In Closing | Georgia Harper, Outgoing President, LVML

In closing...

GEORGIA HARPER, PRESIDENT, LANDSCAPING VICTORIA MASTER LANDSCAPERS

This year has been a huge challenge for Landscaping Victoria ‘Master Landscapers’ and our members. For the Association, we have had to pivot from our usual, busy calendar of events into a leaner, meaner and more flexible entity - as have most of us across the industry.

As we all know, from March this year we saw a dramatic set of circumstances unfold. From day one, the Board has been on the front foot in supporting our Executive team in what can only be described as highly stressful and dynamic circumstances. Many, many hours were spent finding ways to deal with the avalanche of information and changing circumstances the initial weeks of Covid 19 wrought; no small feat when you consider that those same Board members were also trying to deal with their own business issues at the same time.

I am so proud that every member of the Board pulled together and put in the hours needed to ensure that LVML could survive and most importantly, to become an even more valuable resource and ally for our Members.

As a result of these efforts, we have developed a very different set of ways to better engage with our membership, including the Virtual Beer Garden and The Back Shed Zoom events designed to keep people in touch, engaged and up-to-date about issues affecting our industry.

Many of these ideas will continue on past Covid; we are excited to embrace the technology that can help everyone get more out of their membership, and especially our regional members who find it difficult to get to every event. At the height of the Victorian lockdown we spent time aggressively lobbying the State government to promote our members' interests and were successful in obtaining coverage on most major channels, including the ABC.

Heading into a Covid-normal environment now, we have even more planned for the coming year. We are keen to build on the new alliances we've been able to make during Covid restrictions, and will continue to work tirelessly to ensure our members get the representation they deserve. At the same time, we acknowledge that there is still a way to go to get back to 'normal', and so we'll be continuing to do our virtual events, and we're currently putting some polish on new and exciting developments as well; these include our new podcast series, re-launch of DesignLAB, launch of BuildLAB, and much more - watch this space!

On a personal note: my tenure as President is officially at a close and while it's been a crazy ride, I've enjoyed every moment of it.

I have been very lucky to have a fantastic Board behind me, and I'd like to especially thank Megan, Colleen, Victoria and Jo for their hard work and support. During my Presidency we have relaunched LV as Master Landscapers; started The Landscape Show; partnered with SPASA with the Backyard and Garden Show, launched DesignLAB and achieved so much more.

In these competitive times, everything we do is designed to put you - our Members and Sponsors - at the top of the shopping list for every customer, and to assist you in any way we can to build a solid foundation for your business so that you can thrive.

My one wish is that you'll return the favour and attend everything you can, in person or virtually. Participate and make your opinions known...

and promote our industry by being the fantastic professionals you are. The more you put in, the more you'll get out of it - our goal is to continue to grow and become a stronger association, and that can only be great for everyone.

Thank you so much for the honour of being a part of it.