Tom Bowling AIFD, PFCI ~ Tom entered the floral industry as part time help in 1979. While teaching elementary school and running a retail flower shop for 8 years simultaneously, Tom found the floral industry to have the stronger calling. Tom owned a floral retail operation for 20 years before moving into the wholesale market as a design center manager for a large mid-west wholesale chain. He has been involved with the California Cut Flower Commission since its inception in 1997 and is an industry leader representing Teleflora as an Education Specialist throughout the country for the past 14 years. Tom has designed for the Presidential Inauguration as well as Rose Parade. Tom currently serves as a the Floral Director for Charisma Floats and this marks Tom’s 13th year at the Academy Awards serving as assistant floral director. He also presents educational seminars for Continental Floral Greens and Ocean View Flowers. Tom is still active in the floral industry marking his 30th year and is still discovering opportunities to bring the floral industry forward in a positive way. Tom is a member of the American Institute of Floral Design and currently serves on their National Board of Directors as Vice-President. He has presented two programs for AIFD’s National Symposium and has presented design programs for regional AIFD chapters as well. As a member of the Professional Floral Communicators International, Tom has commentated numerous local, allied, and state programs.
October is a busy month for most retail florists. With the weather finally breaking and cooling down in most parts of the country, October brings out the “Fall in All”! Many civic and religious organizations have pancake breakfast fund raisers,…
With the autumn season knocking on our doors, lots of fall activities are happening in your community. From the craft shows tot the fall festivals, your customers are out and about and ready to make purchases, so it is important…
There has been a movement over the past several years to simplify. Simplify your social calendar, your living environment, and your accessories, basically everything that you are a part of. There are now publications, television programs and web sites that…
Labor Day is celebrated the first Monday in September. It began in 1894 and had a different meaning than it does today. What once was a day of organized labor unions and political speeches, has turned into a day of…
When we look at a floral composition many of the principles and elements of design are clear and quite evident. Strong line, color impact, size, space, and even fragrance all play a role. However, often many of those principles play…
While recently attending AIFD’s National Symposium the attendees were exposed to many areas of design. One element that most are interested in is what are the ‘new colors’ that will guide our sales and be seen in the coming years…
How much time do you spend on securing the right mix of product that speaks of your shops image? Once the product has been secured there is another time element invested in processing the product and getting it ready for…
There are many ways to tell we are in the midst of summer. The most obvious is to step outside and fell the heat. In most parts of the country, it makes you want to run back inside very quickly!…
When components are brought together to make a presentation, we often hear that they are paired together. This is a term that is heard in interior design when textural fabrics or colors are presented to make a total look. The…
This time Boston was not invaded by land or sea but by 800+ floral designers from around the world! It truly was a Revolution in design! The attendees were bombarded with new ideas in design, trends for the years to…
As the Beatles song says, “So you say you want a revolution…..” that is exactly what we are going to get in the floral industry. Once a year the top and most talented designers come together from around the world…
