Behind Closed Doors

Abstract

The American Cleaning Institute’s annual meeting and industry convention is not like other conventions. Yes, it’s got its breakfast speakers and evening receptions. It’s got an issues briefing and a golf tournament. But there are no technical sessions, just a smattering of committee meetings. There are no exhibitor booths or technology pavilions or speaker lineups. Instead, the convention, which took place late last month in Orlando, offers hallways lined with meeting rooms. In these rooms, executives from cleaning product companies sit down with their counterparts from chemical firms that supply them with raw materials. Behind doors that are firmly closed, they discuss plans for the year ahead, tout new technology, hash out contracts, and haggle over prices. The meetings extend from morning until night, often on a rigid schedule that doesn’t change from year to year. Executives complain that they can go for days without actually stepping out into the ...