At press time, a handful of florists already had entered a Web-based floral design contest sponsored by JTV,  uBloom and Vans Floral Products. The contest began June 1 and will extend to the end of the month, at which time uBloom members will vote on the entries and award one lucky florist the grand-prize package: an all-expenses paid trip to the JTV studios to co-star with J Schwanke, AAF, AIFD, PFCI, during a JTV episode. Other prizes include Vans Floral Products Supply Dollars, and an Ipod Nano.

For Vans, a wholesaler with eight locations in the Midwest, the contest was a chance to reach out to the industry and work with uBloom, a site geared toward professional florists, hobbyists and consumers that provides educational content, including access to Schwanke's JTV, says Marian Hussey, a Van's representative.

"UBloom provides an innovative platform to encourage our industry to come together as a community," she says. "We see our involvement with uBloom and JTV as a unique opportunity for us to voice our support for floral professionals coming together as a community in a way that can only help our industry as a whole."

UBloom launched March 15, and since its inception, it has about 1,167 members, according to Schwanke, whose JTV is available free of charge to uBloom registered users. Schwanke is one of uBloom's founding members.

Find out more about the design competition and sneak a peak at the entries.

--Mary Westbrook
mwestbrook@safnow.org

  

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