For some Pumper readers, the annual Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo International is an educational conference. For others, it’s a chance to meet old friends, scour the show floor for new products and “toys,” and brush up on the latest in new technology. And for still others in “mom-and-pop” businesses, it’s a working family vacation.
Some come to the show every few years, others alternate with co-workers in representing their companies. Some folks wouldn’t dream of missing a year. Some drive, others fly, and a few may even take the bus or train.
However they get here, however often and whatever for, attendance numbers indicate they keep coming back. We asked what brings these pumpers year after year, and they weren’t shy about telling us.
“We really enjoy the show,” says Karen Maier of Maier’s Tidy Bowl. “For us, it’s a working vacation.” Her husband and co-owner, Bill Maier, concurs.
“It’s nice to see familiar faces of folks you met the year before, and catch up with what they’ve been doing.”
Karen Maier especially appreciates “the new things we learn each year. Regulation updates, new technology … We have friends at the vendors’ booths, and it’s nice to get to see them in person, rather than just talking on the phone,” she says.
Both Maiers value the diversity of attendees they encounter on the Expo floor and at all the related side events. Karen Maier continues, “Seeing how people from different countries and regions handle the same business we do, and meet the same challenges — is very interesting and sometimes gives us new ideas about how to handle old issues.”
“I’ve been coming for at least 10 years,” says Paul Fassnacht of Midwest Portable Storage and Restrooms, located about halfway between Indianapolis and Chicago. “I’ve been in the business since 1979, and I first walked onto the show floor in Las Vegas. The owner of the business took me, and I was just a young kid. It was quite an experience.”
That experience and every year since has helped him, he says, to do the job he has today. That includes implementing the company’s policy of only running up-to-date vehicles. “We rotate out our trucks every five to seven years, and coming to the show helps me keep up with what’s new and what works, what the newest technology is.”
As operations manager, Fassnacht requires his employees to attend the Expo as well, and uses it as an opportunity to cover some serious ground on the show floor. “What I do, since we’re close to this location, I’ll have all my drivers come down and assign each one a task. One will come in looking for blue disinfectant, another will be on hoses, and each one will have something they’ll go into the show and bring back to me regarding new technology, something I should be aware of.”
It’s a sound strategy that allows the company to glean much more from the event than any one person could cover.
Fassnacht feels the most important reason to come to the show are roundtable discussions with other contractors and the ability to see state-of-the-art technology on the exhibit floor. “I’ve been able to learn about new products that I can come home with now. The roundtable format lets me rub elbows with other companies who can tell me, ‘Hey, watch for this new thing coming through,’ so we’re already ahead of the game.” He says this method of staying ahead of competitors has positioned Midwest in a healthy enough stance to acquire four companies since 1979.
“I’ve come every year for at least 10 years,” says Alma Tippins. Tippins is primarily a septic installer, but arranges her customers’ pumping with a regular colleague as a subcontractor.
“I enjoy visiting with all the other people who are in this industry, getting new ideas, going to the educational seminars, and just the networking that you can do,” Tippins says.
In 2008, she came with a specific goal in mind. “I came down with the idea that I wanted to franchise my business. I wanted to talk to some other people who have franchised, see how they got started and if it’s something I really want to do. I drove all the way from Texas to do that,” she says.
She doesn’t always have such a specific goal, but usually assigns herself one or two things to get done while she’s at the Expo. “I usually have something I want to do, like a piece of equipment or something I want to look at, or some other service I want to get into. I just learn so much when I go to Education Day.”
Tippins, who holds a degree in forestry and environmental science, specializes in the installation of aerobic surface irrigation systems. She feels good not just about what she walks away with from the show, but also what she’s able to leave behind.
“Most of the people who come here are in the pumping and cleaning business. That’s just a small part of my business, but I enjoy talking with them when they’re interested in how I install the systems. So I feel like I give back to them in a way, also.”
