The beat goes on: A recap of the EFMA B.C. 2015 conference and trade show

T h e b e a t go e s o n . . .

Recap of the EFMA B.C. 2015 conference and trade show

By Shayna Wiwierski

The EFMA executive. Left to right; Steve Smoroden, Doug Gorcak, Harold Schock, Heather Simm, Russ Sales, Craig Nichols, Rick Delorme and Steve Woods.

Things got colourful and tropical at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre from June 1-5, 2015 as the Educational Facility Managers Association (EFMA) of British Columbia held its annual conference and trade show. The event, titled “The Beat Goes On – Reassigning Stress”, featured professional development sessions, zone meetings, the EFMA AGM, a trade show, and more. The keynote speaker was Drum Café, which provided interactive drumming and team-building activities to attendees.

Drumming wasn’t the only interactive opportunity for those who attended the conference. The trade show, which was held on June 3 and 4, was a great opportunity for members and delegates to visit vendors, many of which supply their products to B.C. schools.

Randy Unrau, vice-president of Sybertech Waste Reduction in White Rock, B.C., has been going to the show since 1998. Since B.C. is such a large province, bringing together people in one space is beneficial for Unrau to market his product.

“B.C. is a rural province, so travelling all over isn’t possible. This show makes us meet clients in one shot. We have the ability to talk to customers at one time, plus they are great people,” Unrau says.

Len Morris, general manager of Hovik Industries Ltd., thinks the event is the perfect opportunity to directly connect with the individuals who are the decision-makers in the schools.

“There’s good-quality traffic here. The school officials are engaged and want to know about good-quality products. We’ll be back next year,” he says, adding that there is a huge benefit coming to the conference, aside from just meeting the individuals. “We are a B.C. company, but only 10 per cent know about us, and we want 90 per cent to know about us.”

Although there were many vendors who have been to the show before, Peter Hodgson holds the record for attending the most shows.

“[I’ve been coming] 41 years with a number of companies; 32 with my own,” says the owner of Orion Security Systems Ltd., based in Burnaby, B.C. “Our business is done on the phone, so I don’t see my customers unless I come here. I don’t come here to sell, but there’s new things I come here to explain. Things keep progressing, you need to find a way to explain that to people.”

Of course, the show wasn’t just about the vendors. Andrew Green, director of client services for School Protection Program, was a first-time speaker at the conference. His session, titled “Can You Afford Not To?”, was held on Wednesday, June 3 and was about risk control.

“I think it’s very well-organized. It’s an excellent opportunity for people to meet and exchange information; there’s lots of networking. We’d like to come here regularly; our main contacts are here, so we get to meet our clients in one place,” he says, adding that the feedback he received from his presentation was positive. “It was well-attended. People asked questions and I got to meet up with people in the evening and answer questions.”

Craig Nichols is the conference director of EFMA B.C. He is also the manager of business support services for School District No. 36 in Surrey, B.C. He said that the conference was very efficient for attendees, and that they saw lots of participation from not only members, but also from the government.

“There was great participation by vendors and the ministers. We’ve spent a lot of time getting quality speakers relating to current needs. There’s been lots of changes, and it’s good people are having lots of questions.” b