PRESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVE Access Education at ALOA and Beyond H ere we are after the first month of 2019. I hope every- one had a wonderful holiday season and is looking forward to embracing this excit- ing New Year that’s full of possibilities and opportunities! Hopefully you have taken the time to develop a plan for the upcoming year and are ready to reap the rewards. If not, there is no better time than the present! While you’re at it, take some time to plan which industry events and educational venues you and your co- workers or employees can partake of in the months ahead. There are many events to choose from and you and your business will benefit from attending them. No matter what specific field you are in or might be looking to expand into, there are many events that you will benefit from attending. SAFETECH is coming up in Lexington, KY, April 1-6, and of course the ALOA Convention and Security Expo is back in Fabulous Las Vegas, NV, August 11-17. You can find more information on both of these events online at www.aloa.org. Be sure to mark your calendar and make plans to attend. There are also many other shows and educational opportunities across the country worth checking out, including classes at ALOA’s training center in Dal- las. In my local region, I am personally looking forward to attending the Tennes- see Organization of Locksmiths (TOOL) educational event on March 9-10, the WWW.ALOA.ORG North Carolina Locksmith Association (NCLA) tradeshow on February 9 and the Alabama Locksmith Association (ALA) tradeshow on March 16. I have attended these tradeshows in the past, and both NCLA and ALA do a fantastic job and put on a great event. Each of them also has technical classes you can attend, many of which are taught by ALOA instructors. Whether you go for the classes, the trade- show or the endless networking oppor- tunities, there is something for everyone at each of them. The Future of Lockmsithing As you’ll see, several of the articles in this month’s issue of Keynotes focus on elec- tronic access control and electronic com- ponents. With so many electronic prod- ucts entering the market each year, this is one of the fastest-growing — and fastest- changing — segments of the physical se- curity industry. There have been so many changes in technology over the past few years, and we’ve seen consumers begin to incorporate these changes throughout their lives. Heck, even Amazon is getting involved with their Amazon Key smart lock program that lets packages be deliv- ered inside customers’ homes. Whether or not you want more tech- nology intrusion into your lives, busi- nesses and customer requests, it’s here to stay. As this market continues to expand, it would be advantageous to all security professionals to get training in electronic access control and then put those skills to use. d developed and amended classes to help you get on board with this service area. At the upcoming ALOA Convention in Las Vegas, we are offering several classes that can help. Among those are Electronic Access for Locksmiths, Basic Electricity for Locksmiths, Beyond the Basics of Access Control, Plug and Play CCTV and Basic Electricity and Wiring Techniques. If you can’t make the convention (but you really should try to attend!), check the ALOA Education calendar on ALOA. org for the most up-to-date information about other classes being offered. I hope you’re now excited about all the educational opportunities available to you this year. Have fun learning and ex- panding your business in 2019! Respectfully, Jim Wiedman, CML President ALOA Security Professionals Association, Inc. [email protected] FEBRUARY 2019 KEYNOTES 5
