SSN unveils new conference, advisory board and look

YARMOUTH, Maine—There is a lot of excitement at Security Systems News these days as we unveil our new SecurityNext conference, our newly formed Editorial Advisory Board and a new look and refresh to our logo (see below), weekly Newswire and print publication.

First and foremost, we are proud to announce the new SSN Editorial Advisory Board (click here for headshots and bios) to help guide content for the publication and our SecurityNext conference, Feb. 9-11, 2020 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in New Orleans, La. The board members include:

• Rebecca Bayne, Founder, BCSI
• Pierre Bourgeix, President, ESICONVERGENT LLC
• Bill Bozeman, President and CEO, PSA Security
• Don Erickson, CEO, Security Industry Association (SIA)
• Janet Fenner, Chief Marketing Officer, Intelligent Security Systems (ISS)
• Hank Groff, Senior VP of Sales and Business Development, Dynamark Monitoring
• Jim Henry, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development, Securitas Electronic Security, Inc. (SES)
• Billy Langenstein, Director Security Services and Investigation, National Football League (NFL)
• Andrew Lanning, Founder, Integrated Security Technologies Inc (IST)
• Christine Lanning, President, IST
• Chris Peckham, COO, Building Intelligence Inc.
• Steve Van Till, President and CEO, Brivo Inc.

SecurityNext brings two conferences, Cloud+ and TechSec Solutions, together for two days of learning, networking, exhibits and some fun in the heart of Bourbon Street. Whether you are an integrator, consultant, end user or supplier/manufacturer, SecurityNext was created to help navigate, leverage and profit from the latest technologies, trends and products to stay ahead of the competition and improve your bottom line.

“I am excited to be selected as an Advisory Board member of SecurityNext, which will bring challenging discussion and thought leadership to our industry in the years to come,” said Bourgeix. “Security and technology have reached a crossroads within each sector of our industry. As IT, OT, PS and IoT converge between cloud and on-premise solutions, a substantial transformation, linking business process with security technology, is taking place.”

Henry noted that bringing Cloud+ and TechSec together “is a natural marriage,” saying the two conferences always attract the best and brightest. “It's a nice, cozy event where there are a lot of very smart people that are not only learning about where we've been and where we are today, but where we are going and how we are going to get there.”

Erickson agreed on the merits of combining Cloud+ and TechSec Solutions into a new, inclusive conference. “What you are doing is you're concentrating compelling content at your conferences into one place, which is going to make it easier for integrators and manufacturers to attend,” he said.

All these changes come on the heels of new ownership of the publication — VGM Group, an employee-owned company that is committed to building on the tradition that SSN has established as the security industry's most trusted source for news for nearly two decades.

“We are excited to embark on a new era here at Security Systems News, backed now by an incredible parent company that is helping us to elevate the publication to even greater heights,” said SSN Publisher Rick Rector. “I look forward to seeing the continued growth of SSN, both in our print publication and digital presence.”

Under the new ownership comes an exciting brand refresh, including a redesign of the SSN logo, the print publication and our weekly Newswire, which debuts this week. Please feel free to tell us what you think of all these changes, and keep an eye out for more as SSN continues growing and improving.