Providing a supportive and inspiring network for women in floriculture, leading to more leading ladies in the industry. That is the goal that the TLC The Ladies Circle aims to address. They believe that female leaders need to be more connected, support each other, and need to have a network in which anything can be shared. Therefore, the group hosts gatherings for leading women in floriculture. At these gatherings, they go to an interesting floral location together and have a look around while discussing topics of importance for the industry. At last Friday’s gathering, the meeting was at the Flower Bazar and the FloriWorld museum in Aalsmeer, and FloralDaily was invited to join the occasion.
The women of the TLC The Ladies Circle
A tour of the Flower Bazar
For their first gathering back since the start of the pandemic, The Ladies Circle received a tour around The Flower Bazar. This is the first time this pop-up exhibition occurred, on September 15-17, and several companies were showing off their floral products. Pascal Koeleman from 2Dezign gave the tour around the exhibition and explained that the event was the perfect opportunity to get people from the industry together again after nearly two years of staying at home. “In our industry, it is not possible for everything to be done online, we need to see, and smell, and feel the flowers in person. This kind of compact pop-up event is a great addition to larger events and can easily be replicated in other cities. We are looking forward to having many more Flower Bazars in the future, and in other countries as well.” Koeleman also shared his view of the importance of having women in management functions in our industry. “At the end of the day, our products are mostly bought by or for women, while the majority of the industry’s decision-makers are still men.”
Gill Corless, Sakata Ornamentals 
Daniël Nattekaas en Annika Wijn of Mate International 
Ecuadorian roses from Four Seasons Quality 
Pascal Koeleman (2Dezign) at the Lisianthus booth
FloriWorld – an interactive flower attraction
An interactive museum promoting Dutch floriculture, that is the next stop that The Ladies Circle made. Everyone got a tour around this floral experience from Silvia van den Aardweg, the Marketing and Sales Manager of FloriWorld. Upon arrival, it becomes clear that this is not just a regular museum representing the beauty of flowers. Before entering the experience, you receive a bracelet that is used to personalize the experience. Because of this, you are able to let FloriWorld know your name, where you are from, and what your favorite flower is. Throughout the experience, you will personally be greeted on the screens, and certain things will be adapted according to your preferences.
Throughout the museum, the FloriRail transports fresh bouquets of flowers. At the end of the experience, the winner of the auction game gets to take one home. 
This immersive room has moving projections all over the walls and floor; from an astronaut moving through a floral universe to being surrounded by Van Gogh’s Almond Blossoms, visitors can spend quite some time here enjoying the floral show. 
Of course, house plants cannot be excluded from the experience. 
You even enter a church, where a 4D movie takes you along the groom’s journey of getting flowers in time for his wedding. 
As flowers make for beautiful photos, there are many opportunities for some floral photos to be taken. 
The auction game, where the winner gets to take home a fresh bouquet of flowers.
The Ladies Circle
The Ladies Circle offers a platform for women in leading positions to exchange knowledge and inspiration. “By meeting regularly in smaller groups, strong network relations can be established, and we can help each other by sharing knowledge.” The next Ladies Circle event will be held in October. If you are a woman working in Dutch floriculture on a managerial level and are interested in joining the upcoming events, send an email to TLCTheLadiesCircle@gmail.com.
The Flower Bazar and FloriWorld