PRESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVE Success in Las Vegas D ue to the timing of events, this is the first Keynotes issue pub- lished after the 2019 ALOA Convention and Security Expo held in Las Vegas, NV. All that I can say is wow! What an event! I hope everyone who attended made it home safely and has successfully settled back into their normal hustle and bustle of life. There are so many benefits to attending these annual events, and I would find it very hard to believe that there was any- one who didn’t get something from this one! The hotel and event facilities were second to none, the hotel staff was Johnny on the spot with any issues or requests, and, unlike a lot of hotel food I’ve had in the past, theirs was actually very good. While everything that you could pos- sibly want was under one roof — includ- ing, but not limited to, a movie theater, bowling alley and 11 different restau- rants — there was also a public bus stop and private shuttle service right outside the hotel. From there, guests could go over to the Strip if they wished or even over to old downtown Vegas and Fre- mont street. We had very good attendance, with over 1,300 registrants! We had rep- resentation from 46 different states and 85 folks from outside of the U.S. We had a great turnout from vendors as well, including some who were at- tending for the first time. Floor traffic was very heavy on the first day but re- mained steady throughout both days of WWW.ALOA.ORG “There are so many benefits to attending these annual events, and I would find it very hard to believe that there was anyone who didn’t get something from this one!” the convention. Classes were also very well attended to the point that some of them had to be capped because all spots were taken. I’m not 100% sure, but I believe that I even heard that we had a record number of the five-day convention packages sold. There were quite a few awards given out during the membership meeting, including the ALOA Lifetime Achievement award presented to Mark Blum by last year’s recipient, John Hubel. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of such an honor, and John’s presentation was truly heart touching. I also personally had the honor of presenting Bill Mandlebaum with this year’s President’s Award. If you were not able to attend this year’s convention and Security Expo, I am truly sorry because you missed one heck of a great time! Just make sure that next year you take the time to plan ahead, and don’t let anything get in your way from attend- ing the 2020 ALOA Convention and Se- curity Expo in Kansas City, MO! For those who did attend ALOA 2019, I hope you had a great time, experi- enced fellowship with friends and peers and were able to take advantage of some excellent education. Hopefully you also got to see at least one new product or make one new contact that will lead to increasing your bottom line in the coming year! Respectfully, Jim Wiedman, CML President ALOA Security Professionals Association, Inc. [email protected] OCTOBER 2019 KEYNOTES 5
