A time to celebrate …

I know, many of you clicked on the title thinking, “celebrate? Does this guy realize we are in part two of a pandemic?!” But, seriously, the entire world as we know it can’t wait to countdown to 2021, and distance ourselves as much as possible from a year that was fraught with uncertainty and challenges, pushing many of us to dig down to places we didn’t even know existed for strength and resilience, and to recalibrate ourselves to this – I promise I’m not going to say “new normal” – new world we now find ourselves living in.

But as we look back on 2020, it is important to stay positive, give thanks for what we have and celebrate what makes our lives, and the security industry, so great. With that in mind, I felt it was important to draw attention to some of the exciting things that are going on here at Security Systems News, as much of it involves celebrating what makes the security industry so special.

In our December print issue alone, we announced our Class of 2020 “40 under 40” winners, as well as the 12 women we chose with the Security Industry Association (SIA) Women in Security Forum (WISF) to highlight throughout 2021 in each issue of the publication. Please be sure to look for the special “40 under 40” and “Women in Security” sections in the print issue, two new sections devoted to highlighting these incredible security professionals who are helping to reshape the security industry and bring some new perspectives to an industry that is finally becoming more diverse.

In addition, many of our past and present “40 under 40” winners, as well as many of the women we have highlighted in our women in security features, are speaking at our SecurityNext virtual conference, which is set for Feb. 24-25, 2021.

And just to get you a bit more excited for 2021, we will soon be announcing our 2020 Legend Award winner. If you remember, PSA’s Bill Bozeman and consultant Jim Henry were our inaugural award winners in 2019. We will be celebrating all of our 40 under 40 winners and our 2020 Security Legend award winner at a virtual award ceremony during SecurityNext, so be sure to sign up for the conference and come celebrate with us!

Look forward to raising a glass with you all to an amazing 2021!