Monday morning kicked off with an Indiana Pest Management Association (IPMA)-sponsored business workshop, hosted by Rose Pest Solutions’ Angie Persinger, PHR. The human resources manager for the Chicago, Ill.-based firm focused on “Retention, Recruitment and Diversity.” Look for more coverage of her presentation in an upcoming issue of Pest Management Professional.
Concurrently, Dr. Fred Whitford, director of Purdue Pesticide Programs, discussed “Truck Safety: Spills and Responding to Emergencies.”
Another pre-conference seminar was presented by Rentokil Terminix Director Of Technical Services Dr. Cassie Krecji, who is also president of industry fraternity Pi Chi Omega. Her presentation was title “Demystifying Insecticide Formulations.”
Now a Purdue Pest Control Conference tradition, Mark VanderWerp, BCE, manager of education and training for Rose Pest Control of Troy, Mich., presented via video a humorous wrap-up for the “Year in Pest Control” for 2022.
Campbell then returned to the podium for a short memorial presentation on the losses in August and September 2022 of Pete Markham and Gene White, BCE, respectively.
“I encourage everyone to share their stories of Pete and Gene this week,” she said, before asking for a moment of silence in their honor.
Dr. Coby Schal is the 2023 Purdue Pest Management Conference keynote speaker, and spoke on “Pest Management and Pest Eradication.” His focus was on “inverting integrated pest management, or IPM.” In other words, to fight childhood asthma, pest management professionals should knock down German cockroach populations first thing, with baits, and then work to prevent future infestations.
After a lunch break, the group reconvened for Rollins’ Ron Harrison, who presented “Ant Control: A National Perspective.” After Harrison, Rose’s VanderWerp provided some answers to “When is a Pest a Pest?”
After each presentation that was eligible for continuing education units (CEUs), a QR code appeared on three big screens for attendees to easily snap with their smartphones, as each image led to the specific form to fill out to show they were in attendance.
Patrick Lynch, ACE, senior VP of global sales for Windsor, Wis.-based Bell Labs, introduced Dr. Bobby Corrigan, a PMP Hall of Famer (Class of 2008) and world-famous rodentologist to talk about “Assessing Rodents Vs. Inspecting for Rodents.”
Dr. Corrigan dedicated his presentation to the late Gene White.
Jeromy Smith, owner of Lafayette, Ind.-based Smith Integrated Pest Management (IPM), said he attended his first Purdue conference last year as a one-man operation, and has since decided that he will shut down the office for every Purdue from here on out, and bring his own team as it grows: “I think it’s that important.”
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