International Sweeper Summit & Equipment Expo
A Huge Success in Tampa!
The International Sweeper Summit & Equipment Expo concluded October 27 th at
the Saddlebrook Resort in Tampa and was the largest attended event to date. This
three-day conference, which is open to the entire power sweeping industry, was
attended by manufacturers, suppliers, contractors, municipalities, and other
professionals engaged in the sweeping industry. Schwarze Industries, the Title
Sponsor for a third year as well as this year’s Title Sponsor for the annual golf
outing, continues to be a major supporter of the Summit. Joe Hendrickson, VP of
Sales & Marketing for Schwarze says “We are honored to be included in the
Sweeper Summit. Although we are a sponsor, we are treated like a partner.
Schwarze believes this business model is positively contributing to a sustainable
future for the sweeping industry. As a manufacturer, it is very important that we
are welcomed into the meetings during the Summit and can apply what we learn
to future innovation for our industry.”
This year, there were some new features added to the conference. The most
impactful addition being the introduction of the Sweeper Summit App which was
a valuable interactive tool during the 3-day event. Attendees and exhibitors alike
were able to view the schedule of events, receive live updates on sessions, as well
as communicate with each other. The App will be accessible all throughout the
coming year as future announcements and updates on next year’s Summit in Las
Vegas will be communicated via this new and dynamic tool. “We are really excited
to roll out our Sweeper Summit App, as it proved to be a great communications
tool for everyone attending the Summit”, says Carolyn Bell, Program Director of
the International Sweeper Summit. “The App not only allows everyone to access
the event schedule, and receive announcements, but it also provides resort maps,
exhibitor information and a photo wall to post pictures from the event. We see
this as a valuable tool that we will utilize throughout the year, not just at the
Sweeper Summit.”
Another new feature at this year’s event was the addition of the Summit
SWEEPstakes; a game promoting attendees’ interaction with exhibitors,
accessible from the App. Attendees completed a series of entertaining activities
and engaged with exhibitors in a competition to earn the most points, with the
winning contestant taking home $1000 cash prize and 2 nd place taking home $500.
“The Summit SWEEPstakes was a fun way to encourage attendees to interact with
all the exhibitors.” says Ben Steyer, Executive Director of the show. Participating
in these activities not only improved attendee engagement with our exhibitors,
but brought out the competitive spirit in an entertaining way”. This year’s 1 st
Place winner was Nikki Serafino of Air Sweep in West Springfield, MA and 2 nd Place
went to Morgan Harrod of Atlantic Sweeping in Chantilly, VA. Congratulations to
both ladies!
The Summit kicked off with the annual golf outing on Tuesday, October 24th, with
over 40 golfers. The winning foursome was Lee Ott – AE Commercial Property Maintenance, Gib
Tschudy – OPOC.us, Andy Williams – 800SWEEPER and Timm Morrison – Sweeper
Man. Prizes were awarded at the Welcome Party held on the pool deck that
evening where food, drinks, a DJ, and Aqua Golf were enjoyed by all attendees.
The educational sessions began promptly at 8:00am on Wednesday & Thursday,
October 25 th and 26 th . Guest Speaker Matt Garrett (TGG Accounting) started off
Wednesday by providing an energetic presentation about creative ways that
attendees can combat inflation. Garrett’s presentation was followed by a
contractor-led Best Practice Round Table session that provided attendees the
opportunity to discuss common issues they are faced with in their sweeping
operations. With today’s challenging hiring environment, the Sweeper Summit’s c
theme emphasized recruiting, training, and retaining top talent. To assist in
promoting this message, Kathleen Quinn Votaw, an HR expert and business owner
with over 30 years of recruiting and culture-building expertise, provided great
insight on Putting Your People First and leading your team with trust. Thursday’s
educational session started out with a Manufacturer’s Panel that included
panelists Nick Bruhn of Schwarze Industries, Mike Higgins of Elgin Sweepers,
Mirek Byczynski of ODRA Sweepers and Frank Chulick of Stewart-Amos. A Veteran
Sweeping Contractor’s Panel followed, as the audience heard from contractors
Carl Barton of Aardvark Memphis, Mitch Armstrong of Armstrong Sweeping in
Arvada, Colorado, Mike Kirchner of Clean Sweep of Orlando and Jay Presutti of
East Coast Industrial Services, Inc, in Pine Bush, New York. In the final educational
session of the Sweeper Summit, the audience heard from Sara Best and John
Broer of Real Good Ventures and co-hosts of the Bosshole Chronicles Podcast,
about simple proven actions you can take right now to hire with certainty, lead
with purpose and keep your people engaged to help you crush your goals! Our
speakers and sessions were informative and interactive and kept the crowd
engaged over the 2 days.
Our Equipment Expo and Exhibitor show was a hit with 30 vendors on display. The
Cocktail Reception, sponsored by Kimball-Midwest, on Wednesday evening was
held in the Exhibitor’s area as well as outside in the Expo area. We finished with a
traditional group dinner on Thursday night on the 18 th Green of the Saddlebrook
Golf Course complete with a caricature artist. We made it through dinner before a
heavy rain shower made everyone retreat from the golf course and into the bar
for night caps. Everyone was wet, but all in good spirits!
This year’s International Sweeper Summit & Equipment Expo It was a great show,
event and we look forward to bringing the power sweeping industry together
again next year, October 24-27 at the JW Marriott in Las Vegas.
