OFA Short Course - OFA - Association of Floriculture Professionals - Exhibition 2010

More information on OFA Short Course - OFA - Association of Floriculture Professionals - Exhibition

The OFA Short Course is recognized as the premier educational and trade show event in North America. The 2009 OFA Short Course will be the 80th event – featuring nearly 1,440 trade show booths, approximately 500 exhibiting companies, and more than 130 educational sessions. It will attract an estimated 10,000 floriculture professionals to Columbus, Ohio July 11 to 14.

The OFA Short Course is the best place each year to get your own worldwide perspective on floriculture. Attendees come to the OFA Short Course from throughout the United States and more than 20 foreign countries. They come to view the latest products and equipment, find answers to business problems, learn new skills, catch up with old friends, and network with industry leaders.
The first Ohio Florist Short Course was held in January 1930, in the old Horticulture and Forestry Building on The Ohio State University (OSU) campus. Professor Alex Laurie organized the meeting.

The OFA Short Course soon moved to the Home Economics Building (Campbell Hall) at OSU to take advantage of its auditorium. After Short Course attendance outgrew Campbell Hall's capacity, the meeting was moved to the Deshler Hotel in downtown Columbus. Attendance continued to increase, and the Short Course was moved to the Neil House Hotel in 1942.

The first two Short Courses featured design schools, but they were dropped so the program could concentrate on grower problems. In January 1962, the design sessions plus business seminars for retail florists were again incorporated into the program.

With an attendance of nearly 1,000 and a 50-booth trade show, the Short Course moved in 1964 to a brand new convention hotel, then called the Columbus Plaza and later renamed the Sheraton-Columbus Hotel.

In 1968, seminars for wholesale florists were added to the Short Course, in cooperation with the Wholesale Florists and Florist Suppliers of America (WF&FSA). These seminars continued until 1974