GCPMA’s ‘Meeting of the Minds’ Celebrates 10 Years of Bringing Together Experts

CHICAGO — More than 400 industry professionals gathered in Tinley Park, Ill., to hear from leading industry experts as part of the Greater Chicago Pest Management Association’s 10th annual “Meeting of the Minds.”

As in year’s past the conference was organized to bring in four of the top minds in pest management to present four 90-minute presentations on four topics of interest to PMPs in the Chicago area.

This year’s speakers and topics were

Trends and technology in general pest control — Dr. Austin Frishman
The latest bed bug research — Dr. Dini Miller
Ant control — Dr. Laurel Hansen
Eliminating cockroaches and their allergens — Dr. Coby Schal

In addition to the 400 attendees, the GCPMA meeting included 36 booths with 47 representatives in an exhibit hall just outside of the classroom. 

The Greater Chicago Pest Management Alliance (GCPMA) was formed in December 2003. For the first three years Jim Anderson, Smithereen Exterminating, was the chairman and only member of the Education Committee. GCPMA held three 3-hour seminars each year with Illinois and Indiana recertification credits. The association’s fall 2006 seminar in Tinley Park, Ill., drew more than 100 attendees because of its close proximity to Indiana, so GCPMA decided to try a full-day 6-hour seminar in the fall of 2007. GCPMA decided to get four well known experts to speak 90 minutes each, and that is the format it uses today.

“One of the goals of GCPMA from the beginning is to provide quality, affordable educational opportunities for everyone from one-person operations to national companies and we have received very high repeat attendance,” said Anderson.