ESA Leadership Summit homes in on growth

IRVING, Texas—The design of the 2014 ESA Leadership Summit is as inclusive as it is basic: The summit will cater to companies, whatever their size or revenue, with ambition to grow their accounts.

The focus may be simple, but growth, whether organic or through acquisitions, is seldom easy to come by. That's one reason John Knox, president of ESA, believes this year's summit, slated for Jan. 19-23 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, could pay dividends to attendees.

“This isn't designed to teach regular business practices, it's about how to grow your company and reach out to more people.” Knox said. “If somebody has 500 accounts and they're happy with that, this is not for them.”

While past summits were designed more for ESA chapter leaders or large-revenue security companies, the 2014 summit is structured for broader participation, showcasing speakers who can shed light on growth strategies for companies of all sizes. “It doesn't matter how big or small they are,” Knox said. “It's about whether they are willing to look at ways to grow their business.”

Another major objective of the 2014 summit is providing participants with perspectives from outside the industry. Knox believes these perspectives have the power to expose participants to a host of new and effective strategies, which they can in turn apply to growing an account base.

“They generally bring a different point of view than what we're used to seeing, and that point of view hopefully opens up peoples' minds to what's going on with future trends and cycles,” Knox said. “We as alarm guys can get complacent and set in our ways, so sometimes we need to get a different viewpoint, and not necessarily try to do things the way we have for the last few years.”

Several keynote speakers are slated for the summit. Mary Byers, co-author of “Race for Relevance: Five Radical Changes for Associations,” will deliver the first keynote, discussing ways that association's can adapt their approach in a climate of new technology, tighter budgets and increasing competition.

Ted Powell, a veteran consultant, will deliver a keynote and lead breakout roundtable discussions, where audience members can share change management plans using the model and tools introduced during the keynote speech. Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Doug Anson will deliver a keynote titled “National Security Since 9/11,” sharing his perspective on the evolution of national security over the past 13 years.