By Bud Wulforst, President of the Central Station Alarm Association

As I write this column, I am reminded of the years we spent building our own small show. One of the main tenets of our early CSAA Mid-Year meetings was that “education” would be the main focus and thrust of the meeting—this was an essential ingredient to the success of our idea. Trade associations such as CSAA and NBFAA have a distinct advantage in that the industry expertise relevant to the education of alarm company owners and employees resides in their respective associations. Hence if you look across the spectrum of associations, growth through education is always a prime factor.

ESX 2009 in Baltimore is the flagship event for our industry. We and the NBFAA have very painstakingly developed over 70 educational programs through a combined industry education committee ably headed up by John Lombardi and Pam Petrow, and including as program advisors many CSAA and NBFAA members. This program offers 8 distinct tracks with something for everyone to help grow your business: owners, managers, installation, sales, etc. There is no more stellar group of individuals to develop these programs than we have on this CSAA/NBFAA Education Committee. These tracks are Business Development and Management, Central station Operations, Fire Alarm Systems, Installation Management, Networked/IP Security, New Leaders, Sales and Marketing, and Video, Access and Integration.

For CSAA and NBFAA member companies, there is a continuing strong emphasis on the Central Station Operations Management Track, which has a very loyal following of managers interested in best practices in a host of disciplines within central station management. This group of people has learned extensively from each other and returned to their own companies to introduce best practices that contribute very significantly to the company’s bottom line, as well as the good and welfare of their clients. Lest we forget, the “networking” opportunities are not just for CEOs, but for everyone attending, as they learn so much from each other.

Additionally, ESX will host the CSAA Central Station Awards of Excellence Breakfast, the “ESX Maximum Impact Awards”, the CSAA/NBFAA “Big Bash”, the “Rising Stars Forum”, the “SDM Top 100 Gala”, the “Next Generation Forum” and more. NBFAA will also be hosting their annual awards program as well.

Last, and of the most significant importance, we have drawn a significantly larger exhibiting company participation in this our second year. This year, at ESX, we will have an expanded trade show floor with educational offerings by many of the exhibiting companies. I want to encourage you to come and attend the meeting with your key staff and learn what growth through education can do for your company. And the best is that you can have some fun along the way, as we highlight the very best of our industry.