Waking Up to Bed Bugs

This morning, in my hotel room in St. Louis, I woke up to bed bugs. No, not in my bed, thankfully, but on my TV.

I turned on the news as I got ready to attend today’s sessions at the NPMA Nuisance Bird and Wildlife Management Conference and I saw a news story on the local NBC affiliate on bed bugs.

For expert advice on bed bugs, KSDK turned to Gary Rottler, operations manager for Rottler Pest and Lawn Solutions. It was a great story and a great piece of public relations for both Rottler Pest and Lawn Solutions and this industry.

You can read the story from the TV station’s website here. Nice job, Gary.

Of course, it got me thinking. As someone who was a PR person in a former life, I can’t help but compliment Rottler on their great use of public relations.

There’s news in the national media now about the resurgence of bed bugs in college dorms. This is the perfect opportunity for pest management companies to contact their local news outlets to “piggyback” on this national story and make it local. Offer advice for your local community and educate them on bed bugs. And, who knows, you may just drum up some business.

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Lessons from the NFL

I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge football fan. Anyone who knows me can tell you I bleed orange and brown, and bark at the TV when watching Browns games.

Of course, I could write a whole post on that alone, but that’s not what this is about

Instead, I came across this article on entrepreneur.com that I thought you’d find interesting. It gives seven management lessons using examples from the NFL. I’m sure you can use some of these examples to help your business. Enjoy.

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Going Wild in St. Louis

Today (and tomorrow) I’m in St. Louis to attend the first-ever NPMA Nuisance Bird and Wildlife Management Conference & Marketplace. So far, I’m impressed. More than 200 wildlife management professionals (WMPs) from around the country are here.

Today’s sessions included a history of nuisance wildlife management, given by Critter Control’s Kevin Clark; rules WMPs should know about, given by Joe Felegi from Critter Control and Gene Harrington from the NPMA; and a roundatble discussion with Stuart Aust from Bug Doctor/Bird Doctor/Animal Doctor, Scott Steckel from Varment Guard, Brad Whitten from Arrow Exterminators and Felegi.

In addition, there was an interesting session on public relations, given by Jess Phelan from PPMA, as well as a great session on mole control from Jeff “Mole Man” Holper.

Looking forward to tomorrow’s sessions and, as always, taking some video for PMPtv. Stay tuned.

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PMPs Needed in Germany

I saw this news story today, and thought you’d all find it interesting.

Rats Return to Hamelin, No Sign of Pied Piper

BERLIN (AFP) — Just ahead of the 725th anniversary of the Pied Piper reputedly banishing a plague of rats from Hamelin, there has been an “explosion” in the German town’s rodent population, officials said Tuesday.

The spokesman for the northern town, known as Hameln in German, said the sharp rise at an abandoned garden allotment site on the edge of the town was because the rats had a plentiful supply of food from an adjacent rubbish dump.

According to legend, a colourful or “pied” rat catcher lured all the rats out of town in 1284 by playing his pipe. When the townspeople refused to pay him, he did the same with Hamelin’s children and they were never seen again.

So, is playing a pipe still an effective method for eliminating a rat infestation?

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Technology for Technology’s Sake

My friend Bruce recently posted an item on his blog about using technology just simply to use it. He makes a great point about how, sometimes, we’re so quick to use new technology that perhaps we don’t even know why we’re using it.

When we use new technology, we must ask the question: Does the use of this great new technology benefit my audience? In other words, are people asking for it or are you simply giving it to them for the sake of using something new.

Bruce uses CNN as an example. On election night, CNN used its brand new “hologram” technology to conduct an interview with the Black Eyed Peas Will.I.Am.

As I commented on Bruce’s blog, I was blown away by the hologram. Not because it was so cool, but because it was so lame.

These 24-hour news networks have so much air to fill and most days there just isn’t enough news to fill it. The result is, we’re given fluff pieces with no real news value.

Election night and the hologram was a perfect example of this. On a night when there is actual news, CNN was still struggling to fill air time. So, they pulled the hologram stunt.

You must ask what the purpose was to interview Will.I.Am in the first place … it had no real news value. So, to dress that up, they turned him into a hologram.

The first few minutes of the interview were spent talking about the fact that he was a hologram in the studio … what news value did this have?

The fact is, not only do they have to fill air time; they also have to compete with all the other news networks for ratings. The result is silly stunts that only add to the ridiculousness of 24-hour news networks.

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Short Note on Short Course

I’m down here at the University of Kentucky Short Course (what a long drive that was today … not looking forward to the trip back). So far, I’m impressed by what a first-class program they’ve put together down here.

Props to Mike Potter and the rest of the UK folks on what looks to be a great program.

This evening, there was a reception and vendor expo where PMPs were able to network with each other and learn about some great products this industry has to offer (including a chance to pick up a copy of PMP magazine, which were flying off our table).

I’m looking forward to several sessions tomorrow, including Mark “Shep” Sheperdigian’s Challenging Pest Problems and Solutions and Norm Cooper’s Getting the Mo$t from Your Business, as well as another networking opportunity tomorrow evening.

Of course, I’ll be shooting video the whole time I’m here for PMPtv. Stay tuned.

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Meeting of the Minds

No, I’m not talking about when editorial director Frank Andorka and myself get together

The Meeting of the Minds was a one-day event put on by the Greater Chicago Pest Management Alliance (GCPMA) last week. I had the pleasure of attending this event, which featured Phil Nixon, Mike Potter, Jerome Goddard and Laurel Hansen.

From emerging pests in the Midwest, to bed bugs, to environmental health structural infesting ants, the program put on by the GCPMA was outstanding.

I did take some video of the event for PMPtv, so stay tuned for that report. I’ll post a link once it’s been uploaded.

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