Annual gathering of security industry offers commerce, content and community
This year's ISC West 2006 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center, Las Vegas has once again exceeded the expectations of the security industry. With many new programming and product offerings, a world-class educational program, and the numerous networking opportunities both on and off-the show floor, ISC West continues to surpass others as the premier, annual gathering of security product manufacturers, dealers, installers, integrators and end-user security professionals - the majority of which are senior level and/or business owner decision-makers.
Final attendance numbers will be available pending a third-party audit conducted by Exhibit Surveys, Red Bank, NJ. In early 2005, Reed Exhibitions, producers of the ISC events, announced that it would be auditing the majority of its events in the US. Reed Exhibitions was the first large trade show producer to make that commitment to its exhibiting customers.
With approximately a 20 percent increase in show floor space (273,000 in '06) and 955 exhibiting companies (up 15 percent from 2005's 825 companies), ISC West featured several product and international pavilions including China, Korea, and Taiwan and product-focused areas such as CCTV, Access Control and Biometrics to make product sourcing much more efficient.
"We launched our remote portable wireless monitoring system, Site-Guard at this year's ISC West," said Dave Underwood, VP Business Development at AC Data Systems, Inc. of Post Falls, Idaho. "The customer feedback and response was overwhelming as it provided validation for the product's industry application. Our goal for the show was to launch the product, obtain feedback from prospects and garner sales leads. ISC West exceeded our expectations as we received leads from 28 states and 4 countries. To date, our show follow-up has been great. We were so pleased with ISC West's results that we signed on for ISC East 2006 in New York and ISC West in 2007."
Some of the ISC West enhancements and new programming include the successful debut of the Urban Security at ISC West, show-within-show. Here, the focus was on public and municipal security and featured 102 exhibitors in approximately 20,000 square feet of space. Urban Security featured new companies with cutting-edge technologies and solutions for municipal and urban applications and provided numerous sourcing opportunities for Federal/ state/municipal, emergency management, first responders (law enforcement) and end-user security professionals who comprise roughly 30 percent of the ISC West audience.
This year's event also marked the debut of the ISC West Show Daily, an on-site publication editorially devoted to capturing all of the news and newsmakers-at this year's event. In addition, the New Product Showcase (NPS) presented by ISC West and SIA, increased its level of new product entrants by 15 percent (For the entire list of New Product Winners visit: www.sianps.com). The 8th annual Industry Summit featured former and first Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, who applauded the security industry's significant contribution to US security, to a standing-room-only audience. The NBFAA conducted its 3rd Annual AIREF Golf Tournament and Reception, which combined fun, charitable contributions, and networking opportunities for several hundred-industry stakeholders.
"We are very pleased with the success of the 2006 event," commented Dean Russo, group vice president for the ISC portfolio of events, "as it validates to us that we are making significant and meaningful contributions to the sustained growth of the security sector. ISC West continues to offer numerous advantages to the International security community through business building and networking opportunities, by imparting thought-leadership on trends and protocols affecting business, and unparalleled access to the U.S. security marketplace. All of this, however, would not be possible without the contribution of our esteemed industry partners: SIA, NBFAA and the CAA."
SIA hosted several committee meetings for its Education, Standards and Industry Groups, while the NBFAA, CAA, CSAA and other groups held member meetings concurrently with the event.
Debut of ISC education
The ISC West education program offered complete, in-depth educational opportunities for virtually every security professional. From pre-show, behind-the-scenes Casino Tours to the debut of the IP Institute full-day certification program, ISC education meets the diverse educational and professional development needs of all security professionals. The increase in IP-based integrated security systems has shown a need for designers and technicians to develop different skill sets than those used for traditional security systems. In addition to understanding intrusion protection, video surveillance and access control systems, security professionals also need to know how to make those devices work together to perform as a single, seamless, integrated system. The IP institute was completely sold out at this year's ISC West.
"This was the first conference I have attended that set out to address and provide meaningful information and advice in a commercial context, well done! The quality and more importantly the subject matter on many of the sessions provided a great deal of information that I will be able to use in my business, I do hope to return to ISC West in 2007," commented Neil McLean, Security Services Manager, RAA Security Services, Australia.
Media coverage remains high
Information and security products remain in the media's agenda for coverage and this year's ISC offered a cornucopia of products and services to the press. Several local television affiliates came to the show floor to cover the newest security products designed to protect both commercial and residential facilities. These included ABC and FOX. About 100 media registered for the event.
"In addition to reaching the dealer/integrator and end-user by exhibiting at ISC West, the event also offers numerous opportunities for exposure to the consumer. This helps create demand for product," Russo said.
