Updates from the Leading Association for the Cleaning Industry Worldwide

ISSA Picks Keynote & Featured Speakers for ’09 Show

ISSA has chosen acclaimed advertising guru and television personality Donny Deutsch to deliver the keynote address at ISSA/INTERCLEAN® North America 2009, which will take place at McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL, October 6-9. Deutsch will speak on Thursday, October 8, 8:30 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

In addition, legendary football coach Mike Ditka will speak at one of the show’s featured sessions on Wednesday, October 7, 9:00 a.m.-9:45 a.m.

“ISSA is excited to offer our attendees two impactful speakers at this year’s show in Chicago,” said ISSA President Bob Stahurski. “These leaders from the business and sports worlds will deliver top-quality presentations to help ISSA/INTERCLEAN attendees formulate their own bright ideas in these challenging economic times when they are needed the most.”

Deutsch has hosted some of America’s most influential entrepreneurs and business titans during the past four years on his CNBC talk show, The Big Idea With Donny Deutsch. Deutsch has uncovered their secrets to success and turned his own big ideas into winning campaigns for his clients as chairman of Deutsch, Inc., one of the top-10 advertising agencies in the United States. In his keynote address, Deutsch will share his most important findings with ISSA/INTERCLEAN attendees and explain why now is the best time to unleash their best ideas on the cleaning industry.

Ditka’s speech, sponsored by Activeion Cleaning Solutions, LLC, will center on The Leadership A.C.E.—

Attitude, Character, and Enthusiasm. The renowned coach’s powerful presentation will highlight the key characteristics that individuals need to achieve their personal and professional goals. Ditka will offer tips that attendees can immediately implement to make a difference in their daily lives.

More details about the speakers, ISSA’s comprehensive educational conference, and other exciting aspects of ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America 2009 can be found in the event-registration book at www.issa.com/brochure. Registration for ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America 2009 is available online at www.issa.com/register. Attendees should also consider booking accommodations now, as ISSA and its official housing agent, Ambassadors, have negotiated newly reduced room rates with Chicago hotels. Reservations can be made through the ISSA Web site at www.issa.com/hotels.

Seminar Attendance Up 73 Percent in ‘09;
ISSA.com and Tradeshow Registrations Also Posting Strong Numbers

Cleaning-industry participation in ISSA events as well as traffic on ISSA.com have risen significantly in 2009.

In spite of a tough economy, the 2009 ISSA regional-seminar series, Piecing Together a World of Standards, saw an increase in company attendance of 63 percent over 2008, with a 73 percent increase in individuals attending. The sessions, which were presented in five U.S. cities and Toronto, Canada, helped attendees understand the many product, service, and individual certifications and accreditations currently available in the industry and explained how organizations can best utilize them to meet their needs.

Visits to the ISSA.com Web site also were up in the first quarter of 2009 over previous years, with a 9 percent increase in user sessions over 2008 and a 7 percent increase in unique visitors.

“We are seeing an increase in members attending events in person as well as more calls and Web site visits searching for industry information,” said ISSA Director of Industry Outreach Dianna Bisswurm. “We believe this trend will continue this year as companies look for ways to differentiate, grow, and improve operations to become more effective in today’s business climate. We also believe these participation levels bode well for a strong tradeshow turnout this fall.”

In addition, an ISSA Certification Expert (I.C.E.) workshop held June 25 in Philadelphia, PA, sold out by the first week of June. The event drew attendees from 13 U.S. states and South Africa. Due to the continued interest, ISSA has added an additional I.C.E. workshop for September in Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.issa.com/events.

Along with the strong turnout this year for seminars and workshops, registrations for the ISSA/INTERCLEAN North America tradeshow—scheduled for October 6-9, at McCormick Place South, Chicago, IL—are also coming in strong. Attendee registrations are on par with those logged the same number of weeks out from the show in 2007 and 2008, and they are ahead of the registrations for 2006, the last time the show was in Chicago. Building service contractor registration numbers are exceeding the norm for this number of weeks out from the show, according to reports from CompuSystems, Inc., ISSA’s third-party registration provider.

Also encouraging is the fact that a large number of people who have not attended the show before are expressing interest in attending this fall. In fact, 69 percent of contractors and in-house decision-makers requesting information on the show in May said they had not attended previously.

“We are pleased to see these results this far ahead of the show because it tells us that those who participate in ISSA/INTERCLEAN this year not only will have the chance to network with a large number of business leaders, but that they also will be exposed to new contacts they may not have made at previous events,” said Bisswurm.