A Floral Leaders Seminar – What is that?

A Floral Leaders Seminar – What is that?

Have you been wondering - “What is a Floral Leaders Seminar?”

If your curiosity has led you to read this far, I will almost bet you are a leader in the flower world, or well on your way to becoming one. We initiated the Floral Leaders Seminar as a way for the floral design community gather and grow – to become stronger by sharing knowledge and understanding about subjects we have in common – techniques and craftsmanship and design thoughts and terminology.

Whether floral design is your career or creative hobby, the Floral Leaders Seminar is a great opportunity for professional and personal development. 

How did the seminar start?

Some years ago, the Australian TAFE system facilitated a ‘Teachers Seminar’ every year or so - a chance for floristry teachers in the TAFE network to gather to confirm and extend the foundations of their teaching. Unfortunately, these seminars stopped many years ago. Similar International Teachers Seminar have been held regularly in Europe, most notably in France, and now at the Boerma Instituut in The Netherlands, hosted by Gregor Lersch.

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Seeing the value and potential growth opportunities these seminars offered, Flower Thinking decided to host similar events in Australia.

While the TAFE seminars were only open to teachers from TAFE, the benefits of such opportunities would be valuable to all teachers, including from other Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and other schools. Those same benefits would also be tremendously valuable to other leaders in our flower world - demonstrators, judges and presenters, both professional and amateur, from the worlds of floristry, floral design, floral art and flower arranging. An expanded network for the seminars would enable floral leaders to experience a broad, common perspective - so they could speak to one another in a common design language.

Flower Thinking held its inaugural Floral Leaders Seminar in Sydney, August 2024, with International Master Florist, Gregor Lersch.

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Am I a Floral Leader?

Anyone who takes their own learning and creative development seriously and does so by actively pursuing their own growth and excellence through practice and education, is a leader.

If you a demonstrating, judging, presenting or teaching … then you are a floral leader. If you are seeking to know more by entering competitions or building up your skills and knowledge to achieve your future floral goals, then you are aspiring to leadership roles and are welcome at the seminar.

What happens at the seminars?

The format is usually theatre style, with a Guest Presenter and audience. The Presenter covers a range of floral concepts relating to techniques and skills, floral design principles and theory and similar common areas of interest across the floral world. Rather than simply delivering a static presentation, the Guest discusses florals topics and concepts and bounces off the audience’s responses – an interactive format that allows the subjects to be tailored to the needs of those present. Our seminars usually include a specific Q & A session which allows the opportunity for subjects and themes that are not on the agenda to be addressed.

While the seminars are very suited to teachers and judges, subjects specific to teaching or judging practices are not usually covered. 

Am I experienced enough to attend? Will I feel embarrassed by my inexperience?

The seminars are designed for attendees of all levels, and the point of attending is to gain experience and extend your understanding. Participation is via audience participation and optional question asking, so the chance for embarrassment is minimal. The opportunity for growth, enrichment and networking is much greater. Participants have found their participation enlightening, inspiring, and affirming. The intention is to build confidence in the seminar topics and beyond.

I am already a successful teacher and competitor, why should I attend?

Our philosophy is there is no end to learning. Themes, trends and theory are always evolving. The seminars are a great opportunity to stay up to date with current practice and perspectives. The format also allows those with extensive experience to contribute via the discussions and networking with the Presenter and fellow attendees.

When is the next seminar?

The next Floral Leaders Seminar is a part of the {Flower Thinking in Brisbane 2025} program – 16th to 18th June 2025. The event includes two days of hands-on workshops. The Guest Presenter will be World Champion, Bart Hassam – who not only is an internationally renowned Floral Designer, but also a retail Florist with his own boutiques in Brisbane.

The 2025 Floral Leaders Seminar with Bart is on Wednesday, 18th June 2025.

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You can find out more about the 2025 Floral Leaders Seminar here, or sign up to our monthly newsletter here.

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