We're only a phone call away

Editor, Security Systems News Not a day goes by here at Security Systems News where either editorial or our sales department doesn't field a call from a person inquiring about how to work with the editorial department and get coverage in our pages. It's actually really simple, more so than many people realize. Sometimes all it takes is a telephone call and building a relationship with one of the editors here. Tell us what you're up to, if not by phone then by email. We want to know what your company is doing that is new – have you expanded your operations, partnered with another company, won a coveted contract or entered a new market? And, we want to keep in touch with you. Are there news events down the road that we should call you about? Or, do you have expertise in a certain area that helps us out with editorial content in one of our five Sourcebooks in 2003 or our Market Trends section in the regular publication? Other times, companies take the press release approach. This works too – it often gives us the basic information we need to gauge whether it's a story we'll follow up on. And, if we do select it for a story in our pages, expect a telephone call from us. We like to interview people and go beyond the press release. Often press releases don't tell the entire story – such as how two companies, now one, came together. Did a manufacturer introduce the companies or had there been a long standing relationship? And, we want to know how your news will impact the industry. We talk to many industry analysts who give us their take on the mergers and acquisitions going on in the security market, for example. We want to be able to tell our readers, the integrators and dealers of the security industry, how a merger between two manufacturers will impact how you do business with them. Many people, especially the integrators or dealers in the industry, think that their company has to be big in order to get coverage in Security Systems News. That's not so. If you're doing something unique, we want to hear about it – large or small. The fact is, people like to read stories about people like themselves. They want to hear what the systems integrator is doing down the street. And, people learn by example, not only what works, but what not to do. Because we cover five different sectors of the security market, it provides us with the opportunity to broaden our coverage of what is happening in the market. We're not just writing about one type of company, but many different kinds. We write about systems integrators, fire installers, monitoring companies, residential installers and the manufacturers and product suppliers. And then, our general news pages often pick up everyone in between. Does your company fit one of these descriptions? Then try picking up the telephone sometime and giving either myself or Andrea Gural, our managing editor, a call. [How to contact us] We'd like to hear from you and learn what your company is doing.