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Shameless promotion

It is my great pleasure to once again be hosting a pair of forums at ESX, both of them geared, like this very issue, toward finding and cultivating young talent in the security industry. 
Of course, some talent hardly has a choice about whether it wants to be in the industry or not. We have a huge swath of young people gearing up to take over the family business, and many of them could use some help. 
Hence the “Next Generation” forum, which will feature Shandon Harbor, president of SDA Security; Trevor McEnaney, general manager of Knight Security; Jim Wooster, president of Alarm Financial Services; and Bob Wilgos, president of Laurel Financial Consultants. How's that for a collection of titles?
Seriously, though, Shandon and Trevor can give first-hand accounts of the difficult financial and intra-family decisions that have to be made when it comes time to pass a business from one generation to the next. Meanwhile, Jim and Bob can talk about what you need to do to prepare your business financially for a transition (hint: start thinking about it really early). Far too many businesses leave family hands because there simply isn't enough capital for the family to both keep operating the company and provide for the retirement of the older generation. 
Secondly, there is the question of where you might find young talent if you can't happen upon it through natural reproduction. That's where the “Rising Stars” forum comes in. This will feature Beth Tarnoff, the marketing director for Stanley Convergent Solutions; Andrew Stadler, the director of business development for Security Partners; and Sam Vinicur, president of recruiting firm Total Search Solutions. 
Beth and Andrew will talk about how they came into the security industry, how their perceptions changed once they got here, and what we can do to better market the industry outside our little fiefdoms. 
Sam has the unenviable task of actually recruiting people into the industry. He'll talk about what's working and what's not (hint: paychecks talk loudly).
Already we're seeing real traction in addressing what many see as the growing problem of keeping the industry alive with new blood. The progress is in the faces of the people in our 20 Under 40 section this month and it is in the ranks of the Young Security Professionals (nearly all of them legacy types, however), who make their debut at ESX in Baltimore.
So come see me, June 24, in Baltimore, between 1:30 and 4:15 p.m.

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