Hans and Esther Brand, owners of B&H Flowers in Carpinteria, CA, announced Nov. 15 that B&H has officially emerged from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection.

“After 18 months of reorganizing and streamlining,” they said in a statement, “on Nov. 8, the court approved B&H’s plan of reorganization.”

MIAMI — “What’s Next?” was the theme, and it covered both the new generation of leaders and the dominance of social media in the industry in the years ahead. The annual Floral Distribution Conference for the Wholesale Florist & Florist Supplier Association’s was the event, held here Oct. 24-26.

Brian Meagher, the new vice president of Gallup & Stribling Orchids in Carpinteria, CA, has announced that Steve Dodge, formerly with Ocean View Flowers and Kendal Floral Supply, has joined the Gallup & Stribling staff as vice president of sales. The announcement was made in a Nov. 16 news release.

Mr. Dodge had been director of business development and prior to that head of mass market sales at Ocean View in Lompoc, CA. He started his career at Kendal Floral. Mr. Dodge serves on the Floral Council of the Produce Marketing Association.

The economic crisis is not shaking the European flower and plant markets to any essential degree, according to a study by Marianne Altman of a Luxembourg marketing research firm, released Oct. 17 by IPM Essen. The European Union continues to be the largest producer worldwide, with 40 percent of global revenue, and the most populous consumer of flowers and plants, with 500 million Europeans.

However, the study identified a need for greater market growth in Europe to allow for inflation and compensate for the falling demand in the crisis countries in southern Europe.

QUITO, ECUADOR — A busload of journalists on a junket touring flower farms in Ecuador sees exotic sights along the way: Holstein dairy cattle peacefully grazing on a schoolyard as children in school uniforms caper among them; majestic mountains with narrow, white-knuckle highways winding around them, bereft of guardrails; and, of course, a pet llama who demurely bussed a journalist on the cheek.

Floral industry members will gather in Washington, DC, March 11-12 for the Society of American Florists Congressional Action Days, featuring meetings with their representatives and senators on Capitol Hill.

Charlie Cook, for more than two decades one of Washington’s most trusted voices on all things political, will be the speaker at the March 11 Kick-Off Breakfast. Mr. Cook is the editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report and a political analyst for the National Journal Group and NBC News.