Are pen and paper—or endless spreadsheets—quietly capping your growth? That’s the provocation behind CLX: Data-Driven Decision Making, a cohort-style education session returning to ISSA Show North America. Hosted by Tony Maione (Smart Inspect) and Ryan Ferons (Core Technologies), the one-hour workshop is designed to move cleaning organizations from data systems with scattered information to systems the enable outcome-changing decisions.
CLX meets Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2:30-3:30 p.m., in Islander C, North Convention Center at Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. Attendees are encouraged to arrive 20 minutes early.
Why CLX is different
“CLX stands for Cohort Learning Experience,” Maione explained. “It’s a fun and fast and social way to learn new technologies and new ideas in a setting that’s really intimate and exciting.” The format debuted last year and returns by popular demand.
The session opens with hosts on stage for a fast overview and facilitator intros. Then, rather than a traditional lecture, everyone moves to small tables of roughly six peers plus a facilitator for the cohort work. After brief opening remarks, each table runs a tight sequence: quick intros, a short facilitator story or lesson, then a longer peer-to-peer exchange where people trade wins, misses, and “war stories.” The hour closes with a commitment round where each participant names one action they’ll take in the next month. A brief close with the hosts wraps the hour.
Maione’s rationale is simple: People remember—and use—ideas they process socially. The table model turns best practices into applied next steps instead of vague inspiration.
Three stages of data mastery
Ferons frames the session around an approachable roadmap with three stages:
- Fragmented: Minimal or siloed collection; data is unreliable for decisions.
- Normalized: A stable foundation with basic governance, consistent collection, and reporting that starts to inform the business.
- Advanced: Robust infrastructure, real-time and predictive analytics, and—crucially—a culture that treats data as a daily operating system.
Session participants choose the table that matches their data mastery stage, then learn from a facilitator and peers who live the same realities. “Wherever you’re at in your data journey, find a table that matches that, and you’ll spend time with like-minded individuals,” Ferons said.
CLX is intentionally practical. “Everybody has to pick one action item they can try in the next month after the event ends,” Maione said. Typical examples include standardizing a single inspection form; consolidating site data into a simple, shared dashboard; or piloting a weekly review where decisions (not dashboards) are the headline. That shared commitment—spoken aloud to a small group—creates gentle accountability.
Attendees also leave with stage-specific cheat sheets that highlight what to focus on next, whether they’re just getting their arms around the basics or tuning an advanced setup.
Beyond the onsite workshop, Maione and Ferons point people to a broader learning community that includes virtual sessions, micro-learning, and podcasts—a steady track to keep momentum after the show.
Stop the data bottleneck
For many cleaning organizations, a data bottleneck signals they need help. Paper forms, sprawling spreadsheets, and one-off reports scatter the view of what’s really happening on sites, in operations, and across accounts. CLX tackles that problem head-on by helping leaders:
- Identify their true data mastery stage (honestly).
- Adopt a practice to help them move up a level.
- Build habits that survive busy seasons.
That’s the quiet power of the cohort: focused peer comparison without performance theater. You see how a similar operation collects work tickets, normalizes inspection data, or turns audits into staffing decisions—and you copy the part that fits.
Attendees bring their curiosity to the session, and leave with a plan. As Ferons put it, the goal is to help any organization move “from where they are to an advanced, decision-driven organization,” one practical step at a time.
Learn more about CLX by watching the video below, then register for ISSA Show North America.
