“The Show” for the Cleaning Industry
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To further the mission of increasing education of the commercial market about cleaning’s impact on human health, the environment and facilities’ bottom lines, each year ISSA coordinates the ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America – “The Show” for the cleaning industry.
This year the Show was in Las Vegas from October 18-21, 2011, and if you were unable to make it, here is a Top 10 List of observations:
- ISSA Wants To Change The Way The World Views Cleaning
The ISSA has a new tag line – “Advancing Clean. Driving Innovation.” This new focus and emphasis reflects the Association’s mission of promoting the fact that Cleaning is a valuable investment in public health.
- Show Organizers Are Using Technology To Enhance Attendee Experience
Signs of new technology were all around – there was an app that could be downloaded onto your smart phone that offered customized planners, a GPS way finder to navigate the best path to an exhibitor (no more getting lost in Aisle 3300!), and the ability to capture contact information of other attendees. The Official Exhibit Directory was also available for the first time from a smart phone, iPad or laptop. To further help attendees stay connected, a new Recharge Lounge was also introduced this year.
- The Cleaning Industry Is Becoming Increasingly Sophisticated
More than ever, exhibitors are using technology to explain their product solutions, and many of those solutions offer fresh new “out of the box” thinking. Some of the manufactures recognized for Innovation Awards at the Show included Rubbermaid (Hygen Clean Water System saves time and provides superior cleaning results by filtering the dirty mop water) and Nilfisk Advance (Advance Adfinity REV Automatic Scrubber saves time and material by providing better scrubbing performance, more uniform scrubbing results, and the opportunity to reduce water and chemical usage).
- The Cleaning Industry Has A Rich History From Which To Draw
Some of the rich history of the cleaning industry was on display in the “Museum of Clean” – an exhibit that was the brainchild of Don Aslett, founder and chair of Varsity Contractors, Inc. The museum is the culmination of a lifetime of his efforts to educate the public regarding the value of cleaning and its role in protecting public health. Artifacts from the turn of the century were on display right next to innovative new products – for example a mop and bucket from the late 1800’s could be compared and contrasted with the brand new Rubbermaid Hygen Clean Water System.
- The Cleaning Industry Is Truly Global
Walk down any aisle on the Exhibit Floor, or down any corridor in the lobby, and you could reasonably expect to hear at least 2-3 languages being spoken in the crowd. English, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, French, Dutch – you name it, and if you were listening for it, you probably heard it. There were also a number of exhibitors from other countries showcasing their solutions for the U.S. market – it all added up to the conclusion that Cleaning is truly a universal language.
- Interest In CIMS Continues To Grow
CIMS (Cleaning Industry Management Standard) is now 5 years old, and there was a ceremony to recognize the cleaning organizations who have recently earned this certification. In addition, there were several educational sessions and seminars devoted to the topic, and the subject of CIMS was also brought up in other educational sessions. In short, CIMS continues to promote professionalism, quality, customer-satisfaction and sustainability to the marketplace, and offers a standard to benchmark to illustrate the value of cleaning.
- The Green Trend Marches On
Green Cleaning solutions could be seen on display at the majority of exhibitors – as a matter of fact, finding an exhibitor who didn’t have some green story to their booth would prove to be difficult. An attendee still needed to be wary of an abundance of “greenwashing”, but as the Green Cleaning Trend continues to evolve, and attendees become better educated, hopefully those exhibits will be fewer and farther between in future Shows.
- Chemical Free Cleaning Is A Trend Worth Watching
One interesting sidebar to the Green Cleaning observation is the increasing variety of “Chemical Free” cleaning options being promoted. Whether they be strictly mechanical (like the aforementioned Advance Adfinity REV Automatic Scrubber) or they be a combination of solutions (like the NSS Wrangler Automatic Scrubber equipped with on-board Water Command Aqueous Ozone System), there are an increasing number of solutions to consider which will continue to challenge the status quo.
- The More The Merrier
The ISSA/INTERCLEAN Show was co-located with annual trade shows from other affinity organizations in the cleaning industry, including BSCAI (Building Service Contractors Association), IEHA (International Executive Housekeepers Association) and ARCSI (Association of Residential Cleaning Services International) – what they added up to is that Las Vegas was the place to be last week if you are in the cleaning industry.
- What Happens In Vegas Doesn’t Necessarily Always Stay in Vegas
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Bureau likes to say that “What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas”, but when it comes to cleaning industry innovations, it is a safe bet that what was learned in Las Vegas will be coming to your town soon!
Interested in learning more?
For ISSA check out www.issa.com
For ISSA/INTERCLEAN check out www.issa.com/show
For BSCAI (Building Service Contractors Association) www.bscai.org
For IEHA (International Executive Housekeepers Association) www.ieha.org
For ARCSI (Association of Residential Cleaning Services International) www.arcsi.org