KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The 2015 Florida Pest Management Association (FPMA) Pest & Lawn Care Expo, an annual event, was held in conjunction with Marathon Data Systems’ PestPac User Conference, Jan. 19–23. Marathon holds the PestPac User Conference on both coasts, and this year Pest Management Professional (PMP) attended the East Coast event in Florida.
The joint partnership between the state organization and the company marks an industry first, according to Chris Sullens, president and CEO of Marathon Data Systems.
The 2015 Florida Pest Management Association Pest & Lawn Care Expo took place in conjunction with Marathon Data Systems’ PestPac User Conference.
The Expo offered a set of robust educational tracks for both pest and lawn care professionals. In addition to the Jan. 19 fumigation track, which focused on the latest fumigation concepts and technology, the Expo also offered tracks on termites, presented by Dr. Phil Koehler, professor of entomology at the University of Florida and D.R. Sapp, president of the FPMA. The FPMA’s educational tracks continued throughout the week with consecutive business-related sessions covering a wide range of topics, including legal issues, human resources, marketing and managing.
The rest of the week’s sessions were staggered to accommodate attendees who wanted to maximize their time at the event and attend both the PestPac training classes as well as the FPMA’s general educational events.
Jan. 21’s events kicked off with a keynote address by Sullens, during which he previewed Marathon’s year ahead and recognized the company’s continual growth. After that, PestPac users broke up into individual training classes, some of which served as an idea generator for Marathon. The company used the intimate classroom-style interaction with its customers to brainstorm with them, mining for new ideas for PestPac improvements, desired features and streamlined functionality.
Additionally, an exposition hall was available to visitors at multiple scheduled times so attendees could explore new products and technology conveniently without interrupting their participation in the training and educational sessions.
You can reach NEPPER at wnepper@northcoastmedia.net or 216-706-3775.