The 2007 NIRC Fall Conference, the leadoff event for the Restoration Industry Association’s Fall Conference Series, Oct. 23-27 at the Hyatt Regency Orange County Hotel in Garden Grove, Calif., successfully fought off poor IAQ and equipment glitches as the morning seminars commenced.

Technical difficulties notwithstanding, the contrast between the hot, smoke-choked winds outside the hotel and the cool, smooth-as-silk presentations inside could not have been more pronounced. The massive wildfires plaguing Southern California provided an ominous yet topical backdrop for attendees and presenters, some of whom traveled from as far away as New Zealand and Dubai to glean some insight on the state of the industry and their place in it.

Tony Legenstein, NIRC council chairperson, opened with the housekeeping remarks familiar to conference veterans before introducing the day’s featured speaker, Hydro-Force technical advisor Scott Warrington.

“You are there to service the cleaning needs of your clients. And if their floors are changing, you have to change with what’s popular right now,” Warrington said. “These things go in cycles; in the future you might well see tile and grout being covered up by carpet, instead of the way it is going now.”

Warrington delved into the options and opportunities for professionals looking to expand into hard-surface cleaning, walking the group step by step (pun intended) through hard-surface flooring identification, stone composition, the Moh’s Scale and more before addressing the issue of cleaning. Attendees seized on the chance to look over and handle numerous samples of ceramic and stone floor coverings

“The last thing any cleaner should want is to put his customer, his client, in a position where they have to call in another cleaner to take care of another part of their home,” Warrington said. “That’s your customer; you do not want another cleaner in your customer’s home.

“It will help your business, help you protect your territory if you can clean whatever surfaces your customers have,” he said.

The composition, attributes and identities of various hard surfaces on the market today can make for a complex and sometimes confusing matrix in which the cleaning professional must operate. Proper identification of flooring types – and selecting the correct chemicals and equipment to clean them – will go far in preventing problems and enhancing your image in the eyes of your client.

The 2007 RIA Fall Conference concludes Oct. 27. Check back often for more updates from the show.