Technically Speaking

Jennifer Zurko

When you look up the definition of “technical,” it implies that if you’re a technical person, you’re pretty much an expert on a certain subject.

It makes me wonder if I’m technical in anything … The music genre of hip-hop? Maybe. Technically, I listen to a lot of rap music, so I suppose I could win a few rounds of “Hip-Hop Squares,” but I’m no Sway or Touré (Google them if you’re curious).

Writing for a trade magazine? Probably. I’ve been at this B2B publishing thing for nine years, so technically I have a good chance of holding my own in an editorial meeting with the likes of journalists from Inc. or Fast Company.

Anything to do with numbers? Definitely not. I went to school and technically learned Math, but as I’ve told you on this page before, all of that was replaced with song lyrics long ago.  

So I guess the bar is set pretty high before you’re considered to be an expert, technically adept at speaking on a certain topic articulately. As growers—some of you as such for many years—it does make you more of an expert on how to grow plants in a greenhouse than someone off the street. But because there’s a constant flow of new introductions every year, you can’t be an expert at growing every single variety. So you rely on the technical experts at the breeding companies to guide you through the process.

To help you out, we feature a bunch of growing information on the newest varieties in every October issue, and this year, we have 10 good ones. Make sure you share them with your greenhouse staff, so they can become technical experts at growing these new products.

One thing that I’m sure many of you wish you were more knowledgeable about was government labor programs. One of those is I-9 compliance, and with the current climate of stricter worker enforcement, it’s more important than ever that all of your T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted. Get some tips on staying current from our expert, L.J. D’Arrigo, who as a partner in the Immigration Practice Group at Whiteman, Osterman & Hanna, works with growers around the country, helping them hire foreign-born workers.

We also have an expert on another topic that’s been on the forefront of your mind—trucking. AmericanHort’s Director of Government Affairs Tal Coley gave us the scoop on possible changes to the Hours of Service rules and an update on the new Electronic Logging Devices mandates that have been in effect since April.

This month’s issue has lots of technical info—maybe not enough to make you an expert—but a good amount to give you an extra leg up in your business. GT