underway for the 2011 contest and symposium. It will be AIB’s 10th anniversary, so we encourage all of our alumni to come back for the 2011 contest.
Someone recently asked me about the impact America in Bloom really has when a city only participates in the contest one time. He further challenged me about impact, noting the 20-something total cities in the contest over each of the last few years.
I proceeded to challenge his thinking by relating the story of Warwick, New York, a city that participated in the very first year of AIB contest in 2002 but has not participated since. We contacted an AIB friend in Warwick to ask why. In 2002, our friend, a local greenhouse grower, had brought together the owners of all of the town’s horticultural firms, including her greenhouse, a local nursery, garden centers, landscapers, and arborists, to discuss what they might do, working together, for the city. Several of these owners had never met previously, and several viewed others as “the competition.” My friend reported that the “Warwick in Bloom” effort was still quite functional. All 16 firms that originally had gathered were still in business. They still meet each winter to decide how to add to what they’ve been doing for the city. And every one of these businesses has grown its sales volume along the way. She was proud to announce their local effort had continued throughout the years, and that the citizens, municipality, and horticultural businesses were all beneficiaries.
This year, Warwick is competing in the International Challenge, sponsored by Canada’s Communities in Bloom program, with which AIB partners. (Winners of an AIB population category can enter the International Challenge, in which they compete with winning cities from a number of “in Bloom” programs around the world.) AIB typically has at least one of its judges serving as an international judge for this competition, which helps our judges “compare notes” with other programs and their judges. This allows all of the “in Bloom” programs to exchange ideas.
So, the truth is that while we may have only 20-something cities in the contest right now, we have many more cities that are beautifying their landscapes based on past experiences and the continuous improvement upon which they build. Indeed, since 2002, America in Bloom has hosted over 180 communities in the contest. Any many of these cities have repeatedly participated in the contest.
After a recent talk, an audience member commented about a neighboring community that has participated in our contest over and over again. He assured me they did this for the judges’ evaluations. “There is no better way to know how your city comes across to visitors than to get a written report from a pair of first-time visitors,” he suggested. “And the value of that report is a real bargain each and every time.” Indeed, the 20- to 30-page evaluation with comments on each of the eight criteria across all three judging sectors (citizens, municipal, and commercial) provides plenty of fodder for a city to use for this kind of continuous improvement. Mayors have compared favorably the AIB evaluation to expensive consultant reports.
In truth, the AIB impact is much greater than our city count or the 22 million residents of these cities. As I have noted in issues past, AIB often experiences a clustering of cities on our participation map. There is every reason to believe that additional cities see the transformations occurring in neighboring communities. In turn, these cities make improvements even though they may not enter the contest. The AIB reach goes much further than just the cities registered for the contest in any one year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A reminder to mark your calendars for September 30-October 2 for the AIB symposium and awards program in St. Louis. More details will be announced soon.
Though we’re excited about symposium in St Louis, plans are already underway for the 2011 contest and symposium. It will be AIB’s 10th anniversary, so we encourage all of our alumni to come back for the 2011 contest.