I’m reporting from the Epic Hotel in Miami on the eve of what is sure to be an epic networking, educational, and pleasurable adventure over the next three days.

Keeping staff and patients safe while maintaining an open facility is just one of the challenges facing security teams in hospital and healthcare settings. Security and SDM find out more from both ends of the syringe: healthcare end users and integrators. Diane Ritchey, editor of Security, and Laura Stepanek, editor of SDM, recently spoke with end users and integrators in healthcare security about what drives this important market.

Security issues exist every day on our nation’s ports, terminals and roads, but funding challenges and regulations makes securing those areas difficult. What’s working, what’s not and what do security end users and integrators wish they had in their arsenal of tools? Security magazine editor Diane Ritchey andSDM magazine editor Laura Stepanek brought together end users and integrators from these critical infrastructure areas to discuss their challenges and successes.

Money moves from bank to retailer and back to bank. Just as important, personal information accompanies any electronic transaction. Security magazine editor Diane Ritchey and SDM magazine editor Laura Stepanek brought together financial, banking and retail professionals and a security integrator to discuss how their industries are similar but yet have such differing security needs from other segments.

They say that these are the “greatest years” of someone’s life. The college years, the time to figure out a career, make friends and use the valuable time and experiences as the launching pad in which one can continue those “great” years in their 20s, 30s and beyond.