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ATLANTA — If all of the exhibits and educational sessions aren’t enough to draw you to New Orleans for the Clean Show this summer, how about an Internet sensation?

The show’s management announced recently that 11-year old Jonathan Carollo, whose drumming performance on a washing machine went viral, will be performing at the June 20-22 event in New Orleans.

First posted to YouTube last September, Carollo’s Whirled Beat video has amassed nearly 1.8 million views and has been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, USA Today and The Huffington Post.

Carollo’s father, Dan, posted the video for family and friends on Facebook but then uploaded it to YouTube after several people encouraged him to share his son’s talent with the world.

The boy routinely drums on objects around his family’s Washington state home and decided that the top loader, with its large steel drum, was the perfect-sounding instrument when he grew bored playing his drum kit.

“We are extremely delighted to have such a talented person play at the show … especially when it’s on an appliance that most of our exhibitors and attendees work with on a daily basis,” says John Riddle, president of Riddle & Associates, the Clean Show’s management company. “It certainly will give them a new way to look at their washing machines.”

Under more pressure than ever to produce clean, attractive goods cost-effectively, textile services operators are steadily re-evaluating their techniques for selecting equipment and merchandise, laying out plants and specifying utility requirements. With such proper infrastructure in place, the top priority is to build a work atmosphere in which employees care about doing the best job they can and treat each of their colleagues as an important customer. TRSA’s Production Summit will identify significant challenges in achieving these goals and determine how industry-wide solutions may attack them. Discussion will drive TRSA programming such as best practices documentation, conference presentations, education/training, research/benchmarking and other resources.

Register: http://www.trsa.org/calendarevent/production-summit

ATLANTA — Persons planning to attend the Clean Show in New Orleans next summer may now make reservations at the 20 discounted hotels offered in the event’s housing package, says show manager Riddle & Associates.

The show’s five sponsoring trade associations have selected their headquarter hotels for those who wish to stay in a hotel primarily occupied by attendees and exhibitors in their industry segment:

• Association for Linen Management — Omni Royal Orleans
• Coin Laundry Association — Astor Crowne Plaza
• Drycleaning & Laundry Institute — Royal Sonesta
• Textile Care Allied Trades Association — Marriott Convention Center
• Textile Rental Services Association — Marriott New Orleans

Other hotels available in Clean’s housing package are the Best Western Plus St. Christopher, Chateau LeMoyne French Quarter, Courtyard by Marriott Convention Center, Hampton Inn Convention Center, Hilton Riverside, Holiday Inn French Quarter, Courtyard by Marriott Downtown/Iberville, Loews New Orleans Hotel, Monteleone, Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, Sheraton New Orleans, Springhill Suites Convention Center, W New Orleans, Westin, and the Windsor Court.

Complimentary shuttle buses to and from the Morial Convention Center will be provided at all association headquarter hotels and within two blocks of all other Clean 2013 official hotels for participants in the June 20-22, 2013, event.

Visit cleanshow.com to view available hotels and make reservations; click on the “Registration & Housing Information” button.

For more information about Clean 2013, visit the show’s website or contact Riddle & Associates, 404-876-1988, info@cleanshow.com.

MINNEAPOLIS — G&K Services recently donated more than $100,000 worth of uniforms to United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta, the company reports. The donated uniforms will be used to support education, work-readiness and job-training programs in the Atlanta area that are supported by United Way.

“G&K believes in giving back to the communities where we operate, and we are pleased to support United Way and its partner organizations in Atlanta,” says Jeffrey L. Wright, G&K’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. “It is terrific to see our donated uniforms being used to strengthen critical job-training programs that help provide the skills to get Atlanta residents back in the workforce.”

“G&K is a valued partner, and this generous gift will go a long way in supporting our community to ensure families and individuals are self-sufficient,” says United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta President Milton J. Little Jr. “Currently, Georgia ranks third in the nation in poverty and our unemployment rate is well above the national average, so we have our work cut out for us building bridges of opportunity. This donation is a major step toward that, and we are very grateful.”

One of the ways that G&K Services supports local communities is by donating quality new and used uniforms to organizations focused on education and human services.

ATLANTA — With spring tornado season having arrived, Angelica Corp. is once again giving back to local communities by donating linens, blankets and towels to disaster victims.

Medical linen services provider Angelica most recently donated to the victims of January’s Trussville, Ala., tornado. That storm system ripped through the Birmingham area with wind speeds of roughly 150 miles per hour, killing two, injuring hundreds, and destroying more than 200 homes.

Angelica has also partnered with relief efforts in Alabama to provide linens to the survivors of the April 2011 storm system that devastated much of Alabama and Georgia. The company’s plants in Rockmart and Ooltewah donated thermal blankets, towels, washcloths, sheets and pillowcases to the disaster relief effort.

“Clean sheets and towels are so easy to take for granted, but for disaster survivors, those simple comforts are a step toward normal after their world’s been torn apart,” notes Aly Merritt, Angelica’s marketing manager. “We feel it’s only right that we do our part to help comfort this community after these horrifying storms.”

The donations were made in partnership with Carl Black Automotive Group, which coordinated with local relief efforts and provided trucks and drivers to deliver the linens to the recipients.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Swisher Hygiene, a provider of essential hygiene and sanitation products and services, reports that it has acquired Go! Hospitality Services, a Georgia-based linen services company.

Go! Hospitality provides linen rental, supply and laundry services throughout the Atlanta metropolitan area and surrounding markets, primarily to customers in the food-and-beverage and hospitality industries.

Concurrent with the acquisition, the founder and president of Go! Hospitality, Michael Brosius, will join Swisher Hygiene and contribute to the continued growth of its linen services business.

“We continue to expand our presence in the linen services industry and the acquisition of Go! Hospitality is a key part of expanding our offering in the Southeast,” says Steven R. Berrard, CEO of Swisher Hygiene. “We are very pleased to be able to cross-sell a complete range of linen services to our existing customers in Georgia and the Carolinas while also being able to offer our hygiene products and services to Go! Hospitality’s growing customer base.”

Total consideration paid by Swisher Hygiene in connection with the acquisition includes $2.85 million in cash, the assumption of certain liabilities, the issuance of 170,940 shares of Swisher Hygiene common stock, and a promissory note that may be converted into common stock.

ATLANTA — Dates for Clean 2013 in New Orleans have been rescheduled to June 20-22, a Thursday-Saturday show.

“This allows attendees to return home on Sunday to start their workweek on Monday, or gives them an opportunity to stay and enjoy a day in New Orleans after the show,” says David Cotter, chairman of Clean 2013 and CEO of Textile Care Allied Trades Association.

Original dates for the 2013 show announced at Clean 2011 were Friday-Sunday, June 21-23. The three-day-show format in 2013, the first since 1981, is in response to exhibitor and attendee feedback. The show will run three full days rather than close early on the last day to allow time for everyone to fully experience the exhibits.

The 2015 exhibition in Atlanta and the 2017 gathering in Las Vegas were also announced as three-day shows, but Cotter says the biennial event could return to four days if that proves to work better for exhibitors and attendees.

Clean 2011 in Las Vegas drew 11,200 people, a 13% increase over Clean ’09, according to show manager Riddle & Associates. In addition to attendees from all 50 states and Washington D.C., there were visitors from 87 other countries.

ATLANTA — For the first time, the Clean Show will offer Korean-language educational sessions when the Las Vegas Convention Center hosts the event June 6-9.

Two hours of Korean-language sessions are scheduled on each of three mornings. A Korean trade publication is sponsoring the program.

ATLANTA — Hotel registration is now open for the 2011 Clean Show, set for June 6-9, 2011 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas. A variety of accommodations is available to suit any budget at 11 properties.

The Association of Laundry Management (ALM) has picked Planet Hollywood as its headquarters for the show. The Textile Rental Service Association (TRSA) and Textile Care Allied Trades Association (TCATA) have staked out the Las Vegas Hilton, and Bally’s will host the Coin Laundry Association (CLA).

ATLANTA — Exhibit space sales are under way for Clean 2011, which takes place June 6-9, 2011, in the Las Vegas Convention Center. More than 400 companies will offer virtually every product and service used in the textile-care industry at the world’s largest trade show for laundry, drycleaning and textile services.

ATLANTA — IPSO recently added Southern Automatic Machinery Co. (SAMCO) in Atlanta as a full-line distributor of its commercial laundry products. SAMCO is responsible for distributing IPSO coin and on-premises laundry equipment in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee.

NEW ORLEANS — The Clean Show returns to New Orleans next month for its first visit since 2001, bringing the textile care industry together here for the fourth time since the event was born 32 years ago.