Lela's Seminar at Griffin Expo

Lela's Seminar at Griffin Expo

A special thank you to one of our best, long-term, horticulture partners, Griffin Greenhouse & Nursery Supplies, for putting on such a successful event. If you missed me in August, catch up with me in September at:

Griffin Grower Expo
Knoxville, TN
September 15, 2010

Griffin Grower Expo
Lancaster, PA
September 29, 2010 

Until my next Tale from the Road. 

Lela

The Dosatron “Conversation Bar”: Did you stop by for a drink at our Conversation Bar? The bar served drinks on Sunday, but it was a hot spot for communication during the entire show. It was especially popular on Sunday afternoon, when we hosted coverage of the World Cup finals in our booth. Check out that crowd!

Button Game: Button, button, who’s got the button? Almost everyone we saw at OFA participated in our button game, where people tried to find the other show attendee with their matching-numbered button for a chance to win $400 in cash! We even heard of people making announcements on shuttle buses, looking for their match! Unfortunately, the matching buttons never found each other, so we donated the $800 cash prize to America In Bloom, where we know it will go to good use.

BioSafe/Natural Industries/Dosatron Party: Another OFA hotspot was the annual party we throw with BioSafe and Natural Industries at the Frog Bear & Wild Boar night club. This year, we included karaoke, which turned the party into an even bigger hit than in years past. Also, our own Craig Peterson shocked us all by breaking out his swagger. Who knew he was a karaoke king?

The Debut of the Li’l Bud-D: Maybe the most exciting thing that happened at OFA (at least in our eyes) was the debut of our new 5-gallon Li’l Bud-D DosaCart! The Li’l Bud-D is a great choice for people seeking economy, mobility, and the ability to cart around smaller amounts of concentrate.

The Li’l Bud-D was a big hit; if you didn’t get a chance to meet him, you can learn more here.

So, what were your favorite moments at this year’s OFA show? Did you run around looking for your button match, or belt out a tune at our party? Tell us about it in the comments!

We will be showing the final World Cup game, live from South Africa, in booth #2017 on Sunday, July 11th.

Kick-off is at 2:30 PM, so make sure you come early enough to get a good vantage point, and grab at complimentary drink at our Conversation Bar. Just ask for Lela or Pam when you arrive so they can issue you a drink ticket.

Of course, we’ve also got some great new products to show you this year, including our brand-new Li’l Bud-D DosaCart, our most affordable cart ever.

Drink service will be from noon to 4:00 PM, so even if you don’t come for the game, stop by to grab a drink and chat.

Don’t forget: Booth #2017. Hope to see you there!

In addition to the excellent article, the piece included pictures of the grower tour at Hermann Engelmann Greenhouses. If you look closely at the photo, you can see a Dosatron D20S – 100 GPM unit being used for water treatment. Click here to see a scan of the article that includes the photo content. Here’s a link to the online version, which is text-only.

Don’t forget that Dosatron chemical injectors can do a lot more than just inject fertilizer – they’re great for injecting pest control chemicals, plant growth regulators (PGRs), fungicides, algaecides, water treatment chemicals like ZeroTol, and much more. To learn more about all of the different ways your Dosatron injector can be used, check out the Horticulture page on our website, or call us at 800-523-8499.

How do you control pests and manage production in your greenhouses? Share your tips in the comments section.

Dosatron had the opportunity to listen while several operators shared their experiences and we shared the benefits of the Dosatron D25 series.

Click here to view photos from the event and a special thanks to Howco for a wonderful day!

Read the post here: www.hogslat.com/Blog/

Autobell Car Wash is in the water management business. They use only state-of-the-art car wash technology that allows their facilities to treat 100% and recycle up to 100% of wash water, and they dispose of treated wash water only into approved water treatment facilities. In an average home car wash, up to 150 gallons of water are used, and all this water goes untreated into storm drains, creeks, and eventually into our drinking water supply. Autobell educates customers and the general public on the environmental benefit of professional car washes, hoping to reduce the amount of untreated water that flows into our water supply. One Autobell unit even includes a bioretention pond and rain garden to further assist in the treatment and conservation of rain water runoff. Several of Autobell’s newer stores utilize an Aqua Bio 100% water reclaim treatment system in which bacteria digest and recycle the waste water, a recent innovation in car wash technology.

Congratulations to Autobell and all they are doing to improve the quality of water in our communities.

Jeff had sent us an original D100 Dosatron injector – one of the very first Dosatron injectors ever sold in the US. This unit was so old, it pre-dated printed labels for our injectors. Furthermore, the original factory seal was still in place, meaning that this injector had never been opened for routine maintenance!

We couldn’t believe it. We knew our injectors have a really long product life, but this unit had to be at least 20 years old, and had never been serviced. We had to call Jeff to get his story. Here’s what he told us:

I bought my Dosatron brand-new about 20 years ago. We first used it to medicate sows, but for the past 10 years or so, we’ve been using it to give our show animals vitamins and electrolytes. Everyone on the show circuit dislikes us, because our show animals consistently win, and I’m sure that the vitamins and minerals they get through our Dosatron are the reason. Over the past couple of years, I’ve even been loaning our Dosatron to my brother for his animals. Until recently, the injector has worked perfectly.

Our technicians were able to determine that the necessary repair was the replacement of one inexpensive top seal, valued at approximately $3.22. This means that, even without routine maintenance, the injector still only needed a minor routine wear-part replacement. Instead, we’re giving Jeff a brand-new D128R, which we hope will give him many more years of reliable service.

If you subscribe to our e-newsletter, you’ve probably heard that Dosatron’s own Pam Temko recently embarked on a several-months’-long research project with renowned swine veterinarian Dr. Peggy Hawkins on medication best practices. This research, which features insights derived from over 35 years of experience in swine medication, was recently published by the AASV, and we will be sharing it in our World Pork Expo booth as well. Just stop by booth 415 in the Varied Industries Building to receive your copy of Dr. Peggy’s and Pam’s paper!

We’ve also got an exciting product launch slated for this year’s World Pork Expo – the brand-new Li’l Bud-D 5-gallon DosaCart. The new Li’l Bud-D was developed for applications that require small amounts of solution, like specific medications for sick animals. And because of its small size, the Li’l Bud-D is great for navigating small spaces, like narrow barn aisles or animal sick pens. Stop by booth 415, and we’ll be glad to show you all the things your new Li’l Bud-D can do.

This year’s World Pork Expo should be an exciting show, and you’ll want to make sure Dosatron’s booth is on your “Can’t Miss” list. Don’t forget to stop by booth 415, Varied Industries Building. See you at the show!

Jason Maddox and I recently had the pleasure of manning the Dosatron booth at the 2010 Car Care World Expo. Our booth featured a full size mock up of a conveyor wash equipment room utilizing Dosatron injectors on all the chemical applications.

Although down from previous years, attendance appeared to surpass last year and the general mood on the show floor seemed cautiously optimistic. Jason and I greeted a steady stream of visitors in our booth, and were impressed by the enthusiastic interest in retrofitting from existing systems to a Dosatron chemical injection system. Many operators explained that because of lingering difficulty in obtaining financing, new site construction has been put on hold. Remodeling, updating, and investing in changes to existing wash locations, on the other hand, is on the upswing. While expanding with new sites is delayed, operators addressed their concern over maintaining market share by employing the latest, most efficient technology available. In doing so, operators set themselves apart as being innovators and acting in the best interest of their customers. This allows them to not only maintain market share, but position themselves for expansion as the grip of the economy begins to ease.

Regardless of where on the globe they were located, wash owners and vendors shared a positive attitude and look forward to the future of the industry. Many countries were represented and I had the personal pleasure of speaking with folks from Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, Romania, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, Japan and China! Just the fact that these people travelled the distance and incurred the expense to attend the largest carwash trade show of the year is encouraging to me, and I look forward to the balance of 2010 showing tremendous recovery and growth!