ESX announces 2018 educational program

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—ESX recently announced its lineup of educational sessions for the 2018 conference, to be held here June 19-22, including sessions on the latest smart home devices and the most disruptive technologies for the commercial market.

The sessions for ESX 2018 fall into four educational tracks: Grow Your Business, Maximize Your Monitoring Center, Run Your Company, and Rethink the Future. “We've got a great mix of [sessions on] sales and marketing, installation, ...� residential and commercial topics,” Jillian Bateman, VP of marketing and communications for ESA, told Security Systems News.

Bateman said that planning for ESX begins just after the previous year's conference. “Each year, about a month after the show, we gather with a group of professionals in the industry and we talk about: 'what information did you wish you had this year?' 'What are the trends that are really affecting your business?' 'Where are the opportunities?'”

Attendees have desired more education on running their companies, Bateman said. “You're going to see a lot of sessions in that specific track. � They're really going to be talking about the day-in, day-out, 'what are we doing that works?' and how they can go back and actually implement best practices in their companies.”

When asked about education on interesting technologies, Bateman highlighted two sessions, “A View From The Porch - How To Drive Profit With Doorbells, Cameras, And Door Locks,” “Top 5 Disruptive Technologies Impacting the Commercial Market” and “Top 5 Disruptive Go-To-Market Strategies Affecting the Residential Market.”

Bateman continued, “Cybersecurity is going to be another [technology] that we talk about.” The “Maximize your Monitoring Center” educational track will feature a session titled “Hacked! Important Steps to Protect your Company (And Yourself) After a Cyberattack.”

ESX introduced a new presentation setup, called CounterPoint Forums, that encourage more dialogue from attendees. Topics for ESX 2017's CounterPoint Forums included DIY security, cable service companies and whether an owner should sell a company.

The topics of this year's three CounterPoint Forums will be announced closer to the show, Bateman said. “We want to make sure that the topics that we suggest for 2018 are things that are very relevant when we get to the show in June.”

A lower price point—$199—helped to bring more people to the conference in 2017, and ESX is extending that pricing again for a limited time. As a result of the pricing, company owners and operators brought more people to the show last year, Bateman said.� “We're seeing more installation managers, sales managers, marketing managers come to the show.”

Bateman continued, “We want to be able to offer that [pricing] as a team building opportunity for companies in the space. Competition has never been more fierce in our industry, and we want to be able to make ESX a spot where people can energize their time, inspire their team, educate their team to be better in the year to come.”

ESX 2017 was also held in Nashville. “We loved going to Nashville and we're excited to be offering the show again there in 2018,” said Bateman.