The Importance Of ISSA And It’s Annual Conventions

We have been a leader in ambient-air-care solutions for more than seven decades and have been affiliated with ISSA for decades. Center Hall Booth 710 marked our spot at the exhibition. Here we featured our newest commercial air freshener diffusers and odor neutralizing products that fell into 13 separate product categories. These included but were not limited to: odor control products; restroom equipment; hospital amenities; pest management products and services, aerosols; fragrances; deodorants and candles, just to name a few. 

The Origination Of ISSA

In 1923, a man named Alfred Richter, the founder of the National Sanitary Supply Association, had a vision for the burgeoning cleaning industry that changed the course of its evolution. He foresaw the need for industry leaders to unite as a monolithic community, fortified by a healthy exchange of ideas that would foster a better understanding of the health needs of both its members and the nation.

This became the foundation of what would blossom into a world-wide association in 1966 with a new name to reflect its international clientele; namely, the International Sanitary Supply Association. Ever expanding, in 2005 when service providers became part of the organization, the name changed once again to become The World Wide Cleaning Industry Association (ISSA.)

How Does ISSA Serve The World Community?

The annual ISSA Convention is unique in its provision of facility solutions within the cleaning industry. Professionals flock to these shows for two reasons. One is to learn valuable information about the latest products and the other is to network with their peers. Those who attend ISSA events have one purpose on mind, which is to promote their products, and their questions and conversations enrich others by providing important facts and data for participants.

ISSA is committed to Richter’s original vision to remain the leading voice for the international cleaning industry by sharing the common goals of all its encompassing professions and trade associations. In numbers there is always strength, and ISSA harnesses theirs to alter the world’s perception of cleaning by learning to view it as an investment in human health, the environment, and an improved bottom line. ISSA is the leading resource for information, education, networking and commercial opportunities for the global cleaning industry community.

ISSA offers continuing education in the form of a three-day workshop focusing on important issues geared specifically towards the cleaning industry. Some of these include: training and certifying workers on necessary standards of care, the most current laws concerning health and safety and training involving both the subtle and acute differences between the “best practices” and “accepted practices” for surface cleaning. It’s all about a broader view of things from outside that proverbial box and new tools and techniques that improve services for clients everywhere.

The ISSA Innovation Award Program

Every company allied with ISSA, including the ambient air care masters at Air-Scent, learns from and becomes enriched by the ongoing source of industry-specific information that is provided by this coalition of more than 9,200 distributors, wholesalers, manufacturers, manufacturer representatives, building service contractors and in-house service providers. For more than ten years, the ISSA Innovation Award Program has been a source of new solutions to the dynamic challenges facing industry professionals. This special initiative serves as a venue for exhibitors who seek to launch their new product or service.

In the words of Kim Althoff, ISSA vice president of sales, trade shows, and publications: “Innovation is the driving force behind progress. In the most tangible terms, ISSA is helping to fulfill its mission of ‘advancing clean and driving innovation’ with this program, through which we support and recognize the latest in products and services our members are bringing to market.”

Participating exhibitors feature their innovative product or service on a competitive platform in front of the entire commercial cleaning industry. Entries are organized into five distinct categories; namely, cleaning agents; dispensers; equipment; services and technology and supplies and accessories, each competing for the Innovation Category Awards and, ultimately, the Innovation of the Year.

Months before the convention, which this year took place on November 18–21 in Las Vegas, Nevada, cleaning-industry distributors seeking new product development and the building of new relationships, building service and residential cleaning contractors in search of great training solutions, in-house service providers seeking to help one another to find solutions to unique industry challenges, and wholesalers voted online from August 1 through November 15 for their choice of the best product or service. This determined the five Category Winners. A panel of industry experts further evaluated the entries, and along with the online votes, determined the 2019 Innovation of the Year, as well as the Category Honorees.