TechTalks in CMMS

Managing a high-traffic, multi-use athletic complex requires a sophisticated approach to facility oversight to ensure guest safety and operational continuity across 200,000 square feet of diverse assets. Harvey Greenidge from Highland Sports Complex discusses the logistical demands of maintaining indoor turf fields, a 40-game arcade, and climbing walls within a 24/7 service environment. The conversation highlights the technical necessity of coordinating maintenance directors and janitorial crews to handle rapid transitions between national wrestling tournaments, craft fairs, and high-volume food and beverage operations. Facility leaders gain valuable perspective on asset protection and community-driven revenue strategies for large-scale recreation venues.

How can an informative video shift your maintenance department from a reactive cost center to a streamlined, proactive asset? Matt Power joins TechTalks to discuss the technical production of Maintenance Care's educational video series like Preventive Measures and Tools in Perspective, which spotlight the critical role of facility oversight. Matt explains how specialized video content helps maintenance professionals identify common failures in furnace filters, fire extinguishers, boiler rooms, and more. By documenting these "behind the scenes" workflows and reviewing essential hardware, these initiatives provide facility managers with the practical knowledge needed to improve operational compliance, reduce risk, and ensure long term asset reliability through proactive maintenance strategies.

Transitioning a sales department from underperforming to high-growth requires more than just new metrics. It demands a foundation of authentic leadership and technical trust. Todd Gradson joins TechTalks to discuss building world-class commercial operations, and the strategic importance of understanding individual motivation within a sales team. Todd emphasizes a consultative approach that prioritizes active listening to solve complex facility management challenges rather than relying on rigid scripts. For operations leaders, these insights highlight how balancing software simplicity with deep customization, such as asset tagging and sensor integration, can effectively scale a maintenance department from a local site to a multinational corporation.

Maintaining the structural integrity of a professional ice surface in high-humidity climates requires a sophisticated balance of specialized refrigeration technology and rigorous asset oversight. Mike Geiler, Regional Director of Ice Operations, breaks down the complexities of managing refrigeration plants and chillers across diverse North American environments. From the choice between sand and cement bases, to the critical role of moisture control, the conversation provides essential insights for operations leaders on maintaining high-performance cooling infrastructure. Understanding these niche mechanical requirements is vital for ensuring long-term equipment reliability and consistent ice quality in any facility.

Kaliegh Hincman, of the pre-development team at Sports Facilities Companies, explains the critical process of transforming a vision into a viable sports complex, through deep-dive market and feasibility reports. Her team of specialized researchers, business analysts, and account executives bridges the gap between a client's initial idea and operational reality by analyzing local demographics, determining optimal pricing, and identifying the "best and highest use" for a facility. From touring potential sites and presenting to city councils, to building rigorous 20-year financial forecasts, Kaliegh’s team handles over 70 projects annually, providing investors with everything from staffing models to detailed programming schedules. Whether a developer is considering a $40 million basketball court or a high-expense, 24/7 climate-controlled ice rink, this pre-development phase ensures that the final facility is strategically aligned with both market demand and the client's ultimate definition of success.

Kaliegh Hincman of the pre-development team at Sports Facilities Companies, explains the critical process of transforming a vision into a viable sports complex, through deep-dive market and feasibility reports. Her team of specialized researchers, business analysts, and account executives bridges the gap between a client's initial idea and operational reality, by analyzing local demographics, determining optimal pricing, and identifying the "best and highest use" for a facility. From touring potential sites and presenting to city councils, to building rigorous 20-year financial forecasts, Kaliegh’s team handles over 70 projects annually, providing investors with everything from staffing models to detailed programming schedules. Whether a developer is considering a $40 million basketball court or a high-expense, 24/7 climate-controlled ice rink, this pre-development phase ensures that the final facility is strategically aligned with both market demand and the client's ultimate definition of success.

Is your facility’s infrastructure operating in silos, leaking energy and increasing safety risks? Managing lighting, HVAC, and refrigeration across sprawling complexes requires more than just high-quality hardware—it demands a unified control strategy. In this episode of Tech Talks, Brian Wilson from Acuity Brands joins Dan Roberge to break down the move toward "one face to the industry" for building controls. They explore how integrating wired and wireless systems, from occupancy sensing to daylight harvesting, creates a centralized interface that simplifies commissioning, maximizes energy reduction, and ensures site-wide safety through a single, intelligent source.

Mitchell Fratrik introduces us to Finally, an innovative expense management and corporate card platform used by major sports organizations like the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls. Mitchell explains how the platform automates the most tedious parts of accounting, by providing real-time visibility into company spend and integrating seamlessly with systems like QuickBooks and NetSuite. With Finally, businesses can issue unlimited physical or virtual cards with precise spending controls, while benefiting from an underwriting process that often grants credit limits 25 times higher than traditional banks. Beyond the software, Finally provides a dedicated Success Manager for every client, ensuring a smooth 24-hour rollout that transforms expense tracking from a manual headache into a streamlined, automated workflow.

Tracy Bristow from Ballparks of America in Branson, Missouri, discusses one of the most unique youth sports complexes in the country. Tracy explains their "stay and play" model, where 11- to 13-year-old teams live in on-campus dorms for week-long, World Series-style tournaments. Unlike traditional venues, the fun at Ballparks of America doesn't end when the game is over. The lights stay on until midnight for wiffle ball, flag football, and team bonding. The facility features five incredible replica fields, including a "Boston" field complete with its own Green Monster, allowing kids to feel like they’re playing in the big leagues. Tracy highlights the full-service nature of the campus, which includes a dedicated cafeteria for players, a restaurant for parents, and a nostalgic ice cream shop. Visit BallparksofAmerica.com to view upcoming summer tournaments and book your team's next big trip.

Joseph Bilik, CEO and Founder of Bluebird Procurement, discusses an exciting new strategic partnership with Maintenance Care. Joe explains how Bluebird’s expertise in strategic sourcing and vendor management integrates seamlessly with the Maintenance Care platform, creating a "central repository" for all facility data. This collaboration allows multi-site operators to eliminate fragmented data, and gain total visibility over their assets, contracts, and PM schedules. By utilizing Bluebird’s vetted vendor network alongside Maintenance Care’s software, facility managers can master forward capital planning. Visit BluebirdProcurement.com to see how this partnership can transform your portfolio management.

Rita Mitchell, Regional General Manager for Sports Facilities Companies, talks about managing some of the most complex recreation spaces in the world. Rita oversees the revolutionary Davis Center at Harlem Meer in Central Park, which transforms from an ice rink in the winter, a turf field in the spring, and a swimming pool in the summer. Rita explains the technical challenges of maintaining indoor ice in the summer, emphasizing the critical role of humidity control and high-efficiency refrigeration. From her 35 years of experience, to the intricate ecosystem-integrated architecture of Central Park, Rita offers a fascinating look at the cutting edge of facility management.

Joe Bilik, Founder and CEO of Bluebird Procurement, details the rigorous standards behind their "Strategic Vendor Partner Program." Joe explains that Bluebird goes beyond simple buying power, by vetting vendors through strict history checks, proactive management styles, contractually binding Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). This deep level of quality control ensures that every service call and preventive maintenance task is clearly documented and compliant with safety and liability requirements. By integrating this trusted vendor network with the Maintenance Care platform, facility owners gain a transparent, high-visibility solution that guarantees both operational excellence, and essential risk management

Edward Robeznieks, the VP of Sales and Marketing at Surge Learning, explains how their platform provides essential compliance training for healthcare workers. He emphasizes that the system helps facilities avoid penalties and ensures patient safety by keeping their training and policies current with government regulations.

Joseph Bilik, Founder and CEO of Bluebird Procurement, discusses the vital intersection of maintenance and strategic sourcing. He shares his journey from leading global portfolios to launching his own firm, driven by the belief that procurement should be a strategic partner rather than just a cost center. Joe explains how Bluebird Procurement helps facility leaders who manage large, multi-site portfolios ranging from 5 to 100 million square feet, unlock massive value through tailored vendor partnerships. From core OpEx services like HVAC and janitorial, to large-scale CapEx construction projects, Joe reveals his process for vetting trusted partners based on decades of relationship building. Visit BluebirdProcurement.com to learn more.

Marie-Anne Bazerghi discusses the innovative non-pharmaceutical dementia care offered by Eugeria, such as interactive projectors and hydroponics for purposeful activities to manage difficult behaviors, and ease staff burden. Eugeria provides these tested products and training globally for positive outcomes in long-term care homes.

Lolo Chiweshe, a Personal Support Worker (PSW) in a long-term care dementia unit, and also serves as a PSW champion for continuing education school boards in Ontario. Lolo shares her passion for her job, explaining that she resonates with the elderly's frustrations, due to her own past experience with postpartum anxiety, mental health, and depression. She discusses how her personal journey led her to become a PSW, and highlights the critical need for more PSWs in the industry, aiming to inspire high school students to consider a career in healthcare, even if it's a stepping stone to becoming a nurse or doctor.

Jean Bonnet, who previously worked as a senior claims analyst, talks with Dan about his personal journey, and satisfaction with his new career. Jean sought a new challenge, and a more fulfilling role where he could directly interact with people, as his previous job left him feeling "invisible" behind a computer. He highly recommends the PSW profession to anyone seeking a rewarding and satisfying way to make a living.

Dan Roberge interviews Dino Roberge, discussing the significant growth and evolution of their company, Maintenance Care CMMS, over the past four years. Dino highlights the transformation from basic, direct lead generation and support calls to a more diverse and process-driven operation with a focus on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and streamlined client interactions. They detail the expansion of their team, particularly in sales, from a handful of staff to dedicated departments for sales, training, and IT, leading to a more "well-oiled machine." Dino emphasizes the improved customer experience, noting that clients now interact with multiple specialists throughout their journey, from lead inquiry to software implementation and ongoing support. He attributes their growing success and rise in the CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) industry to their exceptional service, prompt responsiveness, and ability to cater to a global client base, including major chains in North America and international clients in places like Qatar and Australia.

Dan Roberge interviews Jolanta Linde, the Executive Director of Dom Lipa, a Slovenian Linden Foundation Care Home. Jolanta discusses the multifaceted role of an Executive Director in long-term care, highlighting the need for adaptability, a willingness to grow, and the ability to wear "many hats." She shares her unconventional path to the position, revealing how her background in stage management unexpectedly prepared her for organizational leadership. Jolanta also touches on Dom Lipa's use of Maintenance Care software, specifically praising the value of the automated temperature sensors for compliance and workload reduction.

Dan interviews Mike Dier at the Advantage Ontario Convention in Toronto. Mike, representing Sherwood Park Manor, a long-term care facility, discusses his role in running a full-time, seven-day-a-week physiotherapy program. He highlights their proactive approach to integrating physical exercise into daily care for all residents, regardless of their initial needs, rather than it being a specialized program. Mike explains how they adapt exercises to small spaces and individual needs, and looks forward to a new, larger physio department as part of a redevelopment. He emphasizes the benefits of their program in reducing falls by improving balance and mobility, and in promoting overall health and even reversing decline in some residents, noting that their unique full-time physiotherapy program offers consistent care that many other long-term care homes lack.

Dan Roberge talks with Sasha Johnston, who is attending the Advantage Conference in downtown Toronto for the first time as a partner of Age Inc., a company that develops educational programs. She is a master coach for Age Inc., where her primary role is to coach other coaches who deliver the Gentle Persuasive Approaches (GPA) and Dementia Care program. This eight-hour in-person, hands-on education is taught across Canada to frontline workers caring for individuals living with dementia, focusing on communication and practical techniques for de-escalation, especially in situations of risk. Age Inc. recently released a new program called GPA Bathing, which addresses the challenges of bathing or showering individuals with cognitive disorders. Sasha, an RN with a background in behavioral nursing, gained her expertise working in a secure unit with major neurocognitive disorders and other complex conditions, finding the work meaningful and impactful in spreading cultural change within the care system.

Dan chats with Melissa, who is attending the Advantage Seniors show for the first time. Melissa, from Clinton, Ontario, works at Huron View Home for the Aged as the manager of IPAC and environmental services, overseeing laundry and housekeeping for about 15 staff members. She finds communication challenges with maintenance regarding room turnovers. With only six months in her current role, Melissa notes the significant differences between long-term care and her prior experience in hospital emergency nursing.

Odelia shares insights into modern care home facility operations. She discussed navigating the "exciting times" of COVID-19, highlighting the significant difficulty in admitting new residents due to lengthy waitlists and a lack of system capacity, which often forces people to move far from family. Odelia details a recent overhaul of their facility's maintenance care system, where the building was divided into areas and assets categorized for better reporting, ultimately aiming to predict future maintenance needs and optimize capital investments. Finally, she touched upon evolving sector regulations, noting that new requirements mandate a social or healthcare background for certain care home administrative positions.

Dan speaks with Tara Morelli, Director of Care at a Long Term Care Home. She shares her experiences at the Avantage Ontario Long-Term Care Conference in Toronto, marking her third year attending. She actively networks, checks out vendors, and has spoken at the conference for the past two years, despite finding public speaking challenging. This year, she presented to an audience of around 120 people. Having started her role in 2020, Tara navigated significant changes in the long-term care sector, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the industry has learned valuable lessons, and become more responsive. She finds the use of maintenance reports from the Maintenance Care CMMS software across multiple sites incredibly useful for tracking operations and identifying barriers. Tara identifies managing various departments and constant communication as the biggest challenge in her role.

Dan speaks with Katelyn Burns, the acting administrator of Shalom Village in Hamilton. She is currently overseeing the entire long-term care home, managing numerous department heads, and approximately 260 staff across 127 long-term care beds and 81 assisted living rooms. With a background in recreation and leisure services, including experience as a recreation manager, business manager, educator, and an administrator course, she unexpectedly found the biggest challenge in her new role to be the implementation and integration of various software systems, such as Maintenance Care and PointClickCare. While she mainly submits work orders through Maintenance Care CMMS, the maintenance team heavily relies on it for reports and task tracking. Katelyn also highlights the significant stress of ensuring compliance across all departments, which often interlink, necessitating extensive auditing to keep track of all required information for ministry reports.

Dan Roberge and Phil Boone discuss Phil's three-year tenure at Maintenance Care, where he's become a product specialist, completing over 500 demos, and mentoring new staff on strategy and setup. Phil's daily responsibilities include client outreach, customer service, new business acquisition, and live demonstrations.

In this video, host Phil Boone talks with Kinsey Lehigh, a Registered Practical Nurse (RPN) with Stay at Home Nursing, where she's been since 2019. The company provides personal support and in-home care in the Niagara, Hamilton, and greater Toronto areas. Kinsey, who started in the field and worked her way up to management, values her "foot on the ground" experience, which helps her understand the logistics of home care from both the client and administrative perspectives. She also mentions their sister company, CHAH Technologies (CHAH.ai), which focuses on integrating AI programs, wearable devices, cameras, and lidar machines to help individuals stay in their homes longer. Stay at Home Nursing can be found at stayathomenursing.com

Phil Boone interviews Daniel Beard, a representative from Lion Health Care, a staffing agency that provides essential personnel for long-term care and retirement homes across Canada. Daniel, with five years at the company, explains their services range from nurses and housekeeping to dietary staff and security, including unique one-to-one security agents who offer companionship and specialized care for residents, especially those with dementia. He shares his background in security and social work, even mentioning his non-profit, Exercise Success, which promotes physical activity for mental and physical well-being.

At the Together We Care conference, Steve from Evac Chair highlighted his company's evacuation chairs and power stair climbers. These essential devices safely evacuate individuals during emergencies, utilizing friction technology for easy operation. Steve shared compelling stories, including their chairs saving lives during 9/11 and a $26 million lawsuit against a school for not having one during a fire drill, underscoring their critical importance. The company offers free online training and ships worldwide.

In this video, Dan Roberge interviews Tenzin Woser, an Executive Director at REKAI, a long-term care home with two current locations, and a third under construction. Tenzin discusses the challenges of managing an older facility. She shares her 17-year journey with REKAI, starting as a nurse and progressing through various roles to her current leadership position, emphasizing the importance of dedication alongside formal courses. Tenzin also talks about REKAI's decade-long use of Maintenance Care software, explaining how she now uses it to monitor the completion of tasks and work orders, either by logging in directly, or reviewing scheduled reports.

In this video, Dan Roberge interviews Mark Seidenfeld, the representative for BCI Networks, a company focused on an "AI-driven care ecosystem." Seidenfeld explains that the elder care industry has traditionally relied on residents to signal when they need help, which is inefficient given that residents are there because they can no longer fully care for themselves. BCI Networks offers a solution that moves beyond the traditional "nurse call" system by automatically collecting comprehensive data on residents' daily activities and health metrics, such as sleep quality, movement within the facility, and activity levels. This proactive approach allows caregivers to identify potential health issues, and provide care before a resident experiences a problem, significantly improving the quality and efficiency of care.

In this video, Dan Roberge interviews Dylan Conley about Life Loop, a resident engagement and staff operations platform designed for senior living communities. Dylan explains that Life Loop streamlines workflows, saving staff time and improving the resident experience. He details how the platform is used by staff, residents, and family members, with features like daily updates via an app for families and AI-powered resident bios for personalized care. Dylan emphasizes the platform's adaptability to communities of all sizes, and discusses the impact of generative AI on simplifying complex tasks like activity scheduling and promoting value-based care, by proactively engaging residents, and addressing social determinants of health.

Antoine Karachekhlian talks about VTech, a Hong Kong-based company with three main divisions: contract manufacturing, educational toys (under VTech and LeapFrog brands), and telecom. At the "Together We Care" event, VTech is showcasing how their multi-cell SIP cordless phones integrate with nurse call systems in senior and extended care facilities, allowing alerts from pull cords to be sent directly to practitioners' phones, with the ability to build a mesh network for improved connectivity.

Dan was surprised to learn that Niklas isn't just testing, but soon implementing robotics technology in senior care homes. Niklas elaborated, explaining that these "helping robots" will take on fundamental tasks like food delivery and environmental cleaning. The core benefit, he stressed, is to free up human caregivers, allowing them more time for genuine "touches and interactions" with residents, which directly translates to better overall care.Beyond day-to-day assistance, Niklas also highlighted the crucial role of robotic sensors in maintenance care, emphasizing their ability to provide live, real-time data. Dan conveyed considerable excitement about these advancements and expressed a keen interest in collaborating with Niklas on similar future projects.

This video features an interview with Edward Robeznieks about Surge, a company that provides an integrated platform for compliance-focused learning management, policy management, and quality and risk management. Robeznieks highlights Surge's significant brand recognition in Ontario, its growing presence in Western and Eastern Canada, and its commitment to creating content that helps organizations adhere to strict provincial regulations. He also discusses the company's strategy for expanding beyond Ontario, targeting rural hospitals and long-term care facilities in other provinces, while acknowledging the unique challenges of markets like Quebec due to government-provided training.

In this podcast, Dan talks with our special guest, Eric Igbokwe from Zephyr Staffing Solutions, a fully digital staffing platform that leverages AI to efficiently match healthcare facilities with qualified nurses and personal support workers (PSWs). When a healthcare professional registers, the platform uses APIs to verify their credentials, conduct digital ID verification, and perform interviews to ensure their information is genuine, and they meet all necessary requirements, including police and vulnerable sector checks. This thorough vetting process, handled by the platform, ensures that only the best candidates are presented to agencies. When a facility requests staff, the AI matches their specific criteria with registered professionals, and the system automatically notifies the best-matched candidate, moving to the next qualified individual if the first one declines.

As the administrator of an aging 151-bed Extendicare senior care home in Scarborough, Toby oversees a small maintenance team and utilizes the "Maintenance Care" software. A core policy mandates that all non-urgent maintenance requests be logged in the system; otherwise, they won't be addressed. However, significant issues such as severe leaks or structural failures are handled immediately and directly, bypassing the digital logging system. As one of the youngest administrators, Toby's main challenge is earning the trust of his more experienced team and securing their acceptance of his decisions, often needing to rely on logic rather rather than extensive personal experience.

In our continuing series of energy-saving solutions, we're joined by Neil Horne from Gold Leaf Energy. He's here to talk to us about a common but often overlooked issue: water scaling in your pipes. Let's dive in and check out what Neil has to say.

In this interview, we chat with Nicole Belanger from Marquise Hospitality, a division of Compass Group that partners with over 200 long-term care and retirement communities in Canada. Nicole explains how Marquise helps organizations focus on care by handling food service, hospitality, and environmental needs. We also dive into the evolving landscape of senior care, Marquise's innovative "Marquise Diner" booth, and the power of DISC assessment in improving team communication. Finally, get a sneak peek at their brand new podcast, "Marquise Moments," featuring diverse guests and thought leadership in the long-term care sector.

Hear from our implementation team about the positive impact our software has on our customers! They share stories of how we've transformed daily operations, moving clients from paper-based processes to efficient digital workflows. Discover the quick turnaround and personalized support that sets us apart.

In this episode of TechTalks for Senior Care, Paul Szymanski, IT Manager at Maintenance Care, takes you behind the scenes from product development to testing, and how we use data to deliver smart, responsive support.

Energy efficiency isn’t just good for the planet—it’s good for your budget too.In Part 1 of our new energy-saving series on TechTalks, we sit down with Neil Horne, Owner & President of Gold Leaf Energy, to discuss practical strategies for reducing energy waste in your facilities.From quick wins to long-term investments, this conversation is packed with insights that facility managers can use today.

New TechTalks for Senior Care podcast episode just dropped! This week, we're joined by David Wilkings and Cameron Micules from Niuz, the Canadian-based employee engagement platform built to eliminate frustration and foster connection. With Niuz, you can: - Share info instantly—like social media, but for work. - Communicate securely across your entire staff. - Empower everyone to engage with likes, comments, and celebrations. It's time to say goodbye to outdated bulletin boards and hello to a more connected, collaborative culture.

Managing facilities for long-term residents with mobility challenges isn’t your typical maintenance job—it’s a whole new level of care and precision. Leon DeLuca, Director of Facilities & Maintenance at Coast Hotels, knows this firsthand. In our kickoff episode of Tech Talks for Senior Care for 2025, Leon takes us through his unique career path, from hospitality to senior care and back again. Along the way, he discovered how Maintenance Care helped make a difference—streamlining maintenance operations and improving outcomes for residents and guests alike.

In this episode we do something a little different. We've gathered our Sales Team in a conversation with our General Manager, Dino Roberge, to discuss what they think of Maintenance Care and their experiences with our customers. We cover some of the fundamental benefits of the software as well as discuss where the customers see the biggest value from using our Maintenance CMMS solution. This is our first Round Table!

In this conversation, Dan Roberge interviews Joe Meier, about his experience implementing a maintenance software called Maintenance Care. Initially, Joe was skeptical about adopting the software, having considered multiple options and focused on understanding its practicality and cost. After several months of discussions with Dan, they decided to trial the software at a couple of locations, leading to significant efficiency improvements. Joe recounts challenges during the transition, particularly with staff who were resistant to change or concerned about being monitored. He emphasized the importance of demonstrating the software's benefits over time, which ultimately helped staff adapt. Feedback after a few months showed a notable reduction in communication issues and an increase in task completion.

Dan Roberge interviews Christopher Lehman from ElephasCare, a company focused on using radar and AI technology to enhance resident monitoring in senior care, particularly for individuals with dementia or cognitive decline.

We sit down with Rob Shea from AgeCare Communities, who oversees more than 50 senior care locations across Canada. Rob shares insights into how he keeps his teams motivated and organized. He discusses his extensive experience in the senior care industry, from managing large facilities to embracing technology like Maintenance Care to streamline operations. Rob explains the benefits of reducing paper use by digitizing important documents and how his team utilizes technology for compliance and efficiency.

Daniel Monahan, the maintenance director at the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter in New York, shares his experience of managing a maintenance team using paper-based methods. He discusses how he combines paper and technology to stay organized and communicate with his team. Daniel emphasizes the importance of common sense and flexibility in maintenance work, as well as the need for clear communication with the chief financial officer. He also shares tips for observing and understanding the needs of different buildings and addressing maintenance issues proactively.