scholarly journals Enhancing Consumer Horticulture’s Millennial Outreach: Social Media, Retail, and Public Garden Perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 642-649
Author(s):  
Esther McGinnis ◽  
Alicia Rihn ◽  
Natalie Bumgarner ◽  
Sarada Krishnan ◽  
Jourdan Cole ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Interest Group ◽  
The United States ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
Master Gardener ◽  
Public Gardens ◽  
Media Presentation ◽  
Professional Interest ◽  
Public Garden ◽  
American Society

The millennial generation, born between 1981 and 1996, is the largest demographic age group in the United States. This generation of plant enthusiasts has experienced financial setbacks; nevertheless, they collectively wield immense economic power. In 2018, this generation made one-quarter of all horticulture purchases. Consumer horticulture (CH) is challenged to develop targeted programming and outreach methods to connect with this influential and information-hungry generation. To examine the possibilities, the CH and Master Gardener Professional Interest Group held a workshop on 23 July 2019, in Las Vegas, NV, at the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) annual conference. The workshop first actively engaged participants to build points of connection by discussing nontraditional terminology that resonates with younger audiences. Suggested terminology included plant parent, plant enthusiast, plant babies, apartment-friendly, sustainable, and urban agriculture. After the opening discussion, three presentations explored innovative content, marketing and outreach in the areas of social media, retail promotions, and public gardens. The social media presentation focused on building a two-way partnership with millennials on Instagram that emphasized shared values of sustainability, local foods, and wellness. During the second presentation, the speaker highlighted retail point-of-sale promotions that appeal to younger audiences. The final presentation described creative programming used by botanical gardens to engage younger visitors. A facilitated discussion followed the presentations to identify and evaluate techniques and content that could be incorporated into CH research, teaching, and extension to reach and interact with new millennial audiences. Based on the workshop presentations and the facilitated discussions, the ASHS CH and Master Gardener Professional Interest Group concluded that more CH professionals should engage in social media outreach tailored to the needs and preferences of younger generations. To support this valuable outreach, research of consumer behavior and retail marketing should be encouraged to identify the preferred terminology and subject matter that appeal to millennials. Finally, CH can learn from and partner with public gardens as they implement multidisciplinary programming and exhibitions.

scholarly journals Critical Issues in Consumer Horticulture: Gaps in Research and Public Gardens’ Involvement in Consumer Horticulture

2022 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Sarada Krishnan ◽  
Heather Kirk-Ballard ◽  
Esther McGinnis ◽  
Lauren Garcia Chance
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Concerted Effort ◽  
Research Gaps ◽  
Master Gardener ◽  
Public Gardens ◽  
Professional Interest ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Public Garden ◽  
American Society ◽  
Virtual Conference

The retail gardening industry in the United States is expected to reach $50 billion by 2023, and it is a significant driver of the agricultural economy. To meet the corresponding demand for information, consumer horticulture (CH) professionals will need to develop innovative digital outreach, research-based solutions, a concerted recruitment of youth, and enhanced collaborations. To understand the current gaps in CH research and the extent of the involvement of public gardens in CH, surveys were conducted among the two groups, CH/extension researchers and staff of public gardens. The results of the surveys were presented at the virtual conference of the American Society for Horticultural Science on 12 Aug. 2020 during a workshop hosted by the Consumer Horticulture and Master Gardener Professional Interest Group. The workshop included four presentations, and two of those are discussed in this paper: 1) research gaps in CH and 2) bridging the divide between CH and public gardens. Among researchers, even though there was a general understanding of CH, there was a disconnect in participants’ perceptions of the roles of CH in the economy and recreation. The greatest knowledge gap was in basic horticultural practices. Regarding public garden professionals, there needs to be a concerted effort to educate them about CH so they can provide a consistent message to their audiences and the general public.

Claremont Conferences

1986 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 379-380
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Endowment ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
150Th Anniversary ◽  
Democracy In America ◽  
American Society

A major conference on Tocqueville’s Democracy in America was held from January 23 to 26, 1985, at Claremont, California. The meeting, sponsored by the Claremont Institute and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities, was the second annual conference in a larger project, Novus Ordo Seclorum, directed by Ken Masugi and designed by the Institute to celebrate the American Bicentennial. The Tocqueville Conference, which gathered as participants some three dozen scholars from the United States, France, Germany, and Thailand, also honored the 150th anniversary of the publication of the Democracy and served to demonstrate the continuing fascination and liveliness of Tocqueville’s book as a commentary on American society and culture.

‘Working Smarter to Stay Ahead’: American Society for Indexing (ASI) Annual Conference 2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-333
Author(s):  
Shannon Li
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
The United States ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
The World ◽  
American Society

Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the American Society for Indexing (ASI) annual conference scheduled for April 2020 switched to an online venue. The conference had 80 attendees overall, hailing from the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, and India. Shannon Li reports on the program and reflects on the experience of meeting online with other indexers around the world rather than in the usual in-person conference format.

scholarly journals How advocacy affects Twitter migraine conversations: A pilot cross-sectional survey of Northeast American “migraine” landscape on Twitter from May to June 2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 251581632097208
Author(s):  
Pengfei Zhang ◽  
Santosh Bhaskarabhatla
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Network Model ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Closeness Centrality ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
Sources Of Information

Background: Twitter is a leading microblogging platform, with over 126 million daily active users as of 2019, which allows for large-scale analysis of tweets related to migraine. June 2020 encompassed the National Migraine and Headache Awareness Month in the United States and the American Headache Society’s virtual annual conference, which offer opportunities for us to study online migraine advocacy. Objective: We aim to study the content of individual tweets about migraine, as well as study patterns of other topics that were discussed in those tweets. In addition, we aim to study the sources of information that people reference within their tweets. Thirdly, we want to study how online awareness and advocacy movements shape these conversations about migraine. Methods: We designed a Twitter robot that records all unique public tweets containing the word “migraine” from May 8th, 2020 to June 23rd, 2020, within a 400 km radius of New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. We built two network analysis models, one for the months of May 2020 and June 2020. The model for the month of May served as a control group for the model for the month of June, the Migraine Awareness Month. Our network model was developed with the following rule: if two hashtag topics co-exist in a single tweet, they are considered nodes connected by an edge in our network model. We then determine the top 30 most important hashtags in the month of May and June through applications of degree, between-ness, and closeness centrality. We also generated highly connected subgraphs (HCS) to categorize clusters of conversations within each of our models. Finally, we tally the websites referenced by these tweets during each month and categorized these websites according to the HCS subgroups. Results: Migraine advocacy related tweets are more popular in June when compared to May as judged by degree and closeness centrality measurements. They remained unchanged when judged by between-ness centralities. The HCS algorithm categorizes the hashtags into a large single dominant conversation in both months. In each of the months, advocacy related hashtags are apart of each of the dominant conversation. There are more hashtag topics as well as more unique websites referenced in the dominant conversation in June than in May. In addition, there are many smaller subgroups of migraine-related hashtags, and in each of these subgroups, there are a maximum of two websites referenced. Conclusion: We find a network analysis approach to be fruitful in the area of migraine social media research. Migraine advocacy tweets on Twitter not only rise in popularity during migraine awareness month but also may potentially bring in more diverse sources of online references into the Twitter migraine conversation. The smaller subgroups we identified suggest that there are marginalized conversations referencing a limited number of websites, creating a possibility of an “echo chamber” phenomenon. These subgroups provide an opportunity for targeted migraine advocacy. Our study therefore highlights the success as well as potential opportunities for social media advocacy on Twitter.

scholarly journals Current Status of Children’s Gardens Within Public Gardens in the United States

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 671-680
Author(s):  
Min Hyeong Kwon ◽  
Changwan Seo ◽  
Jongyun Kim ◽  
Moonil Kim ◽  
Chun Ho Pak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Botanical Garden ◽  
The United States ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Public Gardens ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Garden ◽  
Near Future

The purpose of this study was to identify the current status and future development of children’s gardens within public gardens in the United States and to examine their roles as places for children to explore natural environments. This study identified 776 public gardens and examined 163 of those gardens using a comprehensive online survey. The sampled public gardens were widely distributed throughout the United States, although they were located primarily in the eastern and western regions of the United States. We found that 55% of the 163 public gardens that we investigated included a children’s garden at the time of data collection, and 26.4% planned to add a children’s garden in the near future. Children’s gardens found within public gardens were typically in a botanical garden and were added after the public gardens were formed. Most of the children’s gardens had a stated purpose of providing children with environmental education by allowing them to experience the natural environment through play. Most children’s gardens occupied a small proportion, less than 1 acre, of the overall size of a public garden. We also found that demographic and socioeconomic factors influenced the development of children’s gardens within public gardens and public gardens in general.

scholarly journals Consumer Horticulture Outreach: Communication Challenges and Solutions

2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-269
Author(s):  
Ellen M. Bauske ◽  
Gary R. Bachman ◽  
Lucy Bradley ◽  
Karen Jeannette ◽  
Alison Stoven O’Connor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
State Level ◽  
Critical Issue ◽  
Extension Agents ◽  
Annual Conference ◽  
Master Gardener ◽  
The North ◽  
Social Media Site ◽  
One Stop ◽  
Communication Challenges ◽  
American Society

Communication is a critical issue for consumer horticulture specialists and extension agents. They must communicate effectively with the public interested in gardening, with Extension Master Gardener (EMG) volunteers and with other scientists. A workshop was held at the Annual Conference of the American Society for Horticultural Science on 22 July 2013 in Palm Desert, CA, with the intent of sharing tips and techniques that facilitated consumer horticulture and EMG programming. Presentations focused on communication. One program leader reported on the North Carolina Master Gardener web site, which integrates an online volunteer management system (VMS) with widely available web tools to create one-stop shopping for people who want to volunteer, get help from volunteers, or support volunteers at both the county and state level. Another program used the state VMS to house videos providing continuing education (CE) training required for EMG volunteers. This training is available 24 hours per day and 7 days per week. Agents created the videos by recording live presentations with widely available, screen capture software and a microphone. Features that make the social media site Pinterest a strong tool for gathering together focused programming resources and professional collaboration were outlined. Finally, the use of a compact, subirrigated gardening system that uses peat-based potting mix was suggested as a means to simplify communication with new urban gardeners and address their unique gardening issues.

scholarly journals Developing a National Strategic Plan for Consumer Horticulture

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 372-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy K. Bradley ◽  
Ellen M. Bauske ◽  
Thomas A. Bewick ◽  
John R. Clark ◽  
Richard. E. Durham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mission Statement ◽  
Strategic Plan ◽  
Steering Committee ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Master Gardener ◽  
National Strategic Plan ◽  
Public Garden ◽  
American Society ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Goals And Objectives

Consumer horticulture encompasses a wide array of activities that are practiced by and of interest to the gardening public, garden-focused nongovernmental organizations, and gardening-related industries. In a previous publication, we described the current lack of funding for research, extension, and education in consumer horticulture and outlined the need for a strategic plan. Here, we describe our process and progress in crafting a plan to guide university efforts in consumer horticulture, and to unite these efforts with stakeholders’ goals. In 2015, a steering committee developed a first draft of a plan, including a mission statement, aspirational vision, core values, goals, and objectives. This draft was subsequently presented to and vetted by stakeholders at the 2015 American Society for Horticultural Science Consumer Horticulture and Master Gardeners (CHMG) working group workshop, a 2015 Extension Master Gardener Coordinators’ webinar, and a 2015 meeting in Washington, DC. Feedback received from these events is being used to refine and focus plan goals and objectives. The most recent working draft of the plan can be found on the website, where stakeholders and other interested parties can register to receive updates and to provide input into the process.

Livable Cities and Public Gardens

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Donald A. Rakow ◽  
Meghan Z. Gough ◽  
Sharon A. Lee
Keyword(s):  
Early Recognition ◽  
Smart Growth ◽  
The United States ◽  
Future Generations ◽  
Public Gardens ◽  
The Public ◽  
Botanical Gardens ◽  
The World ◽  
Public Garden ◽  
Local Concern

This chapter discusses how cities can be made more livable through public gardens. It differentiates livability from sustainability in that sustainability adopts a long view of actions and policies and the ways in which development, according to a report by the World Commission on Environment and Development, “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” while livability focuses on current conditions and interventions, incorporating the environmental, economic, and equity priorities on a narrower spatial scale relevant to individual people, neighborhoods, and communities in geographically smaller areas. Efforts to enhance livability are primarily community based and driven by issues of local concern that reflect changing conditions. The chapter discusses the public garden movement in the United States and how it began with the early recognition of botanical gardens as keys to economic development. The involvement of botanical gardens in the livability of cities came largely in response to the challenges associated with nineteenth-century urbanization. Our concept of livability has now expanded to include concerns for sustainable development, smart growth and urban design, and community-identified priorities such as access to fresh and affordable food and urban green space as part of the public realm. Finally, the chapter also discusses cross-sector partnerships with public gardens and how this leads to collective action and collective impact.

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