The Experience Takes Over Las Vegas [pictures]

LAS VEGAS—September 11, 2021—The 2021 Experience Convention and Trade Show began Wednesday in Las Vegas and ran through Friday, September 10 at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino. The in-person event featured a full lineup of education sessions, product demonstrations, and networking opportunities for professionals in the cleaning and restoration industry. Scroll this page for pictures and videos from the event, as well as highlights from all three days.

September 10 at The 2021 Experience Convention and Trade Show

Day Three in Review

Highlights:

• Day three kicked off with a strong collection of restoration and business-building sessions. Michael Pinto presented “Dealing With Mold-Sensitive Occupants/Clients,” in which he examined the common symptoms of mold sensitivity, how to deal with the “crazy” people who only think they have mold sensitivity, and how to justify the specialized remediation in such cases.
• Howard Wolf gave attendees a detailed explanation of the changes that were made in 2021 to the ANSI/IICRC S500 Standard for Professional Water Damage Restoration and explained what happened to the “reference guide” part of the standard.
• In “More Than 80% of Companies are Unsellable, Unmovable, and Languishing in MLS Listings,” Gokul Padmanabhan explored the decisions and factors that create a business that “shines in the marketplace,” by helping attendees identifying their organizations’ strengths and weaknesses and teaching them to execute a strategy toward selling success
• CIRI presented a two-part “Disinfection, Mitigation, and Measurement” session, which explored the rise in “hygiene theater” and why disinfection and mitigation strategies of both air and surfaces is still so important.
• Lisa Wagner and Kash Sobhe gave a popular case-study style presentation on everyone’s most hated rug fiber, viscose. They taught attendees how to identify the different types of common viscose rugs and recognize how durable they are, as well as the challenges they might present the cleaner.
• At noon, the Trade Show Hall opened for its final time. Guests were treated to a light lunch sponsored by STOP Restoration. On the show floor, the numerous demonstration areas continued delighting attendees. In the Shaw Learning Lab, Shawn Bisaillon demonstrated carpet inspections that cleaners should be performing before each job. The Flood House finished up its water damage drying project and demonstrated documentation best practices. In The Cage, attendees competed to see who could don and doff PPE the fastest, and over in the NORMI demo area, they tested for mold and myotoxins.

The 2021 Experience Convention and Trade Show came to a close at 3:00 p.m., though multiple post-show seminars continue. The Experience Conference and Exhibition will hit the Cincinnati Hilton and Duke Energy Convention Center April 6-8, 2022.

September 9 at The 2021 Experience Convention and Trade Show

Day Two in Review

Highlights:

• Day two started off strong with a collection of sessions to help companies improve, including David Dybdahl’s “Surviving and Thriving With Biohazards Risks” in which he discussed gaps in insurance commonly found in those businesses just diving into bio cleanup, especially due to the pandemic, and answered audience questions about liabilities and problems they’d each had.
• Later, Eric Spague presented an enthralling presentation on how to bring in more and better clients and increase profits while retaining and creating quality employees. In “When Cleaners and Restorers Think of Their Assets: Field Technicians as Key Assets,” Sprague gave a first-hand account of problems he overcame in his own business and offered tips for engaging and training employees to create a company culture that promotes loyal, hard-working employees.
• Jeff Jones gave an adults-only presentation on forensic restoration titled “Mother Nature Is a Serial Killer and No One Gets Out Alive” that looked to provide attendees with insight into the niche field to help them decide if they have the compassion and stomach needed for the intense work.
• A panel from the Association of Rug Care Specialists—Jennifer Colaco, Meg Walker, and Robert Mann—explained how to build up a profitable rug cleaning offering by partnering with in-plant local cleaners, creating a win-win program for everyone involved.
• In the afternoon, the trade show opened, and hundreds of attendees flooded into the hall where they learned about new products and mingled with friends and industry veterans. The Flood House continued its drying process by checking the progress and reevaluating and adjusting the drying plan, while next door at The Cage, attendees competed in an exciting containment contest.

The Experience Party by the Pool capped off day two of The 2021 Experience Convention and Trade Show, with hundreds of attendees gathered to hang out with industry cleaners, restorers, manufacturers, and business mentors while drinking, eating, and listening to live music. The event, sponsored by the IICRC, Aramsco, Softwash Systems, and The Experience, also featured the announcement of industry awards: the Ralph Bloss Humanitarian Award; The Experience Industry ICON Award; and the Ladder Award, as well as thousands of dollars in prizes.

Presentation of the Ralph Bloss Humanitarian Award, which is sponsored by Cleanfax, took a new approach this year. The committee, made up of previous award winners, decided they wanted to honor the humanitarian heroes throughout our industry by recognizing the work that hundreds of companies have done to contribute cleaner, safer Ronald McDonald Houses and, therefore, the Ralph Bloss Humanitarian Award to every cleaning and restoration company represented at the show who has ever donated their services to any location of the Ronald McDonald House. All who were present were brought up to the front of the crowd and presented honorary leis on theme with the pool party.

Day three continues Friday.

September 8 at The 2021 Experience Convention and Trade Show

Day One in Review

Highlights:

• The day kicked off with a high-energy presentation from Doyle Bloss, Darren Watts, and Michael Lombardozzi, “Solving the Biggest Challenges in Growing Your Business Money,” in which the trio provided quick tips for implementing in any company to grow profits.
• Later in the morning, ISSA Media Director Jeff Cross presented “Silly Videos: The Pathway to Management and Marketing Excellence” that offered attendees a multimedia journey through strategies for overcoming leadership challenges and getting more jobs.
• In the “Prophets of Profits Panel Discussion,” Bruce DeLoatch, Eric Sprague, Larry Wilberton, and Jorge Villalobos, owners of some of the industry’s most successful businesses reveal components of the “C-4 initiative, which helps companies grow profits by improving their teams.

• Larry Cooper welcomed attendees to the 2021 Experience Convention and Trade Show at 1:15 p.m., providing insight on this year’s show the state of the industry, and where things are going.
• Dr. Gavin MacGregor-Skinner of GBAC presented the first of two keynotes titled “Does Your Cleaning Mean No Germs?” in which he discusses implementing the CDC’s Core Components of Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection.
• The second keynote speaker, Marvelless Mark, presented Opportunity Rocks, an exciting presentation that takes the key elements of being a rock star and breaks them down to help owners improve their teams. Attendees received a free, customized Marvelless Mark drumstick.
• The 2021 Experience Convention’s trade show’s grand opening was next at 4 p.m. This year’s trade show includes live demos throughout the exhibit hall including the Experience Cage with cleaning and restoration competitions and the Experience Flood House, the event’s flagship demo area where a full water damage restoration project is completed over the course of the show.
• The night ended with an industry reception sponsored by Kleenright Equipment where attendees can network.

With five different education tracks, The 2021 Experience Convention covers all aspects of running a business and working in the cleaning and restoration industry. Participants can attend sessions in the following categories: cleaning, restoration, management and marketing, and the “Good Life” track, with classes in Spanish and NORMI training.