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Canada’s first bed bug symposium to be held in Ottawa in March

nobugsonme — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:36:11 +0000

Pest Management Professional brings us good news: the first Canadian bed bug symposium is happening in March in Ottawa, to be held concurrently with Pest World Canada (the industry conference).

The Canadian Pest Management Association (CPMA), Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations (CFAA) and National Pest Management Association (NPMA) are partnering to present Canada’s first-ever bed bug symposium on March 5 in Ottawa, Ontario at the Fairmont Château Laurier.

Designed to raise awareness and inform anyone working with housing the general public how to deal with the difficult issue of bed bugs, the Bed Bug Symposium will provide management tips, both preventative and corrective, to help attendees make informed decisions and stay out of the newspaper and the courtroom.

There’s a PDF brochure here.

There are actually two programs happening — the Bed Bug Symposium, the brochure clarifies, is

. . . geared toward anyone working in the hotel/motel industry,
campus facility maintenance, hospitals, nursing homes, furniture rental companies, federal and provincial governments, etc.

Registration for the one-day Bed Bug Symposium is separate from Pest World Canada (which is only open to pest pros).

This event is good news, because educating people about bed bugs is the most important step in getting rid of them and preventing their spread. If housing providers become educated and better able to prevent and solve bed bug infestations in their properties, it will indeed help keep them out of the newspapers and the courtroom — which is good for everyone.Similar Posts:

Brief report on Seattle NPMA Bed Bug Symposium; bed bug dog awareness among customers

nobugsonme — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:43:59 +0000

A brief report from KOMO in Seattle on Thursday’s NPMA Bed Bug Symposium.

It was interesting that the reporter noted that attendees who run hotels and buildings do not want to be filmed. They feared people would think their buildings have bed bugs, and they’d lose customers.

Since bed bugs can infest any multi-unit building, or any hotel, I would personally prefer to rent an apartment from a property manager (or a hotel room from a hotel manager) who attended educational events such as this one, and learned how to prevent, detect, and get rid of bed bugs in their property. I am sure many would agree with me on this.

One concern I have based on the KOMO news video alone is the reporter’s claim that bed bug sniffing k9 April “can come to your house and right away, let you know if you have a [bed bug] problem.”

Bed bug sniffing dogs can be a useful technology in the fight against bed bugs. But they are simply a tool: they alert to the presence of bed bugs; a diligent and careful search by the human handler is required to verify the presence of bed bugs.

Ideally, the dog’s alert is part of the process, not the entire procedure, but many dog handlers apparently don’t confirm the presence of bed bugs after an alert. I am not sure customers are generally knowledgeable about this — and news reports about the bed bug k9 industry are often misleading about how dog inspections should be carried out. In her discussion last night with David Letterman, Mary-Louise Parker also focused on the bed bug sniffing dog’s alert (“the dog sits!”) rather than the actual confirmation of the alert by a handler.

Perhaps Sean Rollo (of the Bed Bug Resource) or others who attended the Seattle symposium will share some highlights or other comments?

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Newark and Seattle Bed Bug Symposiums this week

nobugsonme — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 05:50:00 +0000

There’s a nice recap of Tuesday’s National Pest Management Association 2009 Bed Bug Symposium in Newark, NJ on the M&M Buzz, PCO M&M Environmental’s blog.

Another NPMA Bed Bug Symposium today (8/27) in Seattle. Anyone attending?

We welcome your comments on the Newark or Seattle NPMA Bed Bug Symposiums below!

The bed bug war? It’s all about education, you know.Similar Posts: