An event as large as ISSA/INTERCLEAN® North America can be overwhelming. Every hour of each day has multiple opportunities targeting various areas of the industry, and it can be challenging to sift through the expansive list and figure out which ones are appropriate to pursue.
When it comes to education, the 2015 show in Las Vegas will offer nearly 50 convention seminars across nine tracks for cleaning industry professionals. More than 25 of those will run on the first day of the conference alone. This doesn’t include the three two-day workshops that are available for those who are interested in earning professional certification.
While you probably won’t want or need to attend every session the conference has to offer, you may want some assistance in deciding which ones may benefit you and your organization. Covering education tracks such as facility management, safety/sustainability, strategy/leadership, and workforce development, here is a sample of sessions that cater to in-house facility managers and building service contractors (BSCs).
Behind the Broom Sessions
Cleaning and Maintenance Management’s (CMM) Let’s Talk Shop columnists and authors of Behind the Broom will present back-to-back sessions Tuesday, October 20, starting at 1:00 p.m. In the first hour, Judy Gillies, Kevin Keeler (author of this month’s article, “The Future of Cleaning”), and Lance Witschen will cover how operational standards can improve results from staff. The second session will discuss the benefits of quality control.
Infection Control Sessions
“Janitors play a huge role in protecting the health of building occupants,” wrote author Nicole Bowman in the June 2015 issue of CMM. “They prevent the spread of illness and infection, control indoor air quality, and protect the indoor environment.”
The ISSA Convention Seminars will address the important role of the professional cleaner in a handful of facility management sessions focusing on infection control. The following sessions will address how you and your team can clean for infection prevention, and why it is important to do so.
Cleaning for Infection Control: Not Just Spray & Wipe!
Tuesday, October 20 at 10:30 a.m.
Combating Public Enemy No. 1: Infectious Pathogens
Wednesday, October 21 at 1:00 p.m.
Patient Room Cleaning Times
Wednesday, October 21 at 2:00 p.m.
Going Viral: Understanding Public Infection Spread
Thursday, October 22 at 3:00 p.m.
Floor and Carpet Care Programs
The Institute of Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) will offer two certificate programs during ISSA/INTERCLEAN: one for hard floor maintenance and one for carpet maintenance. Both programs require a separate registration fee; however, they will provide attendees hands-on solutions for caring for different types of floors. Both certificate programs will take place Tuesday, October 20, and will require a block of time to complete. IICRC Basic Skills Commercial Carpet Maintenance Certificate Program runs from 8:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m., while IICRC Basic Skills Hard Floor Maintenance Certificate Program runs from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
If you’re looking for a session that’s included in the ISSA Convention Seminars registration fee (US$99 for ISSA members), check out The Art and Mystery of Hard Surface Flooring on Tuesday, October 20 at 3:00 p.m. The session will review hot topics, new surfaces, and safety advice relating to hard floor care, and will allow time for presenters to take your specific floor care questions.
Tips from the Trainers
Thursday, October 22, master trainers from the Cleaning Management Institute (CMI) will answer attendee questions about training front-line and supervisory staffs. This roundtable will cover the importance of industry training, the latest training trends, and best practices to help ensure your staff can handle day-to-day tasks, as well as challenges that may arise. This session takes place at the ISSA Keynote and Education Stage, located at Booth 281 on the trade show floor.
This session will serve as a precursor to the CMI Supervisor and Management Boot Camp that is slotted for later that day from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Friday, October 23, from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The boot camp—one of the three workshops taking place during the convention—will cover management skills associated with leadership, workloading, and recruitment and staffing. Participation in the boot camp does require a separate registration ($999).
Even More Sessions
This is just a small sample of sessions you will find at ISSA/INTERCLEAN. To review the complete list of courses, along with descriptions, times, and tracks, visit www.issa.com/schedule.
No conference attendee will be able to experience it all in the short window of time that makes up ISSA/INTERCLEAN; however, there are several options to help ensure you don’t miss out on some of the key educational opportunities taking place throughout the show.
Stream Them
Select education sessions from the show will be streamed in real-time at www.issa.com/live, and then made available on-demand after the show. This will provide opportunities to view sessions at home that you may not have been able to attend while in Las Vegas. This also provides an opportunity for in-house facility managers and BSCs to share their favorite sessions with other staff.
Track Your Schedule
Managing a schedule and knowing where to go can be tricky when attending a large show like ISSA/INTERCLEAN. However, as the saying goes, “There’s an app for that.” With the ISSA/INTERCLEAN show app (available at www.issa.com/app), registrants can add specific seminars with times and locations to their daily conference agenda.
Split Up
It’s impossible to be in two places at once, so you may want to divide and conquer if there are multiple individuals from your organization attending the conference. If two sessions of interest are taking place simultaneously, attend one while your colleague attends the other. Be sure to both take notes, and share them later.
