NEW ORLEANS — When the Clean Show once again occupies the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center here June 20-23, it will be an event of firsts and lasts.
For some attendees, it will be their first experience of the biennial event formally known as the World Educational Congress for Laundering and Drycleaning.
It will also be the first Clean Show under new ownership in its 42nd year.
In December, Germany-based Messe Frankfurt, an international trade fair, congress and event organizer—the largest in the textile care industry—purchased the Clean Show from the five sponsoring associations: Association for Linen Management (ALM), Coin Laundry Association (CLA), Drycleaning and Laundry Institute (DLI), Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA) and TRSA, the association for linen, uniform and facility services.
As part of the acquisition, the sponsor associations will maintain their close involvement with the show, and Messe Frankfurt aims to continue the Clean Show success story.
“We look forward to this first Clean Show under the ownership of Messe Frankfurt, whose portfolio of laundry trade shows includes Texcare International in Frankfurt, Germany, and its expansion into China with Texcare Asia and the United Arab Emirates with Middle East Cleaning Technology Week, as well as global Texcare Forums,” says Joseph Ricci, president and CEO of TRSA, and chairman of Clean ’19.
While this marks the first Clean Show under Messe Frankfurt ownership, Clean ’19 will be the last organized and managed by Atlanta-based Riddle & Associates.
The collaboration and management between the sponsoring associations and Riddle & Associates helped put the Clean Show on Trade Show Executive magazine’s 50 Fastest-Growing Shows and the Trade Show News Network Top 100 shows, as well as being the largest textile services and care show in the world, Riddle shares.
“It has been a pleasure to work with John Riddle of Riddle & Associates, which has managed the show since 1993,” says Ricci. “John had indicated several years ago that he would be retiring from full-time event management following the 2019 Clean Show. We salute John and his staff for their excellent service to the show sponsors and our attendees.”
Riddle & Associates says Clean 2019 will provide a platform for all industry professionals and companies to come together on the show floor to share ideas, technologies, education, and networking.
LEARN, WORK, SUCCEED
According to Riddle & Associates, Clean Show attendees include store owners, plant operators, technicians, institutional laundry managers, distributors, consultants and buyers.
The largest share (94%) of attendees are business owners, executives or managers, according to a past Clean Show survey by Riddle & Associates. Clean brings those business owners and executives face-to-face with hundreds of industry exhibitors.
The show organizer says for companies looking to expand, re-educate or upgrade current technology, the exhibit floor is where they should be.
“I think everyone who is in some form of the textile care industry, whether it be laundry, dry cleaning, textile rental, coin-op, etc., I think you’re going to be very happy,” says John Riddle, who personally assisted with managing several Clean Shows before his firm was contracted in ’93. “We had a great show in ’17 in Las Vegas, and New Orleans is right there with it, right now.”
The June 2017 Las Vegas Clean Show was named one of Trade Show Executive’s 50 Fastest-Growing shows of 2017. The show was honored in all three categories of the awards competition: net square feet of exhibit space, number of exhibiting companies and total attendance. Riddle & Associates says Clean attracted 12,563 visitors (including 2,282 people from 101 foreign countries and overseas territories) and 481 exhibitors in 227,006 square feet of space to Las Vegas in 2017.
More than 430 exhibitors are signed up to be in New Orleans, with more than 211,000 square feet of exhibit space sold.
“You’re going to see an awful lot of exhibitors,” Riddle shares. “New things are coming that you will be pleased to see. Our attendance is holding up. Based on what I know in the years I’ve done this is that we can look for a good show, and as always you can come and actually see equipment work.”
Exhibits featuring equipment, products and services will be on display in Convention Center halls B-F.
“Exhibit sales and hotel room blocks are ahead of previous Clean Shows in New Orleans, demonstrating the strength of the event and the industry as a must-attend opportunity for researching solutions and information-sharing,” adds Ricci. “I am thrilled with the support of our exhibitors, including their commitment to innovation and introduction of new products and services that increase productivity and safety.”
Riddle says he’s proud of the fact that when industry professionals come to the Clean Show, they get a chance to see the equipment they’re contemplating buying in operation.
“It becomes very expensive for an exhibitor to bring a tunnel washer or a big washer or extractor to the show,” Riddle points out. “Just the cost alone of getting it there [is great], then you have the time and materials and the money, if you will, to fire them up, and then run them and show the attendee what it will do.
“Our package plan for exhibitors is such that it has enabled the exhibitor to actually come and operate the equipment in a cost-effective manner so that the attendee gets the advantage of that. You don’t just see one side of a presentation; you can look at multiple pieces of equipment operate under one roof, generally within a couple hundred feet of each other. That demonstration alone is worth the trip.”
Besides interacting with exhibitors on the show floor, attendees also have the opportunity to take advantage of 30 hours of educational sessions. Riddle & Associates says sessions include topics such as training, business management and environmental issues.
Morning sessions, which run between 8 and 10 a.m. on show days, will take place in on-site meeting rooms. Afternoon sessions will be held in the exhibit hall.
“This combination has already strengthened the Clean Show as a platform for industry professionals and suppliers to work, learn and succeed together,” Ricci says. “Make the most of your time here and you will find no better place to share ideas and grasp trends and technologies, show after show.”
The Clean Show has also developed with the times and has a strong social media presence. Attendees and exhibitors can get updates on the upcoming show, registration and Clean Show facts on its Facebook and Twitter pages, says Riddle & Associates.
As social media takes a larger role in communication, Riddle & Associates says the Clean Show interacts with attendees and can answer questions on social media platforms to better engage with its followers.
Attendees sharing their Clean Show experience in New Orleans are encouraged to use the handles #Clean2019 and @thecleanshow so others can easily find messages and photos and information related to the show.
In addition, Riddle & Associates says attendees can use the Clean Show 2019 My Planner (available through the show website and mobile app) to organize show floor visits. Through the Planner, attendees can see what companies are exhibiting and sort them by name, keyword, booth number and more. From there, a personalized list can be created.
Check back Thursday for the conclusion!
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].