ISPA honored Ron Passaglia, Adam Lava and Richard Diamonstein at the recent ISPA Industry Conference. Here they talk about their award and what it means to them.
Transcript
Waynette Goodson
Rock and roll. I feel like such an amateur standing beside you guys. Thank you so much. It’s Waynette Goodson. I’m your managing editor of BedTimes and Sleep Savvy Magazines, and I am so honored to be here tonight with Ron Passaglia, Adam Lava and Richard Diamonstein. They are our awards winners. And so we’re going to ask each one a question about what tonight means to them.
Ron, let’s start with you. You are winning the ISPA Exceptional Service Award. So tell me what that award means to you at this point in your career, or you’ve retired.
Ron Passaglia
It means everything since I’ve retired and been recognized seriously because of the exceptional service, is because of the service of ISPA. It’s the service really because of the people that work with that together in ISPA and to be a part of a great group like this, and I just mentioned we’ve been frozen in time. All of us have contributed.
I’m happy to contribute and happy to be honored.
Waynette Goodson
Thank you, Ron. Congratulations on your award. So Adam will go with you next. You are winning a new award. You’re getting the Vanguard Award recognizing pioneering ideas and innovators. So how do you think that you’ve come to win this particular new award?
Adam Lava
For 30 years, I’ve been helping our customers and the industry at large create new and innovative products for the sleep products industry, adding features and benefits and elevating what this industry does as the market and our consumers grow. And it’s been a pleasure to be a part of that process.
Waynette Goodson
Right. And it’s a pleasure to have you a part of that process. And congratulations on your award. So Richard Diamondstein. You are winning the award from the Mattress Recycling Council because you were an early advocate of mattress recycling, and now you actually play a key role on the MRC board. So let me ask you, from your standpoint, what is maybe a challenge now that the industry is facing when it comes to sustainability?
Richard Diamonstein
Well, I think with sustainability, we have a lot of tremendous ideas. We’ve got a lot of products that are being developed that are more sustainable. But then the problem is, what is next? You know, when the product hits end of life, what will we do with those products? We have four states where we do have mattress recycling programs, and we are working to reduce our impact on the environment.
But once those products are made, what happens down the road? And I think that’s one of our biggest challenges right now.
Waynette Goodson
Well, thankfully, we have you, Richard, on the board to help us forge the way toward complete sustainability for the industry. And I know we’re going to get there. Thank you so very much, each one of you. Congratulations. Thank you all for tuning in. And as always, have a great night’s sleep.
