ISSA Show North America 2019 Flourishes in Las Vegas

ISSA Show North America 2019, hosted November 18-21 in Las Vegas, was a huge success by all accounts. The cleaning industry's premier event brought together 16,215 registered cleaning-industry professionals from 75 countries for an outstanding week of networking, education, and innovation at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

This year's show witnessed a surge in attendance; it attracted 16% more registered attendees than the 2018 edition hosted in Dallas and grew slightly over the most recent and highly successful edition in Las Vegas in 2017. Of this year's 652 exhibitors, 97 were newcomers to the event. Further, 58% of registered attendees were new to the annual trade show and conference presented by ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, and Informa Markets.

"We're extremely pleased that the show's return to Las Vegas brought with it a lot of excitement and increased attendance and engagement," said ISSA Executive Director John Barrett. "Exhibitors were energized about showcasing new solutions and attendees once again had the opportunity to learn about the latest advances in the cleaning industry, network, and further develop their skills at the 100-plus education sessions throughout the week. We truly believe this year's show was among the best we've produced."

Industry Catalyst

ISSA Show North America 2019 convened the entire cleaning and facility services industry under one roof. For the 10th consecutive year, the show hosted co-location partner the Building Service Contractors Association International (BSCAI) and its 2019 Contracting Success Conference. Additionally, ISSA welcomed the Healthy Schools Campaign and its Green Clean Schools education track, the Restoration Industry Association's Technical Fire Restoration Summit, the International Facility Management Association, Green Sports Alliance, leading distributor sales and marketing groups, and other industry organizations and their constituents at this year's show.

BSCAI saw similar success this year with its co-located event. "BSCAI was thrilled with the growth of our Contracting Success Conference this year," said Todd Hopkins, CBSE, president and CEO of Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Services and 2019 BSCAI Convention Chairman. "Las Vegas has typically been a successful location for our events, but this year's attendance and engagement exceeded our expectations."

Show Attractions Shine

ISSA Show North America 2019 featured several new attractions on the show floor, which proved to be popular with attendees and exhibitors alike. Highlights included the Solve for X area, which convened attendees to collaborate on their business challenges in an interactive setting; the Specialty Cleaning Area and Theater, which offered unique exhibitors education sessions for health care, residential, and restoration cleaning professionals; the International Pavilion and Italian Pavilion, which featured exhibitors from more than 26 countries; and the First-time Exhibitor Area and Startup Village, where many of the show's 97 new exhibitors from commercial cleaning and adjacent markets like safety, industrial, and software and technology displayed their products and services.

"We made a significant investment in expanding the education and specialty-market opportunities on the show floor this year based on attendee and exhibitor feedback," said Kim Althoff, vice president of trade shows, sales, and media at ISSA. "We were encouraged to see how well these new areas were received and look forward to building on them in the future to ensure the event remains highly relevant and impactful for our growing and evolving audience."

Further, the event's 100-plus education sessions provided something for everyone with curated tracks for distributors, building service contractors, in-house service providers, and residential cleaning professionals. Education kicked off November 18 with a stimulating session from ISSA Spotlight Speaker Marvelless Mark, sponsored by Tork, an Essity Brand, and continued all four days of the show with panel discussions, show-floor theater sessions, and certification workshops. Additional education highlights included the M&A in the Jansan Sector panel discussion; Rethinking What's Smart: Applying Actionable Automation in the Cleaning Industry Today, sponsored by SoftBank Robotics America; and the Technology for Tomorrow panel, which featured leaders in automated cleaning technology and processes.

Industry Innovators & Award Winners Recognized

The show proudly celebrated the 10th anniversary of the ISSA Innovation Award Program with the ISSA Innovation Showcase and Innovation Center, where attendees could see the 42 entries in this year's program firsthand and witness live product demonstrations on the show floor.

As the show concluded November 21, ISSA presented the 2019 Innovation of the Year to Entry®, a chloride-free de-icer product from Secure Winter Products. Honorable mention recipients for Innovation of the Year were:

Bona Resilient Floor Renovation by Bona US
GP PRO Pacific Blue Ultra™, 100% Use, High Capacity Coreless Toilet Paper System by GP PRO (Georgia-Pacific)
AutoVac™ Stretch™ by Kaivac, Inc.
Hoover Commercial MPWR™ 40V Cordless System by TTI Floor Care
Vectair P-Screen® 60 Day Triple Action Urinal Screen by Vectair Systems, Inc.

Additionally, the 2019 ISSA Innovation Award Program category award winners were presented November 18:

Cleaning Agents category: Foam Soap by SC Johnson Professional
Dispensers category: foamyiQ by Spartan Chemical Co., Inc.
Equipment category: Whiz by SoftBank Robotics
Services & Technology category: OptiSolve Surface Imaging Technology by OptiSolve, a Division of Charlotte Products
Supplies & Accessories category: Entry by Secure Winter Products.

The 2019 ISSA Innovation Award winners press release includes details about this year's honorees and judges.

Along with recognizing these innovative solutions, ISSA presented three individual industry achievement awards during the ISSA General Business Meeting, November 19:

The Jack D. Ramaley Industry Distinguished Service Award was awarded to Jay R. Vonachen, founder, Vonachen Group
The Manufacturer Representatives Distinguished Service Award went to Bill Hemann, vice president of sales and marketing, HOSPECO
The ISSA NextGen Rising Star Award in Honor of Jimmy Core was presented to Alex Pak, national account manager, Home Depot Pro.

For show highlights and video coverage from the week, visit show.issa.com/issa-tv.

ISSA Show North America returns to McCormick Place in Chicago for its 2020 edition, October 26-29.

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