A Big Win Down Under
The stage was set for another successful industry conference. However, this time there was a difference. This year was the first year RIA and its motivated association leadership volunteers came together and pulled off a unique restoration-focused conference at the beautiful Novotel Twin Waters Resort in Maroochydore, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, from June 6-8, 2018. The resort was a perfect venue for the “Take a Break” theme, and despite some wind and rain, the conference went off without a hitch. The resort was a perfect venue for the “Take a Break” theme, and despite some wind and rain, the Australian Conference & Tradeshow went off without a hitch.
Apart from the extracurricular events surrounding the conference, such as the vendor-sponsored golf day, hotel activities, and the beautiful white sands and bright blue water, the focus was primarily education. The RIA Australasian Council had a goal to ensure the attendees could all walk away from the event with some industry knowledge they could take home and utilize in their own businesses. It was also important for the local Australian and New Zealand industry to see firsthand what RIA is all about: unification, education, growth and support. From the get-go, the RIA “essence” was apparent.
Information and quality content packed the event: technical workshops, two education courses, seminar sessions and panel discussions, including a discussion with a representative from Suncorp, one of the largest insurance carriers in Australia and New Zealand. The event also had a packed trade show with some of the largest and well-renowned suppliers in the industry. Restoration Express, Legend Brands, Restore Solutions, Tramex, Carpet Cleaners Warehouse, Encircle, PowerClean Industries, Mycotec, TechLoc, TESA Directive, The Trio Group, Mobile Skips, Tensens Cleaning Supplies, Coach8, XPOWER, Benefect, IICRC, AELM Inc. and MouldLab displayed and demonstrated new technologies and tools needed to run a successful restoration business. One of my personal highlights was that you could have walked into this event with no experience or knowledge and walked out with every tool, course, chemical and contact needed to run a successful restoration business.
Day One
Being a technical conference, it was fitting to kick off the first day with the RIA Building Science course presented by Chris Schumacher from RDH Building Science Laboratories in Canada and facilitated by RIA industry adviser Pete Consigli, CR, WLS. Consigli and Schumacher had just spent the week training businesses throughout Australia. Schumacher was able to include some of our local Australian-based building science content mixed in with this jam-packed course. With just under 40 course attendees, the room was full of energy. There is no doubt in my mind that the mix of industry representatives in the room — indoor air specialists, builders, restorers and other industry specialists — left with a new understanding of buildings that will help with conducting restoration projects in their businesses.
Day Two
Day two was kicked off by Consigli, who served as the master of ceremonies and education session facilitator for the conference. After calling the delegates to order, handling the obligatory housekeeping duties and recognizing industry dignitaries in attendance, Consigli called me to the podium.
As the outgoing chairperson of the Australasian Council, I had the opportunity to open the official start to the conference on day two by reflecting on the fantastic progress our Australasian Council achieved in the past two and a half years since RIA truly became international. From the beginning, our goal was to support our RIA members in Australia, and it became quickly apparent to the Australasian Council leadership team that the industry was craving information, education and leadership. RIA, with its expanse of knowledge, support and history of “making it better,” sat perfectly in that role. I encouraged everyone to take advantage of the delegates and overseas experts over the three days of the event and spend some time getting to know our international restoration family.
Chris Mundschenk, RIA’s executive director, also recapped the success with local growth of membership now passing the 100 mark. Mundschenk mentioned that RIA leadership is happy with what the local council has achieved and how the local industry has embraced RIA and the offerings the association has, especially the education opportunities. There are new and exciting education programs being released in the next two years, and local businesses will benefit from this cutting-edge, “hot off the press” information.
Throughout the conference, our quality local and overseas speakers with specific expert restoration industry knowledge put us all through our paces.
Schumacher kicked off as the first speaker following from his course the day before explaining modern hydrothermal simulation programs and how they allow building scientists to predict moisture storage and movement inside layers and materials of building assemblies.
Ronan Carrigy from Tramex explained the difference and similarities in different flooring standards around the world.
Justin Macdonald from EHS Assess explained the dangers and hazardous materials and substances you may encounter when conducting restoration projects. This was priceless information, as many of the dangerous materials are not easily identifiable without correct identification procedures.
Larry Carlson from Phoenix Restoration Equipment imparted his knowledge explaining air filtration and why this is critical to creating and maintaining healthy indoor air quality. Carlson drilled down further into what air filtration ratings really mean.
And, as usual, RIA Immediate Past President Chuck Violand from Violand Management Associates captivated the room by taking us all through a journey through the five steps of managing a small business. Violand explained the five steps in detail, and there is no doubt that most of us fit into one of the steps. Our ears perked up when we all realized what the next step was for us in our own businesses. As we have grown to expect, Violand gave the entire first row a serviette and explained that “he gets quite vocal and excited” in his talk, so keep the towels ready. We always enjoy his exciting and energetic presentations.
Scott McFadzen, WLS, from Coach8 moderated a panel with Bruce Visser from Suncorp and Kaye Gough, a long-term restoration business owners from North Queensland. They discussed what experts learned from Cyclone Debbie, which devastated parts of North Queensland, including the region where we held our conference. They had different perspectives (insurance company and contractor) and discussed what can be done to better prepare for the next event.
Day Three
Day three started with Brad Prezant from VA Sciences. As one of our local indoor air specialists, Prezant explained ERMI (environmental relative moodiness index). He explained how the test works in a practical sense and the good, bad and ugly when using ERMI as a testing method.
Jeremy Stamkos from Eronmor took time from his busy schedule to join us and cover contamination during remediation projects, as well as fresh air purging. Stamkos took us all through some alternative containment methods to help speed up projects and reduce the chances of condition-two molds remaining after completing works.
Another highlight was having the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) put their support behind the event. IAQA held a panel discussion moderated by IAQA Australian Chapter Chair Claire Bird titled “When and Who” about who should conduct testing in buildings before, during and after restoring them to their pre-damaged conditions. The discussion was extremely helpful to understand the different point of view from three indoor air professionals, including a special guest from Singapore, Foo Chin Peng. She is not only an indoor air professional, but she also handles multimillion-dollar restoration projects in Asia.
Foo Chin Peng then took us through some of her high level major loss projects her company MAEK Consulting is currently handling in Singapore. The innovative technologies and methods being used in Asia are outstanding, and there is no doubt the wealth of knowledge in the region is advanced and extremely professional. As you would expect, Singapore utilizes the latest technology, and it was fascinating to be taken on a journey through some of their high-level projects. The audience was extremely attentive and captivated with these interesting and technical projects.
The restoration contractors followed with Consigli, who moderated an industry panel discussion with three of our local leaders: Oliver Threlfall, CEO of Steamatic; David Quinn, managing director at Marshals Restoration/FEN; and Mehmet Ucar, CR, WLS, CMP, from Quantum Restorations. The panel discussed a number of topics relevant to today’s industry challenges.
Next was well-known fire restoration and odor control expert Gary Loiben from Restoration Science Academy. It was a pleasure to have Loiben’s wealth of knowledge at the event. He explained where odors come from and what you need to do about it. He explained the three main levels of smoke odor and the four principles of odor control. Loiben has a way of explaining things so the crowd at all levels understands the content. No doubt this comes from decades of training restoration professionals at all levels of experience and knowledge.
Loiben also presented the IICRC Odor Control (OCT) course on the Saturday following the conference, which was well attended. Loiben was part of the in-country training team with Schumacher and Consigli.
It was obvious to the RIA Council, and in particular Australian Education Committee Chairperson Christine Boak, CR, WLS, CMP, who worked extremely hard to put this program together, that the subject matter through the program was on the mark, including the fire and odor control section. It was also a highlight to have an IICRC course run in conjunction with the event, and to see IICRC support the conference with their leadership in attendance. IICRC also had a booth at the trade show again this year. As IICRC courses are crucial for prerequisite training to sit advanced RIA designations, our region will be working closely with local training organizations such as Coach8, CPK Training, Tesa Directive and ACRA along with other specific industry training facilities to ensure we support courses that will lead RIA members to advanced designations. Boak, who chairs the education subcommittee and the local council, will be working on this in 2018 and 2019, and no doubt our local industry will see some exciting new programs and courses run in Australia from both IICRC and RIA in the future.
RIA and IICRC had the opportunity to bring their advance course and master graduates respectively up to the stage for an award presentation, and it was outstanding to see so many of our industry professionals embarking on a road to advanced education and certification. There were some familiar faces on the stage that seem to lead the charge and set the standard for the entire industry to also reach in their own personal achievements.
The last speaker of the day was Kris Rzesnoski, CR, WLS, our long-term RIA advocate, committee and council volunteer who discussed the ins and outs of Encircle, as well as some of the new features that have been developed for our local Encircle users. The company is taking off in Australia with insurance professionals starting to implement Encircle as a required claim management system. It was positive to see that through good direction from the developers and representatives, such as Rzesnoski, Encircle is trying to educate our clients about the importance of correct pricing offerings so that reports and performance levels are as per the client’s expectations. This is a positive sign for the future of industry pricing in Australia.
The second half of the two main conference days was handed over to the 20 vendors all having 20 minutes each to demonstrate and discuss their products and services in the main auditorium. The attendees had ample time to visit the extensive range of goodies in the trade show areas.
Coming to a Close
The last task of the day was to hand over the torch to our new chairperson, Owen Boak, CR, WLS, CMP. Boak was not only one of our founding committee members but also chaired the organizing committee for the conference and works extremely hard with his committee: Ashley Easterby, who was a linchpin behind the scenes; and Tash and Tameeka, our conference organizers, to ensure the event went smoothly. Boak is a passionate industry professional who has been around the business for more than 30 years and is the man to take our local council on its next journey for his two years as chairperson. He talked about the next two years and gave some insight into what’s to come.
The event was topped off with an enjoyable evening of wining and dining with a beach-themed dinner that was redirected from the beach to an inside venue because of the weather. However, it didn’t dampen the spirit at all.
The night became emotional when Duncan Bennett, WLS, from CPK Training/Network Group was awarded with the first RIA Australasian Council Lifetime Achievement Award (LTA). After taking a second to gain his composure, Bennett thanked the crowd and also gave tribute to the RIA council for the progress made in the two years since he handed the chairperson’s torch to me. A standing ovation was given to a man who has devoted his professional life to the industry. Consigli presided over the award presentation in his role as RIA’s steward of the Martin L. King award (MLK). The LTA award was modeled after the MLK award, and Consigli will be writing an article on the LTA presentation and Bennett’s contributions to the Australian restoration industry for this magazine. What a way to finish a fantastic successful event, and no doubt next year’s conference will be even bigger and better. We hope to see some of our American and Canadian friends back down under in 2019.
See more conference photos on RIA's Facebook page.
Ross Riek is the immediate past chairperson of the RIA Australasian Council and chairperson of the Australian conference organizing committee. He has been the owner and operator of Sydney-based Care Services, Carpet Care Floorcoverings and Complete Care Restoration for the past 18 years. Riek can be reached at ross@carpetcareservices.com.au.
Editor’s Note: RIA industry adviser Pete Consigli and RIA Executive Director Chris Mundschenk also contributed to this article. Conference photos were taken by Penny Tralau, CR, WLS, CMP.