[View Point] PCT Seminar Series Offers Valuable Learning Opportunity

An important part of the mission of GIE Media, publisher of PCT magazine, is to contribute to the markets we serve in positive and meaningful ways. And in the 26 years I’ve been associated with GIE Media, the staff of PCT magazine has tried to be true to that mission in a number of ways. We’ve contributed to the continuing education of pest management professionals through the publication of such well-known technical books as the Mallis Handbook of Pest Control, PCT Field Guide Series, Technician’s Handbook and Dr. Bobby Corrigan’s Rodent Control: A Practical Guide for Pest Management Professionals. Members of our staff have contributed their time and talent to various industry trade groups, including PCT Editor Jodi Dorsch, who has served faithfully on NPMA’s Leadership Development Group, and PCT Internet Editor Brad Harbison, a member of the pest control fraternity Pi Chi Omega. We also have been longtime supporters of the Professional Pest Management Alliance and worked cooperatively with the National Pest Management Association to promote NPMA PestWorld and the other events sponsored by the association and its member companies, all with the goal of helping the pest management industry grow and prosper.

Our most recent effort to contribute to the education and training of pest management professionals across the country is a series of one-day seminars focusing on emerging pest problems. The seminars, which feature a highly regarded teacher faculty, are designed to impart a substantial amount of knowledge in a short period of time because we know time is money for busy pest management professionals.

The first series of seminars — “Pests of Public Health Importance” — features Dr. Jerome Goddard, state medical entomologist for the Mississippi Department of Health, and a frequent contributor to PCT magazine. A highly entertaining speaker, Goddard will discuss the biology, behavior, control and medical implications of a wide range of public health pests commonly and not-so commonly encountered by PCOs. The four one-day seminars, sponsored by DuPont Professional Products, are scheduled for July and August with stops in Chicago, Ill.; Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Ga. and Baltimore, Md.

Our second series of one-day seminars — “Taking the Battle to Bed Bugs” — will cover the biology, behavior, control and legal implications of one of the industry’s most troublesome adversaries, bed bugs. Led by noted bed bug experts Dr. Michael Potter of the University of Kentucky and Richard Cooper of Cooper Pest Solutions, the one-day seminars will have stops in New York City on Aug. 7 and Las Vegas on Sept. 18. As of press time, the seminars are being sponsored by Whitmire Micro-Gen Research Laboratories, Residex, ThermaPure, Steri-Fab and McLaughlin Gormley King. To learn more about either of these seminars, visit www.pctevents.com, or call Lola Perez at 800/456-0707.

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As part of PCT’s “Executive Forum” series, this month we interviewed John Bolanos, vice president of Univar’s Professional Products & Services Division. The interview is part of our ongoing coverage of the distribution field which, like PCT, plays an essential role in educating PCOs about the products and services provided by manufacturers. Look for additional coverage of this important segment of the market as we recognize the 10th anniversary of Speckoz, a network of leading independent distributors, and report on the future plans of LESCO, which was recently purchased by Deere & Company, in subsequent issues of PCT magazine. Good reading! 

The author is publisher of PCT magazine.