FT. WORTH, TEXAS – The alarm industry descended on Ft. Worth, Texas in June as the Electronic Security Expo (ESX) celebrated its first in-person event since the pandemic. As usual, there were quite a few honors awarded by the Electronic Security Association (ESA), as well as the Security Industry Alarm Coalition (SIAC).
Kicking off the event was the installation of new ESA President and Chairman John Loud of Georgia-based LOUD Security Systems, who takes over for Jamie Vos, who helped guide the association
through the worst of the pandemic. It began a memorable week for Mr. Loud, who was also honored with SIAC's 2022 William N. Moody Award, given to individuals "who have and continue to unselfishly donate their time and talents to alarm management issues."
Loud was instrumental in the effort to encourage Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to sign and the Georgia legislature to pass a bill that bans counties and municipalities from fining alarm companies for false alarms generated by a customer.
Additionally, SIAC presented ADT with the 17th annual Police Dispatch Quality (PDQ) Award for its ongoing efforts to reduce false alarm dispatches. Read more about ADT's new System Monitoring and Response Technology (SMART) in the cover story of the May issue of Security Business at www.securityinfowatch.com/21264920.
More Individual Awards
Day three of the event kicked off with the Morris F. Weinstock Person of The Year Award, which recognizes an individual from the electronic security industry for lifetime contributions. This year's recipient was Steve Firestone, current CEO of the consultancy Firestone Strategies Group and former President of Select Security, who has spent decades volunteering on various ESA boards and committees.
"When I was notified that I would be receiving the award I was so humbled, honored and quite frankly shocked," Firestone wrote on LinkedIn. "As I reflect on my years of involvement as a volunteer leader in the association there are so many people to thank...It is one of the highest honors and most profound moments of my career. It is my hope that we can continue a spirit of community and association as we navigate today, tomorrow and beyond."
Dee Ann Harn, CEO of RFI Enterprises was honored with the ESA's Sara E. Jackson Award, which recognizes an ESA volunteer for exceptional leadership on an association committee, task force or board.
TechVision Challenge
A part of the ESX Innovation Awards, the TechVision Challenge is a "Shark Tank-like" forum where each of the Innovation Award winning product vendors (see the full list) have a chance to pitch their technology to an expert panel. Thisyear's panel was RFI's Harn, Firestone and Mark Reimer, VP of Product Engineering at ADT.
The Best-in-Show winning product was SiteOwl, a software solution that simplifies security integration and management by guiding integrators through the sales, design, installation, and ongoing lifecycle management on a project.
The runner-up product was the Spectre nano reader from STid, a multi-technology reader that quickly recognizes employees, visitors, vendors, and their vehicles - simultaneously – for hands-free access control.
2023 Venue
Finally, the ESA announced that the 2023 ESX show will be held in Louisville, Ky., on June 5-8 in the
Paul Rothman is Editor-in-Chief of Security Business magazine. Access the current issue, full archives and apply for a free subscription at www.securitybusinessmag.com.
