More NAFEM Show: Attendance and Handwashing

As I mentioned earlier this week, there was a lot of talk and speculation about attendance at The NAFEM Show in Orlando. In an e-mail newsletter to its members, sent yesterday, NAFEM offered a generally positive take on the subject. “Business was brisk on the show floor — and wider aisles made navigation smooth and easy. Feedback has been positive, especially regarding the quality of the attendees, the association told its members.

In addition, the Chicago-based NAFEM released the following attendance figures:

End-user attendance: +17 percent compared to 2007
Dealers: -7 percent compared to 2007
Consultants: -8 percent compared to 2007
Overall show attendance: 18,000+ (-6 percent compared to 2007)

NAFEM also reported that exhibitors occupied 20,000 more square feet of exhibit space than was sold for the 2007 show in Atlanta.

Taking Down Sally Salmonella
While many exhibitors at The NAFEM Show were looking for that next big order, Handwashing For Life came to Orlando in search of the event’s best hand-washer.

Attendees passing by the Handwashing For Life exhibit were advised to not touch an object affectionately named “Sally Salmonella.” Naturally, Handwashing For Life’s Jim Mann made Sally irresistible to mere mortals. So once an attendee interacted with Sally, Jim used that opportunity to teach them about leading-edge handwashing and sanitation techniques using a number of different pieces of equipment and supply items from a collection of participating manufacturers.

To illustrate this point, after touching Sally, participating attendees were led to a touch-free hand hygiene station, where they began the cleansing process by wetting their "Sally" soiled hands from the water-saving electronic faucet. Attendees then took skin-friendly soap electronically from a dispenser and washed their hands for 15 seconds, as prescribed by the Model Food Code guide. With this step complete, they would then take a paper towel dispensed from a no-touch dispenser, completing the “Sally” eradication process. Then it was off to a judging chamber equipped with a camera-equipped device exposing any spot or area missed when washing. This information is transferred to an employee personnel record via a proficiency grading system.

One participant scoring a bacteria-free 100 percent was consultant Robert Rippe, the principal of Robert Rippe Associates in Minnesota. Seen here, Rippe is proudly displaying the Olympic-style gold medal he received for his efforts.

Congratulations, Robert!