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Dale Eller, ESA director of Education and Standards, moderated an interactive session at the ESA Leadership Summit, which required security dealers in small groups to share best practices and then present their top ideas to a larger audience.

Preparations for the Super Bowl were taking place around-the-clock at Dallas Cowboys Stadium when, amidst the excitement happening on the field, the Electronic Security Association (ESA) held its Leadership Awards presentation on a level of the stadium that overlooks the magnificent playing field and the world’s largest LED display made by Mitsubishi at 72-ft. high by 160-ft. wide on each of its two sides.

The Leadership Awards ceremony was one of the highlight of a four-day conference — now in its second year — the ESA Leadership Summit, which took place from Jan. 10-13, 2011, at the Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas, in Irving, Texas. A new aspect of the summit this year was the “Hosted Guest” segment. Security dealers who were invited as hosted guests participated in boardroom presentations, where small groups met with electronic security vendors who gave presentations on products and services they offered. Hosted guests also met one-on-one with the vendors. It was a format similar to the annual SecurityXchange conference.

The conference provided many opportunities for sharing ideas and information, as well as keynote speeches and general sessions, and dozens of committee meetings held throughout the four days, including the ESA Executive Committee meeting and Board of Directors meeting. Another highlight was the new “Summit Best Practices Roundtable.” Attendees were put into small groups to discuss best practices, and later they presented their best ideas to the larger audience.
Among the awards presented on Jan. 11 were the 2011 ESA Best Practices Awards, with winners announced in five categories:

•           Financial, Legal and Human Capital Management: ADS Security
•           New Technology Implementation: Safety Technologies Inc.
•           Profit-Generating Strategies: H&S Protection Systems
•           Sales & Marketing Management: ASG Security
•           Production Management (Design & Installation): Safety Technologies Inc.

The New Jersey Burglar & Fire Alarm Association was presented with the 2011 ESA Chapter Newsletter of the Year award for its “Monthly Report” newsletter. The Electronic Security Association of Washington was given the 2011 ESA Web Site of the Year award.

Jean Novy of the Wisconsin Electronic Security Association was named the 2011 ESA Chapter Executive Director of the Year. Kristi Harris of the Alabama Alarm Association was named the 2011 ESA Chapter President of the Year. And the 2011 ESA Chapter of the Year was awarded to the California Alarm Association.
The ESA/NTS Training Coordinator of the Year was given to Gary Talma of ADT Security Services.

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The 2011 ESA Chapter of the Year was awarded to the California Alarm Association at the ESA Leadership Summit.

The ESA/NTS Instructor of the Year award was renamed in honor of Paul F. Baran, who joined NTS in 1987 and whose untimely death in November 2010 prompted the award’s renaming in honor of Baran’s unwavering commitment to the National Training School. The 2011 award was given to Tom Morris of Morris Electronic Sales.

The ESA Leadership Awards were part of a broader, week-long program which concludes today, the ESA Leadership Summit. The summit also included many valuable speaker presentations, panel discussions and teamwork activities; ESA committee meetings; and loads of networking functions. —
By Laura Stepanek, Editor