PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Pest management professionals (PMPs) of all generations came together to reminisce on three decades of memories made at the National Pest Management Association’s 30th Academy event, held last week in Palm Springs, Calif., and lead-sponsored by Corteva.
This event challenges PMPs to get out of their comfort zones, grow as leaders and bring their competitive nature to team challenges throughout the week with a goal to take home the Academy first place gold standing.
© Amanda Joerndt
Through several events, such as synchronized swimming, early morning fitness classes with Andy P., flag football and halftime performances, as well as strategic, quick-thinking activities, this year’s winning team was Team Purple, co-captained by Trey Strickland, Waynes Pest Control; Derrek Hardy, Corteva; and Danielle Wallace, Forshaw.
NPMA CEO Dominique Stumpf welcomed a room full of attendees and said Academy “develops leaders, builds lifelong connections and is a space where innovation and collaboration thrive.”
Stumpf also shared information on NPMA’s leadership programs and resources for attendees to grow in their careers through the Executive Leadership Program and Hives networking program.
Through the Hives program, PMPs are placed in groups of five to seven individuals, and each brings a topic to the table every week to have group discussions to get support and gain insight into their own career journey. The deadline to join the next Hives round is Aug. 2.
Leanne Prewitt of Turner Pest Control, Jacksonville, Fla., is chair of NPMA’s Leadership Networking Community (LNC), a group of pest control leaders that play an important role in planning Academy each year. Prewitt said Academy is an event like no other in the industry and allows the space to help people grow personally and professionally.
“When people think about networking, they think about small talk in small rooms,” Prewitt said. “It’s what makes Academy so impactful because it’s not that at all. Our focus is to create additional ways for us to connect.”
© Amanda Joerndt
Nefertiti Darby of Coretva, said Academy has given her the chance over the years to learn that it’s okay to be loud and grow through the discomfort that may come with trying new challenges.
“You get out what you put into it, so lean into the curiosity and realize where you can go from here,” she said.
Tuesday’s keynote address by Rachel Dealto, a communication and leadership expert and speaker specializing in human connection and relatability, dove into the art of creating meaningful connections to grow leadership skills, and building an organizational culture rooted in trust, motivation and human connection.
Dealto shared personal costs of disconnecting in leadership practices — increased risks of depression and anxiety, cognitive decline and increased cardiovascular risks — as well as professional costs such as decreased productivity and team dynamics and lower job satisfaction.
She said disengaged teams can lead to businesses losing up to $1.3 trillion annually, and through past leadership experiences of her own, she’s spent her career studying human connection.
“I created this leadership façade without a leadership foundation,” Dealto said. “I believed I had to force respect rather than earn it, and that’s why I’ve been studying connection and leadership since that day. I believe it’s the most essential tool that we have.”
Dealto shared the top attributes of relatable leaders: respect, clear communication, active listening and honesty/transparency.
“Trust is in our actions, and we have to build it,” she said. “Real connections are formed when we see the person behind the position.”
Dealto shared that only 32 percent of leaders inspire their team members, and there’s not an organization out there that can’t figure out how to increase the figure.
Wednesday morning’s panel with Courtney Carace, Pest-End; Anneke Cannon, Sage Pest Control; and AJ Treleven of Sprague Pest Solutions, focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and ways these fast-growing pest control companies are using AI to enhance operations while keeping a personalized feel to their company’s messaging.
© Amanda Joerndt
Cannon said she likes to think of AI as an artist’s paint brush. “You are never going to copy and paste what chatGPT or AI spits out. It’s not going to know your brand and company message. You’ll need to tweak it,” she said. “Marketing now is hyper personalized. People are used to having a message that hits them at the right time and right place, so make sure you’re doing that.”
Carace shared how Pest-End uses AI and introduced attendees to the company’s latest AI chatbot P.E.N.N.Y., which stands for “Pest-End’s Expert on Navigation, Needs and You.” The development for Penny came after Carace discovered one of the company’s pain points was getting information easily accessible to team members.
“Our teams were putting customers on hold for far too long,” she said. “To improve customer experience, P.E.N.N.Y. is combing through the database to have all of the company’s information right at their fingertips.”
The company is only one month into using the chatbot, but Carace said this gives a new opportunity to see where additional training can be held within departments.
Treleven discussed several AI financing tools, such as Alteryx and UiPath, to help create structure out of chaos. “There are exciting new features with accounts receivable cash applications,” he said. “Anywhere you have unstructured data, you can bring these tools in house.”
Using these tools also helps create internal jobs and further career growth for Sprague employees, Treleven said.
“We have people on our team who are actually being bot developers, and at the same time are getting career progression at our company,” he said.
Academy attendees also had the opportunity to sit in on several learning lab sessions on career progression, strengthening internal communication for team success, understanding KPIs and profitability in pest control, smart selling and scaling smart without losing company culture.
Throughout the week, attendees participated in several welcome receptions to meet new people and expand their network.
PCT will be providing more coverage from Academy, including more on the AI panel, the power of relatability and strengthening internal team communications.
