Rain does not deter crowds at ISC East

NEW YORK--It was raining so hard here on Sept. 11, the first day of ISC East, that in a few small spots it actually rained inside the Jacob Javits Center. The show went on, however, and the clouds cleared for day two to reveal a bright, sunny day, that greeted a good crowd (estimated at 12,000, including the concurrent Infosecurity show, by Reed Exhibitions) walking the floor and visiting the 800 combined exhibitors. Honeywell's traditional beige-and-red booth was front and center on the show floor. Crowded with both staff and visitors, Honeywell executives were directing attention to "Total Connect Services," a new web-application service offering (Honeywell's senior vice president Ken Weinstein noted that a service offering in and of itself is something new for this manufacturer) that allows a customer, business or residential, to control an alarm system via email, web browser or cell phone. Honeywell is rolling out the service slowly, to a few dealers at a time, to give it time to refine the message, to find out what the customers really like best about the system, and to develop dealer training programs. "We want to offer dealers a total package for Total Connect," said Doug Eaton, head of Honeywell's dealer development group. ISC East coincided with "Fashion Week" in NYC this year, and while security and style aren't always synonymous, there were some new, spiffy booths. Among the hippest was ADI's new booth, with see-through walls, red accents, and a second-story meeting space. Yvonne Hao, vice president, ADI North America, was at her first show in her new role overseeing operations in North America (see related story, on page 1). Asked what would make the show successful for her group, she said it was "customer meetings and seeing the vendors," of which she'd already seen several mid-way through the first day. Some companies who'd sat out the show for a couple years returned this year. CooperWheelock, which in the spring acquired mass notification company Madahcom, had a booth for the first time in three years, said Renee Rivera, marketing administrator for CooperWheelock. As with last year, ISC East was co-located with Infosecurity, though this time both shows were on the same floor. Also returning this year were special "show within a show" sections for "Smart Home" companies and "Urban Security" companies. In addition, the traffic in the hallways off of the show floor showed good attendance at the classes offered by the IP Institute (the one-day Physical Security Network Associate training and the two-day Physical Security Network Professional training) and industry group meetings for the likes of the Security Industry Association and the National Burglar & Fire Alarm Association.