ISC West hits the jackpot

Safe to say that ISC West 2024 came up all 7s.

Sorry, had to use some slot machine terminology as Las Vegas was the center of the security universe for the largest industry show of the year.

It’s a good thing I’m not claustrophobic, and I’m sure my quartet of Security Systems News colleagues who joined me in Vegas – Ken Showers, Brad Durost, Acasia Gardner and Christina Throndson – would echo that sentiment. Boy, was that show floor packed to the gills or what?

We knew even before official numbers came out that attendance would be near or exceed pre-pandemic levels, considering the amount of foot traffic on the Venetian Expo floor over the first two days of the show. It was so crowded on the show floor that there were times we had trouble getting back to our booth in time to conduct video interviews.

So, here are the numbers. Show officials announced this week that more than 29,000 security industry professionals packed The Venetian Expo with more than 750 exhibitors, over 220 speakers and over 110 education sessions covering the latest technologies, trends, and solutions across the security industry over the four-day event.

The SSN team was certainly very busy at the show. Ken and I conducted over 30 video interviews with a combination of association heads, company CEOs/presidents, and manufacturer reps to find out some of the hot trends they were seeing on the show floor, new product launches, integrations/partnerships announced at the show, as well as the latest goings-on at their respective associations/companies.

Don’t worry, we plan on getting those video interviews up on our YouTube page, on our website, and on our social media channels in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

In addition to the videos we conducted at our booth, the SSN team somehow made it through the crowded aisles to make our own booth visits to conduct interviews and meet with company reps to discuss the latest happenings, product announcements, you name it.

There was so much going on at ISC West, from familiar offerings such as the Security Industry Association Women in Security Forum (SIA WISF) and the Mission 500 Security 5k/2k (which I proudly walked for the second time), to new offerings such as the first ISC West concert featuring the Grammy Award-winning Wallflowers, and the AI Discovery Zone, during which attendees could experience the emerging power of AI  firsthand through interactive displays and hands-on demonstrations.

We know that ISC Event Vice President Mary Beth Shaughnessy is hard to track down during the show itself, but we were very fortunate to have her stop by our booth and speak with us on the final day of the show.

Mary Beth summed up ISC West 2024 best when we asked for her thoughts on this year’s show.

“It's been an amazing four days here at ISC West,” she told us. “I think just showcasing 740 exhibitors this week, 200 of which are new to the industry and 100 more than last year, just really showcases all the new technologies and solutions in the marketplace.”

I can speak on behalf of the entire SSN team that we cannot wait for ISC West 2025, which takes place April 1-4, 2025. We’re feeling lucky that the show is going to come up all 7s again next year!