Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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ISSA/Interclean North America 2012 exceeds expectations
The results of the recent I ISSA/Interclean North America 2012 exceeded expectations, both statistically and according to the stream of positive feedback received from exhibitors and attendees. Busy booths, important business connections, and high-quality education and speakers are among the top reasons given by satisfied participants.
The show, held in Chicago, was produced and managed by ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, and its trade show partner, Amsterdam RAI, which hosts and manages some of the world's largest trade shows.
This year's registrations were on a par with ISSA/Interclean shows held in Las Vegas,, and ran about 15% higher than the last show hosted in Chicago. Co-locating their annual conventions again this year were the Building Service Contractor Association International, the International Executive Housekeepers Association and the Association of Residential Cleaning Services International. Also present were many supporting associations from throughout Europe, Africa, and Asia-Pacific (see below).
More than 9,000 buyers were among the registrants visiting with this year's 623 exhibitors. The event experienced substantially increased attendance from distributor marketing/buying group members as well as building service contractors. As a result, traffic on the exhibition floor remained brisk throughout the first two full days of the show and was above normal for the final day.
Also contributing to this growth was ISSA's recent move to better engage high-profile in-house decision makers as part of its strategy to change the way the world views cleaning. The association's efforts attracted many large national and international facility management executives and managers, substantially growing the purchasing power represented.
"Our keynoter, Tom Brokaw, summed it up quite well when he said that we are all looking for a 'big idea' to unite us these days," says John Garfinkel, ISSA executive director. "We believe that the shared drive to prove cleaning is a long-term investment in human health, the environment, and facilities' bottom lines, is what continues to bring together so many leaders in our industry to meet face-to-face and find the right solutions."
Buyers that packed the aisles cited their desire to meet with exhibitors and find innovative products as a top draw to the exhibit hall. Other attractions that contributed to a busier trade show floor were the strong lineup of speakers in the ISSA Education Theatre, which doubled its attendance this year; a busy Innovation Product Showcase area where customers could vote for the top solutions; and the popular ISSA Happy Hour.
Some show highlights:
- Of the 623 exhibitors, 95 were new to ISSA/Interclean
- About 20 percent of visitors hailed from 65 countries outside of the US
- The exhibition featured leading suppliers from 29 countries
- Customers rewarded 16 exhibitors for providing the best customer service at their booths this year
- Customers also crowned five companies out of a pool of 51 entries as offering the most cutting edge products in the industry this year
- Sixty-eight firms joined the list of more than 145 organisations that have completed or renewed their Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) and CIMS-Green Building certifications; the pool of CIMS experts also grew to more than 1,000 following the week's workshops
- Many of the Tuesday seminar sessions were standing room only with feedback that the topics and speakers were high-quality and very relevant to attendee businesses
- More than 1,800 unique viewers logged in to ISSA.com to watch live excerpts from the event, available for the first time
In addition to the high energy on the show floor and in ISSA's many popular seminars and networking events, the association continued to earn attention with exclusive new tools designed to help its members prove their value to discerning facility executives. Meanwhile, the ISSA Resource Centre was buzzing with attendees taking tours to discover many of the association's valuable services and watching the live feed broadcasting from the area. The ISSA bookstore also saw a 25%increase in educational and business resource sales.
Trade associations from around the globe that were strongly represented included the British Institute of Cleaning Science and the Cleaning & Support Services Association from the UK, the National Contract Cleaners Association based in South Africa, the Polish Cleaning Chamber of Commerce, the Russian Cleaning Companies Association and the World Federation of Building Service Contractors.
Given this year's positive results, exhibition space is already more than 75% sold out for the 2013 event, held from November 18th - 21st, in Las Vegas, and many exhibitors have increased their booth space in anticipation of another strong turnout.
For more information on the 2013 ISSA/Interclean North America show, visit :
8th November 2012