INTERVIEW
programmes that fully comply with ISSA standards and content. OPI: Your roots are in Italy – is this still your most important market? TDA: Without doubt, our ancestral roots are in Italy. It’s a country that has, along with Germany and the US, been one of the top manufacturers of machinery, products and equipment for the global cleaning market for many years. However, our expertise is international.
GOING
global The ISSA Pulire Network has big plans to develop the cleaning industry throughout the EMEA region and beyond
I
www.opi.net
n May 2018, ISSA – the trade association for the global cleaning industry – expanded its footprint by creating a jointly owned platform with Italian cleaning sector manufacturers association Afidamp, owner of the Pulire trade show (‘pulire’ meaning ‘clean’ in Italian). 12 months later, their collaboration was formalised with the establishment of the ISSA Pulire Network, headed by former Afidamp Executive Director Toni D’Andrea. In August 2021, D’Andrea’s responsibilities were extended when he was named as Director of ISSA EMEA after Dianna Steinbach – who had been responsible for all ISSA’s regions outside the Americas – moved back to the US. OPI caught up with D’Andrea to find out more about the workings of the ISSA Pulire Network and how he is looking to develop it.
32
OPI: Toni, can you start by telling us about the goals of the ISSA Pulire Network? Toni D’Andrea: Our goals are to pursue the business of holding trade shows around the world, something Afidamp has successfully done for over 20 years now. These include a dozen international projects in Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and South America. ISSA has done the same in various regions, as well as developing training and certification
OPI: What is the size of your team? TDA: We are actually two separate teams working in perfect harmony. An integrated, eight-person group handles exhibition-related activities, such as organisation, sales, promotion and communications, social market interface management and administration. The second, five-person team has an international slant (Africa and the Middle East). Speaking nine different languages – Italian, Serbian, German, Latvian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Swahili – this group looks after institutional issues, training and certification activities throughout the EMEA region. OPI: What synergies have arisen out of the relationship with ISSA? TDA: ISSA has boundless experience in terms of training and certification issues, knowledge we draw on regularly. When it comes to trade shows, we each have the tools and content that, while acknowledging our differences, perfectly complement one another. OPI: How many members do you have and what is your strategy to grow the membership? TDA: Currently, in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, we have 680, 88 and 1,151 associates respectively, making a total of 1,919. The goal is, of course, to increase numbers and expand the range of services on offer, which in itself attracts new members. It’s something we are actively working on. In fact, we’re about to unveil compelling new reasons to be an ISSA member. OPI: What certification programmes do you run, and what further plans do you have? TDA: ISSA has contributed a host of programmes to the ISSA Pulire Network for the EMEA market. These include the Cleaning Industry Management Standard, which we’ve begun translating into Italian and Spanish, and Custodial Technician Training at basic and advanced levels. OPI: Tell me about the GBAC Star initiative – what kind of traction have you had with this? TDA: GBAC is revolutionary. ISSA’s strategy was to have a top-level research organisation folded in as one of its own divisions, working in both preventive and routine management on variables related to biohazard threats. That move turned out to be both ingenious and innovative. GBAC Star certification adds value to every action and activity in the cleaning world. It is
