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Thousands of security management practitioners will file through the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta Sept. 15-18 for the 54th Annual Seminar and Exhibits. More than 23,000 security professionals are expected from industry, government and law enforcement, along with product manufacturers and service providers from around the world, for the most comprehensive educational and networking event in the security industry¾and the premier show in the world dedicated to security.

Exhibits

This year’s show will feature more than 280,000 net square feet of the latest security technology and innovations. Some 2,700 booths will provide a showcase for 950 companies demonstrating cutting-edge products and services that are shaping the security industry today. The exhibit floor is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Sept. 15-17. Admission to the exhibits is complimentary to business professionals.

New products and services will include a finger vein access control system; dual view (horizontal and vertical) X-ray baggage scanners; high-tech intrusion detectors; day/night camera lenses (“ideal for outdoor applications as well as indoor surveillance of supermarkets, department stores, gas stations, banks, buildings, amusement facilities, streets, airports and more”); portable video recorders; mobile security systems (also known as robots); mail screeners; video analytics (which can alert organizations to unusual incidents and potential threats within live video); smart-card access devices (encrypted with biometric data); facial recognition software; fingerprint recognition systems; Eco-Saver Briquetting Systems (which reduce “large volumes of loose waste to small, manageable briquettes”); pre-employment screening services; anti-theft devices for laptops and other portable equipment; and much more.

Education

Security professionals will have more than 175 concurrent educational sessions from which to choose. They cover the range of security topics, from critical infrastructure protection and identity fraud to domestic violence in the workplace and security management best practices. Sessions have been peer-reviewed and selected in a highly competitive process. Only one in three proposals was selected for presentation.

Dozens of new topics include “What Hackers Don’t Want You to Know” “Campus Strategic Security Initiatives Emphasizing Early Warning, Early Notification and Layered Communications Systems,” “Modeling and Simulation for Multi-hazard Events” and “Metal Theft Awareness: Protecting Critical Infrastructure.”

Additional sessions will include “Transforming the U.S. Government Security Clearance Process,” “Implementing International Enterprise Security Solutions,” “Security and Illegal Immigrants in the Workforce,” “How Domestic Violence Affects the Workplace” and “Options for Disaster Recovery Exercises.” 

Eleven sessions will be offered in Spanish; an additional nine sessions will be simultaneously translated from English into Spanish.

The general session on Sept. 18 includes two programs, “Perspectives on Security: Counterfeiting and Piracy” and “Security Insights: Security and Internet Abuse.” Kevin Mitnick, “the world’s most famous former hacker,” will moderate the panel of well-known security experts. There is still time to register.

Keynote Speakers

Tom Brokaw, one of the most respected figures in broadcast journalism, and political consultants James Carville and Mary Matalin, will be keynote speakers at ASIS 2008.

In December 2004, Brokaw stepped down after 21 years as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News. He continues to work with NBC, reporting and producing documentaries and providing expertise during breaking news events. Brokaw will give the keynote address on Wednesday, Sept. 17 from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

James Carville is one of America’s best-known political consultants. He and wife Mary Matalin, former assistant to President George W. Bush and counselor to Vice President Cheney, will speak on Tuesday, Sept. 16, from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

On Thursday, Sept. 18, best-selling author James Bradley will speak at the closing luncheon. Bradley wrote the 2000 book “Flags of Our Fathers.” “Flags of Our Fathers,” released as a movie in 2007, is about the six young men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. One of the men in the famous photograph of that event is Bradley’s father, John Bradley.