The annual ARCSI Convention is the single largest gathering of cleaning business owners each year.
Excitement is building for the 2014 ARCSI Convention and Education Conference. Our Convention Chair Shirley Wells of Designer Maid and her Committee have raised the bar again this year. If you have never been to an ARCSI Convention, you need to understand that this is the BIGGEST show in the industry.
Thanks to the efforts of our friends at ISSA, the ISSA/INTERCLEAN show includes residential cleaning companies, commercial cleaning companies (BSCAI), institutional cleaners (IEHA), distributors and manufacturers. There will be over 700 vendors on the show floor with the latest and greatest in new products, new equipment, and new techniques. ARCSI members also have access to all of the ISSA keynote speakers in additional to our own educational events. If all of this sounds a little overwhelming, do not be alarmed and certainly do not let that concern deter you from attending.
First Timer / New Member Orientation – Nov. 3 at 1:30 pm
ARCSI and our Convention Committee works very hard to ensure you have the best Convention experience possible. First, all of our first time attendees are matched with a Convention “Buddy” who is a Convention veteran and is there to help you and answer your questions. If you are a veteran and are interested in being a Convention Buddy please contact the ARCSI Office. Secondly, our very first education session is our “First Timer/New Member Orientation” session. It will take place at the Buena Vista Palace, the ARCSI Headquarters hotel at 1:30 PM on Monday, Nov 3. So adjust your travel plans to arrive in Orlando by noon on Monday.
Over 25 Hours of Business Education
Our complete Convention schedule can be seen at www.cleaningconvention.org. There will be over 25 hours of educational programs for you to take advantage of to improve your skills or just get your battery recharged. Our educational programs will be highlighted by our first “Disruptive Innovation Summit” all day on Tuesday, Nov 4 and co-hosted with Cleaning Business Today. See CBT Publisher Tom Stewart’s article “Focus on the Future of Cleaning” about this event.
Network So You Don’t Have to Re-invent the Wheel
The one aspect of our Convention that attendees tell us year in and year out is the #1 reason they attend is the networking. I have said many times that ARCSI members are the most giving group of folks I have ever worked with in my 30-year career. The conversations that take place in the Members Lounge, the ARCSI Booth, over lunch or dinner, or on the hotel elevator may be the most important time you spend at the Convention. It doesn’t matter how long you have been in business – 20 years or 20 months – the exchanges that take place at the convention help to make all of our members better and the industry more professional. The really, really successful companies are invariably those who never stop learning.
Finally, none of this could happen without the generous support of our Industry Partner sponsors. Their support helps us keep our convention registration affordable for our members and enables us to present a great program. Please visit our sponsors page at www.cleaningconvention.org and if you have the opportunity to express your thanks to them directly please do so.
November 3rd will be here all too quickly, so don’t delay and don’t procrastinate. Why aren’t you registered yet? It’s the BIGGEST Show in the industry, and you can’t afford to miss it.
Ernie Hartong has served as the Executive Director of ARCSI since 2009. His background includes 25 years of association management as well as jan-san sales.
