← Green Industry Podcast
Green Industry Podcast
The Ultimate Lawn Care Business Event: Equip Expo 2026 Preview with Kris Kiser
00:24:55
Loading summary
Transcript49 lines
- [00:00]
Dr. Sarah Dacoret
Hi, I'm Dr. Sarah Dacoret and I created Owestra by Inner Balance, the first all in one prescription strength bioidentical hormone cream for women experiencing perimenopause, menopause, postpartum endometriosis, PCOS or other hormonal imbalances. Oestra replaces five to six products women typically use to treat symptoms with only one drop, 10 seconds a day. So if you're fatigued, have mood changes or skin shifts yet your labs say everything's normal, they visit innerbalance.com to start feeling like yourself again. That's innerbalance.com
- [00:34]
Paul Jamison
hello and welcome to the Green Industry Podcast, your go to guide for building a more profitable and thriving lawn care and landscaping business. Your host, Paul Jamison is the author of five bestselling books including Cut that Grass and make that Cash and his latest, level up your money, all available on Amazon and Audible. Now get ready for more expert insights and practical strategies to boost your business and level up your life. Here's Paul Jameson.
- [01:10]
Today on the program, we're going to hear from the president and the CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute. And since they took over the Equip Expo, full ownership in 2022, they have been breaking records year after year from the attendance to the indoor exhibit space. And there's some big news about Orlando. So we're going to hear straight from the boss's mouth himself, Chris Kaiser. Welcome back to the show, Chris.
- [01:35]
Chris Kaiser
Thanks for having me, Paul. Appreciate it. Nice to be with you.
- [01:38]
Paul Jamison
Well, since last time we've talked, the big announcement about two city rotation has been big news in our industry. So I want to get the backstory and why this has taken place straight from the horse's mouth here. So can you explain to us why we're you're headed to sunny Orlando, Florida?
- [01:54]
Chris Kaiser
You bet. As you know, we've been the show has been expanding in a meaningful way since we did take full ownership and brought management in house. It's been a terrific run. As you know, when we took it in 22 and 2 3, we began winning awards for the first time in the show's history from trade show executive. We've gotten a number of them, including greatest trade show ever in 24. And we've grown. And so one of the challenges is we're now the number three event moneymaker for the city of Louisville. We booked 40,000 hotel room nights. There are bigger events, but not big money events like ours. The other challenge. So we're challenged on space. Right. So we've sold out our last three years, 1.2 million square feet. So one of the 1. We're one of the largest shows in the country. There are very few facilities that can handle us space wise. We were getting tight on hotel rooms and in particular manufacturers. Now with the success of the show, had wanted to do dealer meetings. Right. And so if you get a major, major member, major exhibitor that wanted to do a dealer meeting can be 5, 10,000 people easy. We just simply didn't have the room for it. And so what we began looking at what? How can we preserve our history in Louisville? We have a terrific show here. And the outdoor space, our ability to dig is very unique. That Louisville is a one of a kind space where you can dig right outdoors. And so we decided on a rotation. Orlando gives us in one year the ability to have very, very large hotel properties, very large external meetings in conjunction with the show. We have some interest in globalizing the show. A lot of interest from folks in Japan and Europe and China wanting to get here. That makes it much simpler in Orlando. So we looked at it and said the two year rotation is likely the best option. Little both. And so in two nine we'll begin a two city rotation. Two nine will be in Orlando back to Louisville, 30 back to Orlando and we'll see how that works. So we've got contracts through three. Three.
- [03:53]
Paul Jamison
Awesome. Well, I go to the PGA show every January in Orlando. It is, it is such a seamless experience. My hotel connects with the skyway to the convention center on that road there. I'm drawing a blank of what that main road's name is.
- [04:10]
Chris Kaiser
Maybe International Drive.
- [04:12]
Paul Jamison
Yeah, International Drive. You got every restaurant you could imagine off Naylor and I went to Fogo de Chow and it's like unlimited steak and everything. And there was so many options for, for dining right there on the International Drive. And then all the hotels that are right next to there, they connect to the convention center. So I mean it was, it was 80 and sunny, so it wasn't a big deal to walk outside if you had to, but you could literally go from your hotel room to the convention center. I was so happy when Evan told me that you guys are moving toward Lando for back to back. So let's go. I'm excited for that.
- [04:49]
Chris Kaiser
Again, we want the experience. We want your experience. The show is experiential, right. So we want you to have a good time. But again, we have such a unique show. People like, we didn't want to give up the demo piece of it. Right. Test before you invest. Get dirty real World conditions. Louisville's unique in that and so we want to again see the see if we can pull off the hybrid is that there's a year is a two city rotating show. It's now a two year event. To experience all that is equipped. I think you're going to need to go to Orlando and you're going to need to go to Louisville. That's, that's the plan. We'll see how it goes.
- [05:28]
Paul Jamison
I'm looking forward to it. I live in Tampa so Orlando's hops gets the jump.
- [05:33]
Chris Kaiser
That's an easy run.
- [05:34]
Paul Jamison
Oh yeah, it's, it's nice. So for 2026 we're in Louisville. What additions to the show can we expect this year? Chris?
- [05:43]
Chris Kaiser
Again some evolution in the footprint. Remember that the kec, the Kentucky Exposition center is also under renovation and expansion. We're delighted to see that. Although it's challenging to deal with it, they're building it. You'll see it this year out behind the north wing. Just north of it they're building a very large new facility, a new building in 2 7. Hardscape North America will move up there because the west wing is coming down. The old west wing adjacent to the Freedom hall is going to get knocked down. So in two seven and you're beginning you'll get hints of the movement, right? And so two seven will move Hardscape up there. The trailer guys want to co locate. Another reason we're going to Orlando. A lot of folks want to co locate with us. I, you know the fundamentals. Our show are so strong, the attendance is so strong. Eurov we a lot of folks that want to co locate with us. So trailers are going to be with us. Pool and spa wants to be with us. So in 27 they'll move to the new building that allows us to move around the footprint in the south and north wing. And we've got a lot of manufacturers that have wanted to evolve, right, Relocate, move, expand. They simply couldn't because it's kind of a right of first refusal in the south wing is that everyone is sort of hamstrung in their ability to move about. Hopefully that all begins to change as we'll also move to a point system for exhibitors because now that we're rotating people can be a little more flexible. So once the building two seven, I know you asked about two six but they're gonna knock down the west wing. That gets back up in I think hopefully 2829 then we'll move over there 2 6. The evolution of the Education series and the speaker series changes in that we listen to you guys every year. We want that feedback. And there are some new speakers in the space. It's an unusual. There are challenges coming out of Washington, whether they're trade in tariffs or restrictions or changes in tax law. We will be mindful of that and bring speakers and education opportunities and classroom opportunities to our attendees. You know, what are the latest challenges? How are others? How are other landscapers dealing with said challenges? So you'll see that change as well. You'll see some modest footprint. You know, we moved the UTV track last year. We're trying to convince the KEC to tear up the D lot. That's a mass follow up by the by, beside the dirt that we want to be dirt, we want to knock down a handful of horse barns. So we're in the mix. We're in the mix with the kec. We have their attention now. They've been slow to make some changes we'd wanted. The rotation has changed some of that. We love our friends at the kec, but we now have a different sort of dialogue and we hope to make some changes, frankly, to improve the outdoor experience.
- [08:33]
Paul Jamison
Got it for Thursday night. Chris, I know things have been shuffling around for, for the last several years now. I've heard something about Paris Town. I did. Just fill us in on what, what the game plan is for Thursday night of the show this year.
- [08:46]
Chris Kaiser
Yeah. As you know, we've struggled with how to close the show. We have a terrific opening now at Churchill Downs. That's a very, very popular event where everybody sort of gets together. And we recognize that being together, the peer to peer experience is where a, a lot of folks learn just these social opportunities, these social events where they can talk to one another. How did you handle this? How did you handle that? Some people let us know, some people didn't. So here come the leaf blowers right on cue. We wanted to create a better event in closing where people could talk, have fun. You know, we're known for our concert series. Listen to some music, get some food. And there's a new, there's a venue called Paristown Point. It's a little bit of a village, a couple blocks. And so there's a restaurant, food area. Louisville Stoneware, the historic Stoneware company is there. You can buy stuff. Old Forester hall, which is a music venue, is attached there too. Some food courty things, big outdoor area. And Uncle Bougie's, which is a bourbon experience from the barrel Bourbon experience. Uncle Bougie's Is on site with some space out behind it. And so we're going to take all of Paristown Point, tent a bunch of it. And so you, it's a. We want you to be able to come get some food, listen to some music, have a taste of bourbon and be able to mingle about. And that venue is very good for that. It's a cool, cool venue. It's kind of downtown between downtown and Bardstown Road. So again, we're just trying to evolve, we're trying to listen to our folks and continue to noodle best ways to get you all together to have a better experience. We want to close out the show in a better way. So. So here again, sometimes we swing and miss and so we'll see how this one goes.
- [10:32]
Paul Jamison
Got it. Your leaf blower sounds like he's using a gas powered blower out there.
- [10:37]
Chris Kaiser
I got a big yard. I walk the walk.
- [10:40]
Paul Jamison
So what's your thoughts, Chris, on the battery powered equipment, the autonomous equipment, all these upgrades and softwares. I mean all of that is. You kind of get a first look at it at your show. But I mean, I feel like you got a better pulse on it than anyone in the industry. What are your thoughts about robotics, autonomous, all this crazy software out there to help us?
- [11:01]
Chris Kaiser
You bet. Starting to move at light speed, right? So the software stuff is moving so very, very quickly. Robotics are here to stay. I think dealers are now understanding that they need to place those in their dealerships. Robotics are here to stay. Technology is here to stay. Battery, certainly on the consumer side of the equation, battery is here to stay. Adoption and battery on the commercial side is slowed, as you know, but it's an evolving marketplace again. It's why equip is so good. As you can see those products in actions, talk to the software developers, providers there at the show. The technology is here. It's much like the auto industry now. There's some uncertainty, of course, the tariff situation, the trade situation. This is, that's the turf market. When the, when the blowers are on the porch, she gets worked up. There he goes.
- [11:57]
Paul Jamison
We got good, we got good video editors. Chris. Don't worry about it. It's all good. So that's, that's a, that's a shameless plug for Crest commercial and their battery power blowers. You wouldn't even know they're there if they had Chris out there.
- [12:13]
Chris Kaiser
I didn't know. But again, we're, you know, we're in Louisville, Kentucky and so, you know, last we had isolated thunderstorms yesterday, so I lost the crew yesterday, they're normally here and so you get them today. But that's the nature of living in the Midwest.
- [12:27]
Paul Jamison
Well, Chris, do you have any stories from us from last year attendance record? What was a record like? And did you hear any stories of something unique that happened last year?
- [12:36]
Chris Kaiser
Yeah, we hit it out of the park with our keynote. Right. So Jesse Cole was the bomb, right. He just, that's it. That's tough. I hate to follow the guy. Right. So our key neuter this year, Mike Holmes, great guy, HDTV talent, he's a real world guy, you know, but following Jesse call is going to be tough. So last year's that experience was, was good. We continue to evolve. We want to make the show easier for you all, for our influencers, podcaster friends. So we keep moving you all around to get better and better and better spaces. And so I think we're working in that regard. I continue to the evolution of the morning show and energize. I just continue to marvel at folks like you that want to make this experience valuable to the attendee. How can you help them grow their business, improve their business, informing them about how do you, you know, we're a big, we're a big show, we're a big girl and so how to, you know, how to map that. Right. And so how to plan for it. So I just, I'm so very appreciative to the work you do to educate your listeners about our show and the value our show has to them. But frankly, how to navigate it. So there'll be changes in that. We want to continue to free up space and time and energies for you all. Just again, we're going to be sold out. We're already struggling with move requests and changes and that sort of thing. It's going to be a sellout show, probably have very strong attendance, but we're in the growing mode. I just got a note. We're being recognized next week in Baltimore. We're now one of the 50 fastest, 50 fastest growing trade shows in the country. Not bad for a 43 year old. So we continue to grow and evolve and I would just say that the only way to experience Equip is to go to equip and to plan for it. This is not a one day show. We're delighted if you want to drive down for a day, but the Equip experience is about if you're taking the time, energy and money to come to the show, come to the show, spend a few nights with us, but get your hotels now. Look we sell out. Those plane tickets will get more and more expensive as you're flying in, as you get closer to the show. Get that. Now that would be my. My takeaway.
- [14:48]
Paul Jamison
Yeah. And on your guys's website, there's a little blue button that says book Hotel. And then it has many of the. The options of the better hotel choices at reasonable rates there. But those, those go quickly.
- [15:01]
Chris Kaiser
So. Exactly. Right now, the hotels, again, that's an issue we have in Louisville. Now that granted, they've announced a couple big new hotels are coming to Louisville. We couldn't be happier. But they know they're going to sell out and they do give us. Now we're on the backside of the house. The blowers are coming this way. They know they sell out now. They're good about giving us a block, but those blocks fill up and the hotel room rates go up. So to your point, do it now.
- [15:28]
Paul Jamison
Yeah. And Chris, what would you say to a first timer who's been listening to my podcast and he's hearing all this talk about equip, but he hasn't actually gone this year? What's your advice to someone who's kind of on the fence if they should invest and go to the show?
- [15:43]
Chris Kaiser
There's a reason we're 43 years old. There's a reason we're continuing to grow and evolve, and that's because we listen to folks like you. We listen to landscapers, hardscapers, irrigation folks, tree care folks. And so when by retooling. So we're making some changes in the tree care situation. So we got a lot of feedback last year on tree care. And so we've brought in a new, new fellow, Jason, out from California, and he's going to partner with Davey Tree. So the, the key about the show, and I didn't hear all of your questions, my guy was right there. What was your question?
- [16:16]
Paul Jamison
The question, Chris, is there's. There's first timers or they're. They're not even first timers yet. They're. They hear all this buzz about equip and they're like, well, it's in the middle of leaf fall cleanup. I don't know if I can afford to take a few days off. I don't know if I can afford to go to the Go all go all the way to Louisville. What's your advice to that guy on the fence who hasn't even gone? Because one, all of us who've gone, we just come back every year, but there's people who have never even gone to equipex but listen to our podcast.
- [16:41]
Chris Kaiser
The ROI is solid. You know you're going to get a return on your investment. We this is a B2B show. We're not open to the public. It's business only again. So if you're in a downtown hotel, the likely whoever you see in the elevators also at the show is there is a return on your investment. So we believe strongly and we're at 44 years old, we've never been bigger, we've never been stronger, we've never been more important to your business. We'll help you grow your business, we'll help you stay connected to folks like yourself. It is the only place of its kind seriously to get some of it where all of these education and speakers and components, the manufacturer all come together. And so we believe it's good for business. Again, we have a very significant return rate. So people come year over year over year. It's not, it's an experience. It's not just a trade show. And that's where you're not just you can just come and look at some shiny machines indoors but you can also get outdoors and you can engage with machine. And the nice thing is I'll never forget a couple last year in particular somebody was talking about why did one of the big manufacturers do this or do that. I'm like well okay, there's the chief engineer right there. There's the chief safety guy right there. That's the chairman of the board, there's the president company and the chairman of the board all just hanging out plus all the sales and marketing guys and the inventory finance guys and the floor plan guys. And I walked him over, introduced him to the chairman of the board of the corporation. That's what you have at Equip. And they're delighted to engage with their customers and hopefully potential customers as well as the sales and marketing guys. It's just not a pitch, it's where you can learn. Why did you change the rops? Why did you change the chute? Well, there's the safety guy, there's the compliance officer. They're there and they're going to talk to you and they'll help you find the best. Especially if a brand new person. I'll never forget another guy I talked to first time at the show, he came, he's going to buy a particular product and he ended up buying something else with some stand ons versus some Z's and that's because he spent time and with one of these manufacturers and they tell us about Your business, tell us about your climate, tell us about your topography, tell us about your customers and they found a better product. That's, that's what the show is for.
- [18:54]
Paul Jamison
That is so Good. What's happening October 20th. That's a Tuesday that you kick off. Tell us about the, the Kentucky Derby venue there. I know you guys are just getting ready for that in real time right
- [19:06]
Chris Kaiser
in the corner, but so, yeah, that's an iconic local institution. Right. It's a beautiful facility and logistically it's easy to get to. There's plenty of parking. Right. And so it's kind of a twofer. So anybody in particular is coming to Louisville. You can see that literally you can walk out on the track. It's in the first turn, called the First Turn Club. So we do our opening at Churchill Downs and the First Turn Club, Caterpillar sponsors that for us and it's a terrific event. Right. Food, drink, band. It's just a great way to open the show to get everybody's, get everybody in the room together. Have some, you know, it's good energy to kick the show off and you know, it's a mile from the kec, so it's a good location. We're back at Churchill Downs and check it off your bucket list. I've been to the, I've been to the track.
- [19:51]
Paul Jamison
Yeah.
- [19:52]
That's Tuesday evening. And then the show opens up on to dealers on 9am on Wednesday and to the public at noon on Wednesday, October 21st.
- [20:01]
Chris Kaiser
Yep, we'll have a dealer breakfast. Now there used to be a dealer breakfast back in the day, so we brought it back Wednesday morning. You know that that little block of window is dealers only and that's when the keynote's in there. So we'll have a dealer breakfast. Wednesday morning. Keynote is at 11:12 o'.
- [20:16]
Paul Jamison
Clock.
- [20:17]
Chris Kaiser
It opens the doors for everybody. Thursdays at Paris Town Point, 4th Street Live is the Crashers, our historic sort of the show band. And then we'll have Juice Box Heroes out at Old Forester hall at Parish Town. So it's a several days of non stop action.
- [20:36]
Paul Jamison
Yeah. And Thursday morning we'll be doing our podcast with the live studio audience, room B103. That's Thursday morning from 8am to 9:30am we'll have some podcasting going on there called the morning show. So we're all set for that. Caleb is going to interview his wife Britney. Naylor's going to interview Eric Triplet, who installs ponds out in California. And then I'm going to be interviewing John Pak. So it's going to be fun having John on the board.
- [21:05]
Chris Kaiser
That's a good group of fun.
- [21:07]
Paul Jamison
So that's room B103. Thursday morning. Was there anything we're leaving out here that needs addressed? Chris, other than you, your, your landscaping company needs to get battery power blower from Crest Commercial and we wouldn't have had that problem.
- [21:19]
Chris Kaiser
There we go. I love them all. I represent them all. You know, we do this every year and I'm so, I'm so grateful that you put us on, put me on to talk about this. Plan, plan, plan, plan. Get the classes you want, get the hotel you want, get the inbound transportation you want, but you got to do it. We, we sell out this town. We're one of the very few citywides, but it's a show you plan for. So get up as you've described. Get a plan of attack. It's a great show, but at a million two square feet, you're going to need watch the weather, you're going to need comfortable shoes and dress appropriately. Cool.
- [21:56]
Paul Jamison
Well, I really appreciate your time, Chris, and we're looking forward to a Quip Expo 2026 in Louisville, Kentucky.
- [22:03]
Chris Kaiser
Thanks a lot. Appreciate your help.
- [22:05]
Paul Jamison
All right, have a good day.
- [22:06]
Chris Kaiser
Thank you.
- [22:07]
Paul Jamison
Later. All right, that was the man, the myth, the legend right there, Mr. Chris Kaiser. That blower in the background, I saw what brand it is and I like that brand. So I'm not going to throw any shade. But I do want to say that one of the reasons why I promote Crest commercial, their battery powered backpack blower. When you're using it, you can barely even hear it. Like you could actually carry on a conversation with somebody while the blower is effectively blowing the leaves and the debris. And so we just had a funny example. I was interviewing the president and the CEO of the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, who lives in Louisville, Kentucky. And in his backyard, the company was there blowing off his deck with the gas powered blower. It's so loud, I could barely hear Chris. It was interfering our podcast. And there's just so many people who work from home nowadays and their children are trying to take a nap and for whatever reason, they don't want the nuisance of this loud gas power blower, you know, interrupting the peace of quietness in the home. And so one of the solutions to that is Crest commercials. Backpack blower that gets the job done just like the other backpack blowers that are gas powered, but it's so much quieter. So anyway, that was a real life example of why I'M such a fan of battery powered equipment nowadays is because how quiet it is. But not all battery powered equipment is equal. Crest Commercial. They have the strength in the power in their equipment with also the quietness. So anyway, shameless plug there for my friends over at Crest Commercial for what they're doing to really revolutionize the industry with their great battery powered equipment. Well, as we button things up here, if you want to go to the Equip Expo this year, tickets are only $12.50 for a very limited time by using the promo code Paul for the super Early Bird pricing. So basically, as you get closer to the show, the price keeps going up. It basically just keeps doubling and doubling and doubling. In the closer you get to the show, the price gets pretty high. So if you know you're going to Equip Expo this year, save as much money as you can on your tickets by using the promo code Paul. When you register, they'll say promotional code. Just type in my name, P A U L and your ticket price will drop by half, will drop by 50%. So I hope to see you. Join us and go to Louisville, Kentucky this year for the Equip Expo October 20th through 2023. Pardon me, October 20th through 23rd, year 2026, Louisville, Kentucky. We hope to see you there.
- [24:54]
Chris Kaiser
Peace.
- [25:12]
Paul Jamison
Hey, it's Marty, producer of the Green Industry podcast. This episode is over, but check the episode notes for links to products and services that you heard about during the episode. And thanks for listening.
- [25:24]
Libsyn Ads Host
Marketing is hard, but I'll tell you a little secret. It doesn't have to be. Let me point something out. You're listening to a podcast right now and it's great. You love the host. You seek it out and download it. You listen to it while driving, working out, cooking, even going to the bathroom. Podcasts are a pretty close companion. And this is a podcast ad. Did I get your attention? You can reach great listeners like yourself with podcast advertising from Libsyn Ads. Choose from hundreds of top podcasts offering host endorsements or run a pre produced ad like this one across thousands of shows. To reach your target audience in their favorite podcasts with Libsyn ads, go to Libsynads.com that's L I B S Y N ads.com today.