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Hope “Springs” Eternal

Hope “Springs” Eternal

So what if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning? To quote the Godfather of Soul James Brown, I feel good!

Why, you ask? I’m in the process of booking my flights and hotels for ISC West in Las Vegas in March and our SecurityNext conference in April in Nashville, and I couldn’t be more excited to attend both of these shows, as I hope all of you are!

The sad reality is that many of us been cooped up these last two-plus years, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, and are just itching to get to a security industry trade show.

We asked our readers in a recent News Poll whether you were planning to attend in-person trade shows this year, and approximately 57 percent of respondents plan on going to in-person events such as ISC West and SecurityNext.

The poll results indicate that security professionals want to get out and see other industry folks to check out the latest technologies, conduct business, attend invaluable training sessions, and just network.

I know I was eager to attend ISC East last November (which happened to be my first security industry trade show), and just walking the show floor that first day at the Javits Center in NYC got my juices flowing, as I’m sure those who attended ISC East would attest.

Yes, ISC East was right in my backyard as I’m NYC born and bred, but now I’ve got my adrenaline pumping as I look forward to hopping on a plane in 47 days (but who’s counting) to go to Vegas, baby, Vegas! (Props to Vince Vaughn for that line)

And just one month after ISC West, the entire Security Systems News crew will be getting back on that plane and instead of going west, we’ll be heading down south as we proudly present our SecurityNext conference in Nashville, Tennessee, taking place April 25-27 at The Westin Nashville!

It’s been two years since our last SecurityNext conference in New Orleans, but it seems like forever since we’ve been able to come together and host our soiree that brings the security industry together for three days of informative sessions, keynote addresses, roundtable discussions, exhibits, and of course, awards presentations.

Our program will be up on our SecurityNext site next week, but having gotten a sneak peek this week at the lineup of speakers planned for our conference, it would be an understatement to say that this is a can’t-miss event!

Since the event is in Nashville, I’ll give “y’all” a teaser on who is speaking at SecurityNext. How about names like Steve Van Till, President and CEO, Brivo; Pierre Bourgeix, Senior Partner, Butchko•ESI; John Mack, Imperial Capital; Kasia Hanson, Global Director, Edge AI Sales – Safety & Security, Intel Corp.; Martin Renkis, General Manager, Cloud Solutions Global Security Products, Johnson Controls; Antoinette King, Founder, Credo Cyber Consulting LLC; Michael Barnes, Founding Partner, Barnes Associates, and Integrated Security Technologies Inc. (IST) Co-Founders Christine and Andrew Lanning, just to name a few?

In addition to the stellar lineup of sessions, we’ll be hosting an opening night reception on the rooftop of The Westin Nashville on April 25, so don’t you dare miss that!

And of course, what would a SecurityNext conference be without the Security Systems News “40 under 40” and Security Legends Award Reception on Tuesday, April 26.

On this festive evening, we will honor and celebrate the 2021 "40 under 40" award winners, made up of prominent young security leaders from the integrator, consultant, dealer, monitoring, and end-user classes, as well as present the Security Legend Award. This certainly is a prime opportunity to toast some of the security industry’s best and brightest!

Again, this is just a teaser. Stay tuned next week as we unveil the complete lineup of speakers and the entire SecurityNext program. Don’t worry, you won’t be disappointed. 

I’m sure my SSN colleagues would agree with me when I say that I can’t wait for ISC West and SecurityNext! So much to look forward to in the spring. Sorry, Punxsutawney Phil!

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