"Chart Your Course to Profit"

May 3, 2011

"Chart Your Course to Profit" was the theme of this year's International Association of Professional Security Consultants (IAPSC) annual conference recently held in San Diego, California. The first day conference topics included:

  • Building Client Trust and Confidence - Jim Lichtman
  • Using Digital Images in the Consultant Report - Elliot Boxerbaum, M.A., CPP, CSC
  • Illuminating Your Lighting Experience - Dave Aggelton, CPP, CSC
  • Advanced Applications of Video Surveillance Technology - Mark S. Bennett, CPP, CSC
  • The Dynamics of Marketing Leverage - Jennifer Beever, CMC

The concurrent breakout sessions for day 1 of the conference were:

  • Holistic Convergence Consulting - Richard Grassie, CPP
  • Tactics and Techniques for Effective Depositions - Brian Brining

Day 2 conference topics were:

  • Turning RFP's (Request for Proposals) Into Winning Proposals - Harold C. Gillens, PSP, CFC, CHS-III
  • Consultant Collaboration: The Sum is Greater Than the Parts - Jerry Vieira
  • Dealing With an Active Shooter - Alan W. Zajic, CPP, CSC & Anthony V. DiSalvatore, CCP, PSP, PCI, CFE, CLSD
  • Neighborhood Crime Statistics: A New Approach to Evaluating Crime - Andrew Schiller
  • Innovate or Die! - Mike Van Horn, CMC
  • Streamline the Business of Security Consulting with the Latest Office Technologies - Panel Discussion

The day 2 concurrent breakout sessions were:

  • Basic Considerations in Access Control System and CCTV System Design - Panel Discussion
  • The Breakdown and Analysis of Security Design Litigation Cases - Panel Discussion

The last day of the conference consisted of a panel discussion of, The 12 Lethal Mistakes Consultants Make and Putting It All Together by John (Jack) D. Case, CPP. This last session has been put on by Jack Case for the last few conferences and has turned out to be one of my favorites. Each attendee speaks about one topic (at least) that they found interesting and will take home and implement in their consulting practice.

Conference sponsors this year included:
Platinum Plus - ASSA ABLOY, Ingersoll Rand Security Technologies, Lenel, a UTC Fire & Security Company, Viscount Systems, Inc. and Schneider Electric.

Platinum sponsors - Honeywell International, Inc., Milestone Systems and Mobotix.

Gold Plus sponsors - Automatic Systems and HID Global.

Gold sponsors - Besam Entrance Solutions, Boon Edam, Design Security, Inc., Holmes Murphy & Associates, OnSSI, PELCO by Schneider Electric, Tyco Security Products, Verint Intelligence Solutions c/o Czarnowski, Video IQ and Vumii Imaging, Inc.

I called out the vendor sponsors as they provide tremendous support to the conference. During the breaks, conference attendees take well advantage of visiting the sponsor booths.The individual sponsors were also given time before each conference session to tell us about their products.

My takeaway from this years event were many, but one idea that struck me, from the "Putting It All Together" session, was building a webpage that was "Smart Phone" compliant. I tried looking at my website through one of my son's smart phones and it was truly ugly. The site was very hard to navigate. The day after returning to the Philadelphia area I built a smart phone page.

My goal in listing all of the topics of this years conference was to give you an idea of how well rounded the topics are at these IAPSC conferences. Of course, the topics change from year to year, but are always very informative and I always take away much information. The IAPSC conference is held on alternating coasts and for the 2012 conference, the location will be the Eden Roc Renaissance in Miami Beach, Florida. The conference dates are set for April 15-18th. Whether you're a budding or seasoned consultant, or maybe thinking of starting your own consulting practice, this is one conference you want to attend.

Although this years conference broke all attendance records it still remains a small, intimate gathering where you have the opportunity to visit one-on-one with some of the most experienced and noted Security Consultants from around the world. If you're interested in learning more about the IAPSC visit their website.

See you in Miami Beach!

Curtis Baillie, CSC - Security Consulting Strategies, LLC