A World of Security Draws Closer in the Desert: Sept. 24-27, Las Vegas
An estimated 25,000 security professionals from around the world descended on the Las Vegas Convention Center for the ASIS Int’l 2007 Seminar and Exhibits.
If the electronic security arena has been traditionally defined as a highly fragmented industry, ASIS provided unequivocal proof for many attendees that technology is serving to coalesce at least some of its once disparate parts.
Case in point: Internet Protocol (IP) networks and network-ready products are creating new, powerful solutions such as video surveillance combined with access control. Further defining this evolution are the numerous partnerships that were announced throughout the conference between companies looking to leverage their technologies for new applications.
“All this talk over convergence over the last three years has come together in a bigger way. The users and integrators are getting a lot more tools to work with,” Scott Schafer, Pelco’s senior vice president, marketing and North America sales, told SSI. “This show showed me a lot more than frankly I thought I would see. More standardization, more partnerships, better solutions.”
The 53rd annual conference filled 270,000 square feet of exhibition floor space, a massive stretch with more than 900 companies demonstrating security products and services. Many vendors SSI spoke with were pleased with the foot traffic throughout the event, held Sept. 24-27.
“It’s been spectacular, actually,” said VideoIQ President and CEO Scott Schnell, who demonstrated the company’s video analytics solution nonstop. “Our booth is in Timbuktu — the cheap seats — but we’ve been busy all three days.”
The largeness of it all, in some respects, may have surpassed what is manageable for many attendees, according to Dortronics Systems National Sales Manager Bryan Sanderford.
“It’s gotten so large. The tremendous amount of booths doesn’t allow enough time for the people attending classes and getting certified to see all that they want,” Sanderford said. “They end up rushing and skipping around. It’s hit and miss for them.”
The ASIS conference remains a busy proposition off the show floor as well, even when the convention hall doors are shut for the night. SSI took part in many enlightening,, and often entertaining events and activities hosted by various manufacturers.
To name just a few” FLIR demonstrated its long-range thermal imaging cameras in the nighttime blackness at a desert resort; Cisco Systems hosted a dinner with some of its converged/physical security executives at a restaurant high above the dazzling Vegas Strip; Sanyo formally introduced some of its corporate executives from Japan during an evening presentation led by Frank Abram, vice president and general manager, Security Products Division; ADT’s customer appreciation party consumed the entire span of the faux Brooklyn Bridge at New York New York; and Pelco feted its clients and other guests with a celebration at a Venetian resort ballroom.
Be sure and check out SSI’s complete ASIS show report on the following industry news pages.
The 2008 ASIS expo is set for Sept. 15 -18 in Atlanta.
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