The International Executive Housekeeper’s Association’s (IEHA) will be rolling out the red carpet for registrants this year in Las Vegas, Nev., during its 45th Annual Educational Conference & Convention, October 16-21, 2011, at the Planet Hollywood Hotel & Casino, in conjunction with ISSA/INTERCLEAN — North America. Registration for the event is available here.

IEHA is pleased to announce that more than 11 hours of exclusive IEHA member-focused educational sessions revolving around the theme of continuous improvement will be offered, starring IEHA’s own knowledgeable members as speakers. The following IEHA members will be presenting at the Planet Hollywood on Monday, October 17th, and Tuesday, October 18th: 

Ada Baldwin, REH, will be presenting “Continuous Development in Managing Your Staff.”  Baldwin is currently the Assistant Director of Facility Services at The University North Carolina at Greensboro. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Va Tech and a Master of Arts in Management and Supervision from Central Michigan University. Baldwin served the U.S. Air Force as a communication specialist at Andrews, AFB, maintaining ground communication during flights for former President Ronald Reagan, Vice President George H.W. Bush, White House administration, Secretary of State, Pentagon administration and the Department of Defense. She has been an IEHA member since 2000.

Cliff Beiser will be presenting “Sustainable Savings and Profits: The Lean Six Sigma Way.” Beiser is Lean Six Sigma and Green Belt Certified. He has used Lean Six Sigma and green cleaning to increase profits more than 300 percent for 2,300-room housekeeping and laundry operations. Beiser has comprehensive real-world experience taking resorts and building service contractors through process improvement initiatives using Six Sigma Tools and Integrated Cleaning & Measurement™ (ICM™). These efforts have improved profits while also increasing customer satisfaction scores — an unbeatable combination!

Jason Dunson will be presenting “Glow Testing for Success in Quality Assurance.” He began his career in the cleaning industry in 2006 as a Supervisor of Environmental Services at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, Ore. A graduate of the Army Academy of Health Sciences, he also is a certified pharmacy technician with certificates in compounding and IV preparations. Dunson has extensive experience in training and development and has worked on several special projects in work deployment and process improvement. Since 2008, he has been working on creating new and innovative solutions for tracking the quality of work performed by environmental services technicians.

Doug Green, REH, will be presenting “Customer Service: Good Is Not Good Enough.” Green graduated from Southwest Baptist College with a double major in Psychology and Sociology in 1979, and he received his Master’s in Management degree from Fontbonne University in 1999. He is currently the Director of Environmental Services at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Miss. During his career, he has worked for contract services and in-house providers, and he has managed in health-care, retail, industrial and long-term care departments. He has been an IEHA member since 1996.

Everett McDonald, CEH, will be presenting “Why Managers Fail, Good Management Doesn’t Just Happen.” McDonald has worked at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport for 11 years and currently holds the position as Contract Manager. He majored in Business Administration at Urbana College and Franklin University. McDonald has worked in the cleaning business for 36 years. He started his career in the cleaning industry in 1975 with ServiceMaster. He also has experience working for several hospital housekeeping departments in Ohio, was a corporate trainer for Sodexo and ran his own contract cleaning service for 12 years. He has also served on the IEHA Board of Directors.

Sheila Perera will be presenting “People Are My Passion. “ Perera currently manages The Glenmor Owners Club, a seasonal ownership development with 53 luxury homes and a clubhouse located within the grounds of the five-star Gleneagles Hotel located in Perthshire, Scotland. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Hotel and Catering Management from Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland. Perera has 39 years experience in hotel housekeeping, management and training. She has been a member of the United Kingdom Housekeepers Association (UKHA) since 1986, and served as the UKHA National Chairman from 1994-2001. Perera joined IEHA as an international member in 1992.

Ralph Peterson will be presenting “Call Out, Fall Out: The Housekeepers Guide To Staffing.” Peterson is a humorist, historian and world-class speaker and trainer in the field of management development. He is currently a Regional Director/Management Trainer for Healthcare Services Group, the largest housekeeping, laundry and food service management company in the United States that services the long-term care industry. He is also the host and creator of the wildly popular and extremely funny Internet radio show “The Housekeepers Podcast,” a talk show that highlights the importance, difficulty and shear unpredictability managing housekeepers can be.

Allen Rathey will be presenting “Choosing High Performance Green Cleaning Products — How IEHA/TURI Can Help” with Heidi Wilcox. A 25-plus year veteran of the cleaning industry, Rathey began his career by establishing a home and commercial cleaning service in the early 1980s. After 10 years of firsthand experience, he transitioned from cleaning to consulting, providing advice and marketing services through his company, InstructionLink/JanTrain, Inc., located in Boise, Idaho. He also serves as President of the Housekeeping Channel (HC), the Healthy House Institute (HHI) and the Healthy Facilities Institute (HFI).  He promotes healthy indoor environments, and writes and speaks on healthy cleaning and facility topics.

Beth B. Risinger will be presenting “What’s So Funny? Humor in the Workplace.” Risinger has been the CEO/Executive Director of IEHA since 1987. She has over 37 years experience in society/association fields; her primary areas of expertise are: member services, public relations/image, marketing, conference/show development, seminar presentation and administration. She has presented educational seminars on subjects such as marketing, benchmarking, listening, training the trainer, effective communication and a plethora of others. She is best known for her ability to provide member-based organizations value-added services with minimal staff and financial resources.

Heidi Wilcox will be presenting “Choosing High Performance Green Cleaning Products — How IEHA/TURI Can Help” with Allen Rathey. Wilcox works at the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She is the field specialist at the TURI lab and works integrating lab work with field work in different types of facilities. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from UMass Amherst and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies and Atmospheric Studies from UMass Lowell. Currently, she is a doctoral student in the Department of Work Environment in Cleaner Production.

Gene Woodard, REH, will be presenting “How Does Your Department Measure Up?”  Woodard has been the Director of Custodial Services at the University of Washington for more than 25 years. He is a 31-year member of IEHA and served as President of the Association from 2000 to 2002. The UW Custodial Department was the first university to use ICM™ (Integrated Cleaning and Measurement™) to begin the process of validating cleaning procedures within its facility. Woodard is also Director of the Building Services Division, which includes Custodial Services and the UW Recycling and Solid Waste Programs.

For more information and to register for IEHA’s 45th Annual Educational Conference and Convention, click here.