Computer Generated Labels 



■ By Chris Robarge 



^M ^B Hv e all seem to dread 

 ^A ^^ ^m the ritual of writing 

 ^B^^^^V out the tags and la- 

 wVV^F bels needed to prop- 

 ^V mm erly display our plant 

 material. Granted there are some very 

 effective tag-along and preprinted la- 

 bels on the market, but the minimum 

 quantities may not match your require- 

 ments. One solution is to invest in a 

 computerized program for producing 

 your own professional looking labels. 

 These user-friendly, point-and-shoot 

 programs require very few special 

 computer skills and usually will run on 

 your present PC and printer. (We all do 

 have a PC, right?) 



Most programs enable you to print 

 either plastic or tyvek type labels and 

 signs for many uses within the business. 



It' s an understood fact that an informed 

 and well-educated customer will make 

 a larger purchase, so to that end we 

 should present our plants with all the 

 information needed to ensure a sale. 

 Computer generated labels come out 

 legible and professional looking in a 

 matterofminutes. You control thequan- 

 tity and size label produced, giving bo- 

 tanical and common names as well as 

 cultural requirements. 



With the basic information sup- 

 plied, your customer will feel more 

 relaxed and your sales force will have 

 time to deal with the customer's more 

 specific needs. Some programs allow 

 you to create your own data base while 

 others come with a library of plants 

 already in the memory which you can 

 add to, edit, or delete to fit your needs. 



Board Meeting Minutes 



June 6, 1990 



TTie meeting was held in the confer- 

 ence room at Barton Hall in Durham. Emer- 

 son, Holmes, Gould, Robarge and Wynant 

 were present. 



The minutes of the last meeting and the 

 financial report were read and accepted. 

 Correspondence was read. 



It was decided to give a Top Nursery- 

 man award at the Summer Meeting this 

 year, and board members were to come up 

 with nominees at the July meeting. 



It was decided to drop from the mem- 

 bership list the names of all people who'd 

 received second notices of dues owed and 

 who still hadn't paid. Hopefully some of 

 these will rejoin at the summer meeting. 

 Membership is now do wn to 1 50: The Plants- 

 man is sent to 1 97 people. (It would be good 

 to find some additional members because 

 the bulk mailing rate for The Plantsman 

 requires a mailing list of 210.) 



It was decided to increase insurance 

 coverage of meetings to $500,000. This 

 would cost an additional $25. 



The final arrangements for the sum- 

 mer meeting were made. The people putting 

 on the barbecue will charge a set fee of 

 $ 1 ,000. This would provide enough to feed 

 160 people. $6.75 per person would be the 

 price. The Greenery would arrange for the 

 tent and tables and chairs and the morning 

 coffee and doughnuts. The participants in 



the trade show will pay an entrance fee and 

 this would go into the scholarship fund. 

 There will be two bus tours — using Peaselee 

 transportation — to Spider Web Gardens in 

 the morning and another in the afternoon. 

 The awards and door prize winners will be 

 announced at three. 



The winter meeting should not conflict 

 with other meetings being held at that time 

 of year. Several location possibilities (the 

 Margate in Lebanon, the Wolfeboro Inn, B. 

 May Denney's, Patrick's, the North Con- 

 way Inn) were brought up. Costs — the price 

 and size of the meeting room and the price 

 and size of dinner — were discussed. 



Possible speakers include Richard 

 Zoerb from Gloeckner's (New items being 

 sold in the NE area), Tom March (engine 

 maintenance), and Dave Seavey. Several 

 people whose topics revolve around per- 

 sonnel management, conflicts within a 

 family-owned business, etc., were consid- 

 ered, but most charge fees — and the board 

 discussed whether member interest would 

 warrant the price. One of these people will 

 be invited to the next board meeting to dis- 

 cuss the tyjje of program she offers. 



July 11, 1990 



Again in the conference room at Bar- 

 ton Hall, Emerson, Gould, Price and Ro- 

 barge were present. The minutes of last 

 month's meeting and the financial repwrt 



In addition, some allow for the tracking 

 of plant purchases, reports of purchases 

 by variety, and production of purchase 

 orders. Whichever type of program you 

 choose, you'll find they are versatile 

 and will adapt well to any size busi- 

 ness. 



If you're interested, you may want 

 toexpiore: Tagget from Economy Label 

 Sales, P.O. Box 350, Dayton Beach, 

 FL,32015, 1 -800-874-4465, orGarden- 

 ware Programs from Gardenware, P.O. 

 Box 130, Cannon Beach, OR, 97110, 

 503-436-0612. Both have demonstra- 

 tion disks which will allow you to see 

 first hand if the program will meet your 

 needs.|i 



(Christopher Robarge is UNWTAS 

 Horticultural Facilities Manager) 



were read and accepted. 



The New Hampshire Department of 

 Agriculture has written, asking for support 

 for the renovation of the state's display area 

 at the Eastern States Exposition in Spring- 

 field. A landscaping plan has been drawn up 

 and the state is looking for donations of 

 money and plant material. The plant grow- 

 ers' contribution to this project will be 

 decided at the August meeting. 



The program and final plans for the 

 Summer Meeting were discussed. 



It was decided to look into present- 

 ing plaques to Charlie Williams and Kathy 

 Gamester to thank them for their work on 

 The Plantsman and for their services to the 

 organization in general. The Young Nurs- 

 eryman Award was discussed, but no recipi- 

 ent was chosen. 



For the WinterMeeting, it was decided 

 to book the Conference Room at the Mar- 

 gate in Lebanon for Thursday, January 17. 

 Chris will confirm the booking. 



Donna Singer, apossible spieaker, came 

 and talked enthusiastically about her quali- 

 fications and the types of workshops she 

 had done. The board felt that she might 

 seem a little too unusual at first, but once the 

 members got into her audience-participa- 

 tion style of presentation, she would be a 

 great success. Other speakers still could 

 include March, Zoreb, and Seavey. 



Tlie meeting adjourned at nine-lhirty. 



