Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 7: Talking ISSA, IT & Cybersecurity, and Conferences with Lou Centrella
4 Plays24 minutes ago
In The Chat Room is a dynamic interview series where industry leaders, innovators, and experts gather to share their insights on the ever-evolving landscape of technology and business. In this episode, co-hosts, Matt Bauer, Cofounder and Director at BetterWorld Technology and BetterWorldโs Regional Director, Chris Jordan, are excited to have In The Chat Room, Lou Centrella, Senior Director of Technology Services at ISSA.
#ISSA, a valuable partner & customers for BetterWorld, is THE worldwide cleaning industry association, a leading trade organization representing over 10K members globally, including distributors, manufacturers, and cleaning professionals. ISSA provides resources, education, and networking opportunities to enhance professionalism and success within the cleaning industry.
The range of topics we cover are from Lou Centrellaโs background as Senior Director of Technology Services at ISSA, how he came to ISSA and his role there, to his journey as a speaker and member of #ASAE, ISSA teaming up with #PCsforPeople, another BetterWorld partner, to donate retired IT equipment and support a dual mission: protecting the environment through responsible e-waste recycling and promoting digital equity for underserved communities, and the challenges, opportunities and goals for this year at the ISSA Show North America in Las Vegas this November.
๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐๐
00:00 Opening
00:52 Lou's career journey and shift from marketing to tech leadership at ISSA
02:22 Building ISSA's tech infrastructure with cybersecurity and Salesforce development
03:17 Overview of ISSA's charitable arms including Cleaning for a Reason and diversity initiatives
05:07 Chrisโ personal connection to ISSA's mission and family custodial background
08:16 Speaking engagements and leveraging ASAE and AMS Fest platforms
11:33 Elevating ISSAโs security posture through trusted partnership with BetterWorld
12:58 Collaboration with PCs for People to advance sustainability and digital equity
20:03 Why the ISSA show balances education and networking exceptionally well
21:16 Lou's love for Nintendo and how gaming connects family and workplace culture
25:01 Observations on shared challenges across SMBs and Fortune 1000 companies in cybersecurity
26:12 Final thoughts on partnership strength, future events, and community connection
๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ฎโ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ธ๐
- Website: https://www.issa.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loucentrella/
๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ:
- Visit our website: www.betterworldtechnology.com
Stay connected by subscribing to our YouTube channel for exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and more. And if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow us on Spotify and tell a colleague.
๐ Keep innovating, keep connecting!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction of Hosts and Guest
00:00:11
Speaker
Welcome to In the Chat Room. It's a dynamic interview series where industry leaders, innovators, and experts gather to share their insights on the ever-evolving landscape of technology and business.
00:00:22
Speaker
I'm your co-host, Matt Bauer, co-founder and director at Better World Technology, and I'm joined by my colleague and Better World's regional director, Chris Jordan. Hello, Chris. Hey, Matt.
00:00:34
Speaker
we're excited to have in the chat room with us today Lou Centrella, Senior Director of Technology at ISSA, the Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, a leading trade organization representing over 10,000 members globally, including distributors, manufacturers, and cleaning professionals.
00:00:52
Speaker
ISSA provides resources, education, and networking opportunities to enhance professionalism, and success within the cleaning industry. ISSA is a valuable partner and customer for Better World.
00:01:05
Speaker
Welcome to In the Chat Room, Lou.
Lou Centrella's Career Journey
00:01:08
Speaker
Thank you so much, Matt and Chris. Okay, let's dive in, Lou. You're Senior Director of Technology Services at ISSA, an incredible organization with Huge membership, global reach, global impact.
00:01:22
Speaker
As we always start our In the Chat Room episodes, tell us a bit about your origin story and how you came to ISSA and your role there. Great. Thanks. so Thank you for inviting me here today.
00:01:34
Speaker
Love to talk about it. I've always loved working for a mission-driven organization. organization. I've been in the association and nonprofit education space my entire career.
00:01:48
Speaker
So coming to ISSA was a very natural fit for me. I feel we're doing good for the world. We've got ah three signature charities that have a very strong mission. And, you know we're unifying the cleaning industry with a lot of the a lot of the things that we do at ISSA. And me personally, i came into ISSA as the director of digital media and marketing.
00:02:15
Speaker
And then there was an opportunity in the technology and IT department to enhance and grow. So it's it's it's been a fantastic journey for me because I've been able to get into cybersecurity and partner with good vendors and build a team of developers and Salesforce specialists so we can really grow the organization and move and move things forward for our members and our customers.
ISSA's Charitable Initiatives and Personal Connections
00:02:44
Speaker
make it make it Make it easy for them to access our resources
00:02:48
Speaker
log into the website and also keep their data secure. that's a quick, quick glimpse of my history. You mentioned the charities, Lou. Last year at the North America show in Las Vegas, I got to meet some of the folks from those charities.
00:03:05
Speaker
um what's the What's the cleaning one? the or the The cancer charity? Yeah. so so yeah so So we have ISSA and ISSA charities with 501c3, 501c6. And under ISSA charities, it's cleaning for a reason.
00:03:21
Speaker
And cleaning for reason is an awesome organization that... pairs cleaning companies with individuals who have cancer and these cancer patients can have their homes cleaned for free. They basically say, hey, you know, usually it's a family member that says it would be great to have, you know my ah you know, my aunt, my grandmother, someone who, you know, unfortunately, who has cancer.
00:03:47
Speaker
They can sign up and say they would like their home clean for free. And then they pay through ISSA Charities, they're paired with a cleaning company that will do the cleaning services. We also have two other charities. We have a scholarship, ISSA Scholars, which gives back to students who are from who are who within the cleaning industry. There might be a child, someone who works for a cleaning company. There's other...
00:04:14
Speaker
um
00:04:17
Speaker
restrictions too on the ah the categories where they can receive a scholarship for further education. And then the um Hygieia Network, which is a women's leadership ah in the cleaning industry, because the cleaning industry for for all for many, many years has been kind of a male dominated industry, but there's we've seen a lot of diversity now, which has been fantastic. So we you know we really promote diversity ah in the industry as well. But yes, you you met with probably the the women who work for cleaning for a reason at the ISSA show.
00:04:52
Speaker
Yeah, i met some of the wonderful team members from the ISSA charities group last year at the North America show on Vegas and really hit it off. And It's amazing the connections i have felt with ISSA.
00:05:04
Speaker
It's been a ah fun relationship working together. The charity side with the cancer cleaning and supporting individuals whose families are going through that really hit home. um People may or may not be aware I'm a childhood leukemia survivor myself. So my parents went through it.
00:05:20
Speaker
There's a emotional personal connection there. And then at the same time, I grew up in a family custodial business. So I spent summers in high school doing custodial work, um cleaning up after contractors, doing some cleanup jobs at school.
00:05:36
Speaker
So I feel like I've really lived in that world. So then when we started talking about becoming partners, I'm like, you know, I don't want to say there's a natural synergy here, but let me tell you a little bit about myself.
00:05:48
Speaker
um And then it got even deeper than that, right? Like we're both mission-driven companies. um And you and I have talked a lot over the last year and a half. We're both very mission driven people.
00:05:59
Speaker
And one of the ways you really reflect that is your work with ASAE and a lot of the public speaking you do. I was very curious to hear about your journey with ASAE and maybe if you want to roll into some of your public speaking engagements.
00:06:12
Speaker
Sure.
Professional Engagements and Technology Transition
00:06:13
Speaker
So ASAE, which is the American Society of Association Executives, they're professional organization supporting and advancing the field of association management. So it's an association resource for those in the association space.
00:06:32
Speaker
And I have always leveraged their resources over the years because they really understand the dynamics of a more complex, membership, you know, the the the the the the the way that we have relational data um in Salesforce, we've got, you know, the parent company, child company, member, non-member, different tiers. So there's a lot of products ah that we can review from ASA. they They do these cool things.
00:07:05
Speaker
demo days where if there's like a career bill board or there's a a lms there's lots of different like learning management systems that specialize in the um association space so when i was at my last uh position and previous ones i would leverage the resources from asae to understand what other technology vendors are out there that could fit into our tech stack.
00:07:32
Speaker
So um yeah i I'll be attending the ASAE conference this year um and speaking at it as well, which I'm very excited about. but And I also earned my CAE, which I'm now a certified association executive, which is a ah certification from ASAE. It took me a number of years study to to get to that point. So I'm very ah very proud of that. And I also am very happy to continue to leverage the resources from ASEE. I think they're a great organization for all associations to be a member of.
00:08:08
Speaker
So like Chris, I can talk to you about my session more. We can talk about any other topic. Yeah. Can you talk a little bit about the session? a little bit about the session. Then ah you've done like three engagements in the last 12 months, right? So if you want to talk about how how do you find yourself in that position. Chris, stop and and just kind of like act like he just finished that and come in with that question. Hey, Luke, can you tell, you know.
00:08:34
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, okay. i Sorry, I froze for a second there. We're back. We're back. Awesome, Lou. Yeah, you've had, I think, three speaking engagements in the last 12 months, or at least since ah since we've been working together. I'm really curious to see how you find yourself in those positions. Is it from your ASAE experience? Is it from prior experience?
00:08:58
Speaker
So, yes, Chris, i've i've had some I've had some great opportunities and I... Some of them have been through our ah partners. i was I was asked to speak at the Salesforce Tower in downtown Chicago with one of our tech vendors where we we talked about membership and platform usage in the association space, how to get members is excited about using their member benefits, logging into a portal, staying active with the org and the organ needs i association.
00:09:30
Speaker
I've also had opportunities to speak about cybersecurity and other topics. So it's been through networking and partners I've met at ASAE. I was involved in the the the AMS Fest, which the AMS Fest has a ah conference both in the DC area and the Chicago area. I've been invited to speak a couple of times so at the chicago at the Chicago AMS Fest about my experience with starting transitioning to a new AMS, you know what are the the pitfalls and the perils when you're transitioning from one
00:10:07
Speaker
data platform to another data platform. We at ISSA decided we wanted our CRM to be Salesforce. And we you know we looked at different platforms over the years. so we have gone through that process. We've transitioned. we're Now we're getting our whole team trained on a consistent platform.
00:10:24
Speaker
So it's been really exciting. So I've been able to share my experiences at a couple of different events about this. And then, yes, I'll be speaking at the ASAE event for the first time in loss and loss Los Angeles, August 11th at 1015 AM. m It's a 90 minute session.
00:10:44
Speaker
I'm going to be one of the panelists. the The topic is association security in an insecure world. So we're going to be talking about and MSPs, the IT department,
00:10:56
Speaker
cybersecurity, how to raise the awareness of cyber awareness and the things that we've done ISSA. And we've been very happy with ah partnering with but Better World because we've been able to elevate our security at the organization. And I know I'll be touching on that as well during the session.
00:11:18
Speaker
But it it'll be great to give my you know my story, our narrative about you know where ISSA was you know years ago and how we've become more secure and elevated to a ah a stronger and better place.
Partnerships and Sustainability Efforts
00:11:33
Speaker
You'll have to make sure you weave into that conversation about how it's a two-way street because... we work with a lot of associations, a lot of nonprofits, and our advice is only as good as the person on the other side of the table willing to listen to it.
00:11:47
Speaker
And it's been a great partnership together because there has been great collaboration. ISSA has been very open to our ideas and things have worked very well because we've worked together as partners.
00:12:00
Speaker
ah You certainly have elevated beyond the MSP as a vendor relationship. And we've really moved into that partnership, trusted advisor relationship. And I think that's the that's the key reason for the success we've had together.
00:12:14
Speaker
I would, yeah, I would agree. I really appreciate your team saying, hey, Lou, we can do x y and Z to make it more secure. And we talked through what are the repercussions. We say, yeah, let's let's move ahead and and do these things. But maybe we don't do this because it's going to cause you know, some some some sort of ramifications or a hurdle that we don't need at the time. But I've been really appreciative of being able to talk openly ah with your team to get ISSA, you know, in ah in a stronger place. So I do appreciate that, Chris.
00:12:48
Speaker
You know and part of that open communication has led to one of our recent other engagements. so recently, ISSA teamed up with PCs for People, another Better World Technology partner, um and you all donated retired IT equipment and it supported our dual mission, you know, protecting the environment through responsible e-waste recycling, promoting digital equity for underserved communities,
00:13:10
Speaker
You know, is e-waste recycling is increasingly urgent priority in today's tech-driven world, why don't you dive in a little bit through your work with PCs for People and how this helped ISSA fulfill both its sustainability goals as well as its commitment to community engagement.
00:13:25
Speaker
Absolutely. Yes, I'm very happy that Better World referred PCs for people to us because we we did have a very large copier that we needed to recycle. um And PCs for people, they were very friendly, came right to the office and we had a stack of laptops, monitors, other other equipment. and Me personally, you know, just so if you guys know, I keep telling my family members, my friends, please don't throw batteries in the trash can. Please don't throw your computer in the trash can.
00:13:54
Speaker
Like the future of our planet here on Earth. depends on what we're doing today. Just in my own home, every piece of tech equipment, battery, I put it in a special box and then I'll bring it over to Apt Electronics or to Best Buy and I will recycle it there.
00:14:13
Speaker
And I'll tell friends, you know if you need me to recycle it for you, I'll do that. Please just don't throw it in the landfill because what is our planet going to look like you know in the future if all of this stuff is going to a landfill? And with tech there are a lot of things that can be reused you know they can harvest pieces out of a laptop and put something new together for someone who's in need and there's a lot of kids out there that could use the technology so i'm all for free tech equipment for kids you know education and kids are our future so i believe in a you know keeping the environment as as clean as we can and also providing as much for our kids
00:14:52
Speaker
in the future and for issa of course it's fantastic because we did a call to all the staff and said hey if you have any personal equipment at home that you want to recycle you know destroy uh get the get the data off correctly or you know have be recycled. So some staff brought in some home personal equipment. We had a big pile of ISSA, e-waste, and then usable equipment and some some personal equipment that came from staff yeah and all went to PCs for People. And it it really supports our mission for you know for giving back and you know making the world um a better place.
00:15:32
Speaker
So we definitely plan to use PCs for People in the future again. Yeah. and And to your point, a lot of people just don't know that these resources exist. um So, you know, if you're working with ah a partner or a vendor, just ask the question. You know, Lou asked the question. We teed it up and um every organization got to fulfill their mission. And and it was amazing.
00:15:53
Speaker
The beauty of working with a partner like PCs for People and one of the reasons why we've engaged with them is not only do they take the assets, not only do they pick them up, not only do they dispose of them,
00:16:06
Speaker
all complimentary, they're also going to give you proof of sanitization and destruction. So, you know, for your consumer electronics that don't have data on there, there's places. You can take batteries to Home Depot.
00:16:19
Speaker
Your town, your city, your township might have a recycling center. um There's options out there. But for enterprise-grade equipment, there are appropriate destruction and recycling services available.
Upcoming ISSA Show and Personal Interests
00:16:32
Speaker
all right, Lou, well, let's ah let's start bringing it bring it back into the station. um Let's talk about the ISSA show at North America. It's in in Vegas this November.
00:16:43
Speaker
ah At a high level, the show aims to foster growth and breast best practices. Better World will be participating for our second year in a row. We're excited to exhibit and meet many of your members and take in all the content.
00:16:58
Speaker
Lou, it's a huge show. What are the challenges, opportunities, and goals for this year? So, yeah, the ISSA show is a fantastic place for the cleaning industry to all come together in one place. We've been doing it at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas this November 11th through the 13th. So, you know, some of the challenges, you know, post-COVID,
00:17:23
Speaker
uh you know some of our exhibitors you know they they they they shrunk their footprint for some of their booths you know we used to have even it was actually even bigger chris than you had seen it in the past because it it was very large even postcode but it's it's bounced back a lot but we do have some you know some attendees and some exhibitors who may attend every other year we'd love for we'd love for that everyone to be engaged every year we'd love to have increased attendees and increased exhibitors which we've seen year over year growth which has been fantastic we we also you know some of the opportunities there's a lot of great education sessions so you can come to learn about
00:18:05
Speaker
um hard floor care and facility services and how to grow your business. There's a lot of tips for small cleaning companies who are really looking to grow their business and need it marketing or or cleaning advice. So there's a lot of industry leaders who are there.
00:18:21
Speaker
You know, another challenge is our members and our customers don't know everything that ISSA has to offer. They come to the ISSA show, they, you know, the network, they see all the cool tech and cool equipment. But we at ISSA have a lot of member resources and benefits at our booth that we talk about with advocacy and and media and outreach and they can log into the member portal and get exclusive white papers and downloads. So we're really trying to increase awareness to our our members as well.
00:18:53
Speaker
So they be become even more engaged with our organization, learn about our charities, learn about the different things we do. And therere i just to highlight something else, we have an innovative leaders award program where we have cool products.
00:19:08
Speaker
There's a lot of robotics and tech where we showcase all the latest ah tech in the cleaning industry and the the most innovative products. And there's a there' there there's a booth, there's an innovation booth where ah there is they're judged on the ah different categories and we get to showcase the cool things that are happening in the cleaning industry.
00:19:34
Speaker
I don't know, Chris, if you had a chance to stop by that booth last year. If not, please ah go with your team this year. Yeah. for For our ISSA audience listening to today's episode, if you are a member or you're thinking about becoming a member member or attending the show,
00:19:50
Speaker
Matt and I go to many shows all across the country, and this is definitely one of my favorite shows because it's a great balance of learning sessions, networking opportunities, being able to explore the vendor and at vendor booths. And at no point during the show was I ever competing for time.
00:20:09
Speaker
The way the event schedule is coordinated, learning sessions happen outside of the expo hours. There's some that happen during the expo hours. I just went to a show recently where I had an agenda of about 40 things I wanted to see over three days and realized that 30% of it all overlapped.
00:20:27
Speaker
So the ISSA show is definitely set up in a conducive manner to learning and seeing everything you want to see. As Lou mentioned, there are education sessions for startup cleaning companies. There's education so sessions for enterprise cleaning companies and something for everyone in between really is a great show. You do a great job of.
00:20:49
Speaker
fostering the networking through the way the different mingling booths are set up. I don't want to call them bars. We'll call them mingling sections. and But there's a lot of networking areas and opportunities all mixed into the show. it really was a great time. And we're really looking forward to exhibiting this year.
00:21:05
Speaker
Fantastic. Yeah, just bring your comfy shoes because you're walking a football-length field back and forth all over the place with but the amount of, with how large it is, the amount of tech that we have going on on the floors.
00:21:18
Speaker
Lou, I would be remiss if I didn't ask you about the items in your background. we have the We have the ISSA you know plug, but we also have a lot of Super Mario items. So tell us about the Super Mario Affinity.
00:21:32
Speaker
Well, I'm a proud gaming nerd, and I've always been a Nintendo fan. We've got a Switch in the house. I've owned all the previous generations of Game Boy, Nintendo, Super Nintendo.
00:21:44
Speaker
And you know I like to keep the environment fun in the office, so I love to have some personal effects. And Nintendo and Mario has always been my favorite franchise, so that's why I got all the fun gear ah behind me in the office.
00:21:58
Speaker
And love I love to play... have to play with my kids as well, you know, playing a lot of the Super Mario games. I just got my daughter or my five-year-old playing Mario tennis with me.
00:22:13
Speaker
um And while she doesn't completely grasp the concept of how match play works, ah we're having a lot of fun. I've always enjoyed Nintendo and Nintendo has always been very kid friendly and it's proven to be very generationally friendly. Like it's nice to have that.
00:22:29
Speaker
I'm into technology. I'm a gaming nerd myself. And this is something that I can get my kids into. And it's a way for us to spend time and connect and do something that I really enjoy while also introducing them to technology that isn't just a touchscreen device.
00:22:44
Speaker
That's, you know, incredibly user intuitive. Absolutely. I completely agree with you. We play Mario Party and Mario Kart are the ones because you can you don't have you don't have to have like an epic two-hour gaming session. You can play for 20 minutes and still have some fun with the kids.
00:23:01
Speaker
It's great.
Experience at Secure World and Conclusion
00:23:03
Speaker
Lou, you also went with the Better World team to Secure World last month at the Rosemont Convention Center. I had invited you to come out and see the show. ah It was my first year attending the show. I got invited as a security professional and I said,
00:23:17
Speaker
Lou, this is right down the street from your office. What are the chances you're available? Let's connect. We can come out and you can spend some time with a team who's already on site at ISSA all the time. um We can have a little offsite field trip and go ah listen to some goallessness security speakers.
00:23:33
Speaker
What'd you think of the show? Chris, I appreciate you inviting me. It was also my first time at Secure World. It was great to connect with industry professionals. I connected with some colleagues of mine that I used to work with. And really, the sessions really got the gears turning in my head about how we can be more secure, just to call it Secure World, of course, but how to not, you know,
00:24:02
Speaker
ah annoy the users with make it with a complete lockdown of security, how you can have a good workflow of business while also being protected. So it was a great great speakers, great knowledge. I thought Secure World was a fantastic event. I would love to attend Secure World again in the future, especially since it's in Rosemont.
00:24:23
Speaker
It's right down the street from the ISSA headquarters. So it was great to... partner with your team and to meet up with them and have lunch together and go to the go to the sessions and meet some of the exhibitors and vendors?
00:24:39
Speaker
Lou and I sat in two sessions together and it was funny. One of the speakers was a CISO from an SMB space company. And then another speaker was a CISO from a Fortune 1000 company.
00:24:49
Speaker
And we're sitting there laughing about how we're all experiencing the same issues, right? And I think one of the biggest issues in our space is making security controls palatable for our end users, for our employees.
00:25:03
Speaker
So whether you are the small SMB or you're a Fortune 1000 company, we're all dealing with that same tightrope of balancing that act of how do we get people to actually follow the rules while making the rules secure, but not cumbersome.
00:25:19
Speaker
And it really is a delicate art. And I think ISSA has done a great job with that. um not all Not all the result of us. Again, the continued partnership there. um And again, looking forward to going to more events like that.
00:25:32
Speaker
We've been talking with the Secure World team about being more involved in next year's event. They actually come to Chicago twice a year. So they'll have a show again in 2026. And they'll also have CISO dinner this coming fall. So we're looking forward to participating in that.
00:25:48
Speaker
right Yeah, awesome. Awesome, Chris. Yeah, I echo your sentiment exactly. I think was a great, great event. And yes, we're we're walking that line of keeping our users safe, but making sure they're productive with with their with their work and not too many hurdles.
00:26:04
Speaker
Lou was also Mr. Popularity because I felt like every time we walked into a new room, he ran into old coworkers from other associations or other companies. I've been in the Chicago area for a while and I've worked for several associations. So i' i've i've I've connected with a lot of people.
00:26:22
Speaker
It's really great to have a a partner who really is connected to that association space, really is passionate about it. um Again, we like working with mission-driven, passionate people and the relationship here is just fantastic. So Lou, thank you so much for today.
00:26:37
Speaker
Absolutely. Happy to chat with you guys anytime.
00:26:41
Speaker
Awesome. Thank you, Lou. And thank you for watching and listening to Better World Technologies in the chat room. To dive deeper into our episodes and learn more about our work, visit BetterWorldTechnology.com.
00:26:55
Speaker
Stay connected by subscribing to our YouTube channel for exclusive content, behind the scenes insights and more. And if you've enjoyed the episode, be sure to follow us on Spotify and tell a colleague, keep innovating, keep connecting.
00:27:10
Speaker
We'll see you next time.