By Will Nepper
As I write this, I’m still reeling from the media response to this year’s Oscars. (Still nauseated, maybe? Yes. That sounds more accurate.) I don’t watch the Academy Awards. Ditto that for the Grammys, Golden Globes, ESPies, or even the Westminster Dog Show. Entertainment awards ceremonies usually are excruciating, self-congratulatory abominations where insufferable hosts praise insufferable entertainers as though celebrities are worthy of kudos based solely on their ability to memorize lines, sing a song, hit a mark, win a game or look the fluffiest (in the case of dog shows, anyway). It says a lot about the way our country prioritizes who we “honor” with recognition.Take a poll to see how many people know who won this year’s Super Bowl vs. who won this year’s Nobel Prize for Medicine. I doubt you’d be surprised by the disconnect from America’s true heroes.Ask anyone born after 1985 if they know who Florence Nightingale is. (I’ll wait.) Now ask about Kim Kardashian. SCARY, right?
It’s more important than ever that we recognize and reward real-life leaders of the more heroic professions — professions like pest management, which actually play a large role in making the world a safer, more comfortable and overall better place to live.
Too often, those most deserving of recognition toil behind the scenes. However, I’ve learned that the pest management industry is packed with award-worthy heroes, visionaries and in some cases, revolutionaries. As an outside observer, I’m always amazed by the way the industry’s individuals lean on, assist, share knowledge with, and mutually respect one another. Sometimes to me it
seems less like a profession than a network of amicably competitive mentors, apprentices, leaders, experts and advocates.
Pest management professionals do not conduct business in a vacuum. They share knowledge, constantly learning from one another and the leaders who have contributed to making their profession a respected one.
Pest Management Professional (PMP) magazine does its best to function as the eyes, ears and mouthpiece for the industry, and for that reason we not only take pride in, but feel obliged to bring industry leaders into the light, lest their contributions be overlooked by peers or go unnoticed by new generations of PMPs unaware of those who’ve made pest management the well-respected profession it is.
This October, PMP will be inducting new names into the PMP Hall of Fame — an annual event celebrated by a special Hall of Fame edition of the magazine and an induction and award ceremony at the National Pest Management Association’s (NPMA’s) PestWorld event in Phoenix. March is the time of year when we begin to collect nominations from the industry, to identify who you think is deserving of special peer recognition based on criteria such as community service, leadership roles, legislative advancements, research contributions, technological advances and overall positive influences in the realm of pest management.
Make your voice heard by visiting www.pmphalloffame.com and clicking on the “Nominate Someone” tab. While there, browse the prestigious list of past inductees. Over the next several months, we’ll compile a list of finalist nominees from which our panel of industry peers will choose. The winners will be announced at the NPMA convention in October.
Who do you think deserves a place in the hallowed Hall of Fame? We won’t know until you tell us.
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