Attendance Spikes At BSCAI Trade Show and Convention

The annual Building Service Contractors Association International (BSCAI) trade show and convention had the highest attendance it’s seen in years, with 1,837 BSC professionals and more than 100 exhibitors. Held at Chicago’s McCormick Place April 13 to 17, the show also experienced successful program additions and the largest revenue ever collected for the BSCAI Membership Resource Center, which sold textbooks and other educational materials.

“Year in, year out, the BSCAI Annual Convention & Trade Show is the No. 1 event to learn what is new in the industry, what is happening in the industry. It is the place for networking with other BSCs, building relationships and making new friends,” said Stan Doobin, BSCAI vice president and show co-chair in a press release.

Michael Perkins, president of CleanRight Building Maintenance, Tucson, has been a BSCAI member for four years, and this was the second annual trade show and convention he’s attended. The show not only helped him connect with other BSCs, but it also allowed him to catch up with the direction the industry is heading — especially in regards to green cleaning.

“It was awesome. I came away highly motivated to refocus my business and marketing strategies,” he says. “I can still feel the buzz from it. … My passion is back because of the convention.”

A huge crowd was in attendance to hear opening keynote speaker, Chris Gardner, president and CEO of brokerage firm Gardner Rich & Co., share his life story — recently published in an autobiography, “The Pursuit of Happyness,” which inspired a movie of the same name released in December.

“That was inspiring,” Perkins says. “It was just motivating that other people prioritize their family also.”

BSCAI gave out awards during the convention. The James E. Purcell Award, the most prestigious award presented by BSCAI, is given to recognize long-time service to the association and BSC industry. The association this year honored LeRoy Dock, CBSE, president of Gali Service Industries, Bethesda, Md., and past president of BSCAI. Dock also helped found a community-based nonprofit, H.O.P.E. (Help Others Pursue Excellence), Inc. Barbara Henry won the Carol Dean Building Service Employee of the Year award, which honors a BSC employee with superior job performance, civic involvement and family role. Henry has 20 years of industry experience and has worked at a Catholic college for Cavalier Services in Front Royal, Va., for six years.

The 2008 BSCAI Annual Convention and Trade Show will be held April 25 to 29 at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Fla.

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The U.S. Green Building Council recently announced that an “Innovation in Design” point can be earned toward Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by using the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) program for certified building products, including some cleaning products. BSCs can help customers earn a number of LEED points by instituting green cleaning program elements. The C2C program is administered by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry.