One year ago I informed all of you about the passing of Security Editor Emeritus Bill Zalud. As you know, Bill served as the Editor of both Security magazine and SDM magazine throughout his tenure, starting in 1987, and he spent more than three decades covering and shaping the security industry.

He was a friend, a kind soul, and he possessed a sense of flair and creativity with regards to his writing that I always appreciated and often found humorous. We all deeply miss him.

After his passing, we heard from many industry colleagues who expressed condolences, who shared personal stories and who articulated how much Bill’s writing and their friendship with him meant to them.

Two people who contacted me included Sandi Davies, Executive Director of the International Foundation for Protection Officers (IFPO) and Tom Conley of The Conley Group, a past IFPO Chairman. If you’re not familiar with the IFPO, I recommend checking it out, especially if you employ security officers at your enterprise. IFPO not only provides comprehensive training for security officers, but also has standards development, certification opportunities, publications and more. It advocates for the professional development and standing of protection officers through advocacy, in addition to a strong education and training component. Bill served on the IFPO Board for more than a decade, providing leadership that Sandi says was instrumental in making the Foundation the successful organization that it is today. For Security magazine, Bill enjoyed writing about the role that well-trained, professional security officers play in a secure enterprise. He had a deep respect contract security officers, and he often advocated for their professional and positive image, as well, through his writing and IFPO work.

So I was thrilled when Sandi and Tom reached out to me late last year about establishing an educational award from the IFPO in Bill's name.

Introducing the Bill Zalud Memorial Award for Professional Excellence by IFPO that will be awarded each year to an individual or organization for professional excellence and/or outstanding service/acts in the security profession, who displays a commitment to the IFPO’s professional development opportunities to their employees and the security profession and who has excelled in making available IFPO Educational Opportunities to their employees. The deadline for all submissions is October 31, 2017. Security magazine and the IFPO will announce the recipients of the award by the end of this year. More information can be found at www.ifpo.org/professional-excellence/

As I write this, I'm thinking: what would Bill think about this award? He would be very humbled, of course, and a little embarrassed, I believe. You see, while some journalists are always looking for the bigger and better byline, Bill wasn’t about that at all. He didn’t need a byline. He just wanted to share stories, including the amazing work that IFPO has done with Bill’s assistance, and which continues to this day.

Thank you to Sandi and Tom and the IFPO for honoring Bill in this way. And best of luck to all of the applicants for the Bill Zalud Memorial Award for Professional Excellence.