ISC East returns to New York City’s Javits Center Nov. 17-18

NEW YORK—The International Security Conference & Exposition – also known as ISC East – returns to an in-person event for the first time in two years when it takes place Nov. 17-18, 2021 at the Javits Center in New York City.

Last year, ISC East was held virtually as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2021, the ISC West show in Las Vegas represented the first full-scale in-person event for security professionals since the onset of the pandemic.

ISC East is the Northeast’s leading security & public safety event, hosted in collaboration with premier sponsor Security Industry Association (SIA) and in partnership with ASIS International’s NYC Chapter.

In order to keep communities safe and secure, security dealers, installers, integrators, and consultants, along with corporate, government and law enforcement/first responder practitioners, convene in New York City to network, learn and evaluate the latest technologies and solutions from premier exhibiting brands.

Attendees can enjoy one-on-one conversations with top innovators, high-quality special events, and cutting-edge education and training at the most comprehensive East Coast event to guide the security industry in getting back to business.

Will Wise, Group Vice President, RX (formerly Reed Exhibitions), told Security Systems News that he expects attendees and exhibitors to return to New York City in order to take advantage of the one-on-one interactions, educational sessions, and opportunities to discover the latest technological products and solutions in the security industry.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “We do events in a lot of different cities in the U.S. and globally. What we’ve been seeing with getting events going the last three months is just bringing it back to the city, people reconnecting. It’s like, ‘Let’s all build momentum together and get back to business,’ and of course, do it in a really safe way. Just get that collective energy together.

“For our security and public safety industry, there are a lot of amazing opportunities. In fact, there’s been some new opportunities that have been created with innovations, so I think the future is bright going into next year.”

Wise noted that ISC East is “really embracing” the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut) to draw security professionals from those three states to the show.

“ISC East always leans into the region heavily,” he said. “About two-thirds of our audience is from the tri-state area/Northeast. We view that as a positive for this event because obviously, that market is huge. In fact, it may be the biggest market in the country for the spectrum of electronics, security and public safety. We think this year, that’s probably going to be in our favor due to less decisions on flying and travel approvals. I think it’s really going to be positive, especially this year, to lean into things.”    

ISC East Partnerships

Wise stressed the importance of the partnerships that ISC East has with different associations in the security and public safety industries, calling them “key to bring the region to life.” 

“We have a longstanding, great relationship with SIA, and they head up a lot of our educational programming,” he noted.

Education is an important part of ISC East, and SIA’s education program provides critical information on the newest and most relevant technologies in the security industry.

The SIA Education@ISC East Program brings you all new content on the most current business trends, technologies and latest developments in order to keep up-to-date and take your security to the next level.

A total of 20 educational sessions are scheduled over the two-day expo. Among the notable sessions on Wednesday, Nov. 17, are “The 7 Whys Business Software is Vital to Your Success!” from 11:15 a.m.-noon, presented by Samantha Perry, Senior Account Executive, WeSuite; John Nemerofsky, Chief Operating Officer, Sage Integration; and Janet Fenner, Owner, Defined Marketing.

During this session, attendees will have a better understanding of how business software can help them achieve organizational success, be able to implement shared best practices, and develop an automated workflow and educate their team of the benefit of utilizing business software to improve efficiencies.

Another Wednesday session of note is an info session on the Security Industry Cybersecurity Certification (SICC), presented by Elli Voorhees, Ph.D., SIA Director of Education, from 12:30 p.m.-1:15 p.m.

Participants in this session will learn what makes the SICC unique compared to other cybersecurity credentials, the individual and organizational benefits of earning certification, core requirements of the SICC program, and how the application and testing process works.

Wednesday’s keynote address will be “TCS New York City Marathon: Insights on Race Operations, Public Safety and Integrated Security Solutions” from 2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

Ted Metellus, Vice President of Events and Race Director, and Todd Metro, Head of Safety and Security, for TCS New York City Marathon, NYRR, will share insights on effectively managing safety and security operations for the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon. They will focus on the TCS’s utilization of technology for enhancing health and life safety protocols, emergency preparedness strategies and highlight the effective public-private partnerships that contribute to a safe and successful event.

Thursday sessions of interest include “Security in the Cannabis Industry and the ‘Green Wave’” from 10:00 a.m.-10:45 a.m., presented by Drake Jamali, SIA’s Manager of Government Relations.

The last decade has seen a “Green Wave” across the country as state legislatures and residents have voted to legalize and or decriminalized cannabis for recreational and/or medicinal purposes. The session will focus on three key areas of this new burgeoning industry - the current regulations and laws across the country and what the future holds for the industry and how this will impact security; the technology involved in these cannabis facilities such as cameras, alarm systems, and access control mechanisms; and the best practices that businesses should consider when entered the cannabis industry.

A session titled “Public Safety & Security Communications: Networking Demands to Support Automation Beyond COVID-19” takes place from 11:15 a.m.-noon, conducted by Alice DiSanto, VP of Global Marketing, Rajant Corporation.

Attendees will recognize the networking options available and the limitations (if any) of each; visualize the current and future impact COVID-19 has had on networking demands; differentiate between what public safety and security tasks are best suited for robotic platforms to assist and safeguard manpower; and discern what to look for before acquiring a network to future-proof mobility and automation requirements.

For more information on SIA educational sessions, visit https://www.isceast.com/en-us/sia-education-isc.html

ASIS International NYC Chapter

Another partnership that Wise is excited about is with ASIS International’s NYC Chapter.

“A new thing that’s getting people really excited is that ASIS International’s NYC Chapter is fully supporting ISC East this year,” he said. “ASIS is a great organization, and the NYC Chapter is the biggest, or one of the biggest chapters, so that’s definitely going to bring in a large number of additional practitioners and end users from Fortune 500 companies and government entities.”

ASIS NYC is programming four education sessions, in addition to collaborating with SIA on speakers and sessions for ISC East’s education program, SIA Education@ISC East Program that will run throughout the two-day expo. The chapter’s marquee event, in partnership with ISC East and SIA, will be its annual Person of the Year Award and Gala Luncheon on Day One of the expo.

“That’s a cool partnership that’s new, featuring a high quality of attendees, high quantity of attendees, great content, and definitely more of that NYC flavor,” Wise boasted of the ASIS NYC Chapter partnership.

Quality and Momentum

ISC East will run from 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 17, and 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 18.

As the country navigates through year two of the pandemic, Wise noted that people ask him how the show will scale, comparatively speaking.

“Everybody knows this year, events are smaller, but we’re seeing good quality and momentum,” he said. “I think partly because we’re going to tap into the region so well, we’re forecasting the show to be about 70 percent of normal, which is pretty significant. That would map out to us forecasting about 5,000-6,000 attendees and about 175-180 exhibitors. All of that is going to be quite positive, and there is pent-up demand, for sure.”

Wise called ISC West “very positive,” being that it was the first in-person, large-scale event for the security industry since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had 10,000 attendees, and that was roughly about 35 percent of normal,” he said. “What was heartening about it was people were really raving about the quality of attendees. People who made the decision to go, or got approval to go, they had serious projects and serious conversations.”

“I think the prevailing wisdom we got was that people really appreciated a little more time to have in-depth conversations, so you could talk to somebody for 30 minutes, versus trying to scan 20 badges in two minutes. Now everything is going to scale up.”

Wise projected that next year’s ISC West, scheduled from March 22-25, 2022 at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas, “is going to be twice as big as this year. Many of the companies that had to sit it out this year for various reasons are already signed back up, like Milestone Systems and Hanwha Techwin, for example. It’s going to be good timing.”

COVID Protocols

As a result of New York City’s COVID-19 mandates put in place in August, all ISC East attendees will be required to be fully vaccinated prior to entering the show floor and masks must be worn at all times upon entering the Javits Center.

“We’re going to follow CDC guidelines,” Wise said. “New York City, New York State and the Javits Center have very strict requirements. Of course, we are more than happy to align with that. So full vaccination required for all attendees, and mask wearing required as well.”

Natural Disaster & Emergency Management (NDEM) Expo

For the first time, ISC East will be co-located with the Natural Disaster & Emergency Management (NDEM) Expo, a comprehensive trade event and online resource dedicated to the preparation, response, and recovery of physical and human assets of public and private organizations.

NDEM will help your organization gain the knowledge, discover the tools, and connect with the individuals necessary to make your organization more secure and resilient, while minimizing operational disruptions and ensuring public safety in this ever-changing world.

Wise noted that the show floors for both ISC East and the NDEM Expo will be right next to each other. “Somebody who signs up for an ISC East expo pass can automatically visit the NDEM exhibitors, and vice versa,” he said.

Attendees for the NDEM Expo will include business continuity leaders; construction & development/property owners; disaster relief; environmental agencies; facilities, operations, and systems management; local, state & federal government officials in critical infrastructure sectors; first responders/EMTs, global risk management professionals; health and safety directors; hospitals/medical facilities; military personnel; and disaster recovery/preparedness/emergency management preparedness authorities.

The NDEM Expo’s education program is presented in collaboration with the Columbia University Earth Institute National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) and SBP and will focus on providing actionable tools and strategies to safeguard your assets and community.

For information on ISC East, click here. For more on the NDEM Expo’s education sessions, visit https://www.ndemevent.com/en-us/seminars.html