IDC plans extensive convention
program
A “Fashioning Change” is in
store for attendees of the International
Drycleaners Congress 2002
convention, scheduled to take place from Aug. 27-31 at the
Langham Hilton Hotel in London.
This year’s event will feature a
welcome reception on Tuesday evening from 6 to 9 p.m. before
IDC President Simon Murray officially opens the convention with
a ceremony on Wednesday morning. He will be joined by Dennis
Hargreaves, convention chairman, who will welcome everybody to
London.
Attendees will have the opportunity to
hear international speakers during the five general sessions of
the convention.
Session One, entitled “Fashioning
Change,” will begin on Wednesday, Aug. 28, with a
discussion of “An Expanding Business in a Shrinking
Market” by keynote speaker Peter Aepli, CEO of 5 à
Sec, the largest drycleaning chain in the world with 1,400
outlets in some 30 countries. Aepli, who bought the 5 à
Sec chain of stores in May of 1998, will share his thoughts on
why the Cinq à Sec brand has been successful, including
how a simplified 5-price structure helps customers know in
advance what they should expect to pay.
Later in the day, Vadim Samokhvalov will
discuss exciting developments taking place in his country with
“The Russian Evolution.” Samokhvalov holds a degree
from the Russian University of Chemical Technology. He
has formed his own distribution and service company throughout
Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus.
Rounding out the first session will be
presentations on “Serving the Fashion World From
California to Paris” by Marty Brucato of De La
Bourdonnais and “Safeway Stores: Not Just Baked
Beans” by John Barber, the general manager of Dry
Cleaning and Photo Processing for the company.
General Session Two, “State of Our
Industry,” will begin on Thursday morning and will
highlight what is going on in the industry all around the
world.
Egon Burchard, IDC First Vice President,
will discuss cleaning affairs taking place in Germany.
He will be joined by speakers from every
corner of the globe, including: Roger Bancroft, chairman of
Bancroft Drycleaning, who is active in Australian drycleaning
groups; Carol Memberg, president of BPS Communications and
publisher of National Clothesline, who will represent the USA.;
Marcia Todd, Fabricare Canada publisher, who will focus on
Canada; Makoto Igarashi, Treasurer-Orient for IDC and advisor
to the Japan Cleaning Productivity Council, who will cover the
Japan cleaning industry; and Pat Dowling, sales director for
Alex Reid, Ltd. in the UK, who will offer an update on the
United Kingdom.
On Thursday afternoon, Session Three will
turn its focus “Into the Future.” Dr. Manfred
Wentz, executive director of IDC and owner of Textile Care
International Ltd., will ask his audience “How Green Are
We?”
“Drycleaning in Perc — Why
Not?” is also on the schedule, featuring Dr. Mike Walker,
the product regulation manager responsible for tracking
emerging legislation related to the marketing of Chlor
products. He is a member of the European Chlorinated Solvent
Association Management Group, and Safety and Environment
Committee of the Textile Services Association.
Mike Palin, technical director of TSA,
will follow with “Care Labeling — Do We
Care?” Palin is the convener of the ISO Working Group on
drycleaning test methods and the UK ISO representative on care
labeling.
Session Three will end with a discussion
on “Textile Care: A Personal Vision of the Future”
by Kaspar Hasenclever, managing director of Kreussler Chemical
Manufacturing Company at Wiesbaden, Germany.
On Friday, Aug. 3, Session Four will cover
“IDC Rewards Efforts” and will feature Tom
Gosselin, past president of IDC and an active advisor to the
Fellowship Program, for which he also serves as past chairman.
He will speak on “IDC Fellowships: A Unique Learning
Experience.”
Presentations are also scheduled by IDC
Fellow Tom Burchard of Germany and IDC Fellow Matthew Barker of
the U.K. Colin Murray of Columbine Cleaners in the U.K. will
finish the session with “A Fellowship Revisited: My Gain
— No Loss.”
The final educational block of
programming, Session Five, will spotlight “Leadership
Perspectives.” William Pulley, executive director
emeritus of IDC and co-founder of Apparelmaster, will offer
“Changing Times: The Drycleaning Industry in the 21st
Century.”
“Trade Associations: Leaders or
Followers?” will be the topic of Murray Simpson, chief
executive of TSA.
Following will be a program on
“Trade Association Leadership in Europe” by Theo
LaGrange, president of the International Committee of Textile
Care and member of the board of directors of the German Textile
Care Federation, the Hohenstein Textile Care Institute and the
TexCare Fair in Frankfurt.
Finally, Becca Anderson, editor of the IDC
News, will bring her 20 years of experience in corporate
communications and working with advertising/PR firms to her
presentation on “Effective Communications
Today.”
Other activities have been scheduled
throughout the week, including an IDC Board Meeting from noon
to 5 p.m. on Aug. 27, an IDC General Membership Meeting on Aug.
30, and a Sayanora Breakfast between 7 and 10 a.m. on Aug. 31.
A special lunch presentation featuring IDC
President-Elect Nobuyasu Igarashi discussing “On to Kobe,
Japan” is also on the convention’s schedule.
Registration for the convention is $595,
which includes all business sessions, the cocktail party, an
evening banquet and a boat ride on the Thames.
Hotel accommodations have been reserved at
the Langham Hilton Hotel for a special convention rate of
£180 (approximately $259) per night for a standard room
and £220 (approximately $316) per night for a deluxe
room.
For more information, contact Yamato
Travel at (800) 334-4982
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