ISSA Releases Post

July 10th, 2013 • BY

SSA/INTERCLEAN® North America 2011 lived up to its theme, The Start of Something Big, posting a 13 percent increase in non-exhibiting attendees over last year’s show. According to its press release, that increase contributed to a total attendance of nearly 16,000.

The event, co-produced with ISSA’s trade show partner, Amsterdam RAI, took place in Las Vegas, NV, USA, October 18-21, at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

SHIFTING TRENDS
“Now is a very dynamic time for our industry,” said ISSA Executive Director John Garfinkel. “Shifting trends, budget constraints, and environmental and regulatory changes demand that the industry adapts how it conducts business, and ISSA is adapting as well to help our members succeed.

“This successful show is just one example of how ISSA continues to bring together the leaders in the commercial cleaning profession to do business and exchange ideas so they can better protect public health and grow business. It is very rewarding to hear so many exhibitors and attendees tell us that this was their best show in recent years.”

SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
The association’s release included exhibitor as well as attendee numbers.

• EXHIBITORS. Sell-out of exhibit space, with a 15% increase over 2008 numbers, which is the last time the show had been held in Las Vegas. Of the 645 exhibitors, 107 were new to the show. Suppliers came from 27 different countries.’

• ATTENDEES. According to the group, “More than 13 percent of visitors hailed from 69 countries outside of the United States and Canada.The addition of 150 new ISSA Certification Experts during the week brought the total number of individuals trained in helping cleaning organizations achieve management and service delivery excellence to more than 1,000. and networking events.

• PRODUCT RELEASES. The association also unveiled a new Power of Clean video, Value of Clean calculator, and Value of Clean cards at the meeting. These tools, available at www.issa.com/value <http://www.issa.com/value> , were developed for ISSA members to help in-house decision makers gain a greater appreciation for the investment cleaning truly is in protecting people, the environment and, ultimately in growing facilities’ bottom lines.

Many of the ISSA Convention education sessions hosted during the week also provided insights for members into how they could better protect public health and educate customers regarding the value they bring to the table.  Featured speaker Robert Stephens, founder of the Geek Squad, discussed his impressions of how the commercial cleaning industry was an unsung source of innovation and gave advice on how attendees could better brand their companies to make stronger impressions on their customers. A crowd of 3,800 attendees also gained valuable insights from business guru Tom Peters during his keynote address regarding how to leverage the “little BIG things” in their companies to excel during tough times and constantly innovate.

CO-LOCATED MEETINGS
The week of ISSA/INTERCLEAN once again hosted the co-located conventions of the International Executive Housekeepers Association (I.E.H.A.), Building Service Contractors Association International (BSCAI) and Association of Residential Cleaning Services International (ARCSI) as well as a variety of distributor marketing group meetings.  The result was a busy convention center full of educational sessions, meetings, and networking events drawing the top decision-makers from across the cleaning industry.

For more information, visit issa.com.