ORLANDO, Fla. – The community programs dealers have created and participated in were recognized and awarded at the the First Alert 2002 convention, held Nov. 7-9 in Orlando. The event drew more than 700 dealers and was First Alert’s second-largest convention ever. The main theme of the event was focused on First Alert dealers, their customers and ordinary citizens making a difference.
Some of the community programs awarded included Guardian Int’l of Hollywood, Fla. Through its program, the company has distributed Halloween reflection stickers to place on children’s clothing for protection, held Red Cross blood drives and K-9 police dog donation drives. The company also distributed 100,000 children ID kits. Electronix Systems of Huntington Station, N.Y., was also awarded for its monthly bingo fundraisers and donated public assistance vehicles.
One of the best attended seminars was by John Brady from TRG. Entitled “People Making the Difference,” Brady talked about many of the programs First Alert has for its dealers. He also focused on the major challenge of attracting newly qualified people to dealer programs.
Technical seminars placed considerable emphasis on home automation, integration and Internet connectivity. One of the speakers was Gordon Hope, vice president of marketing for Ademco Group, who discussed secured Internet monitoring and the company’s AlarmNeti product, which currently has 180,000 customers with 280 companies.
First Alert’s 2003 convention will have a Wild West theme and will be held Nov. 13-16 in Scottsdale, Ariz.
