California is the most populous state — by far, and it is the third-largest by land area (after Alaska and Texas). That creates a vast territory and an incredible amount of end users for the California Alarm Association (CAA) to cover. Like California, the CAA is huge, but the CAA is also small, built upon camaraderie and close-knit relationships between all its active members.

Down at the co-located ESI Forum and ESA Leadership Summit events being held at the Omni Mandalay at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas, we had our own “flash mob” experience at the Wednesday morning session.

I'm in the middle of attending the ESI Forum and ESA Leadership Summit events co-located at the Omni Mandalay at Las Colinas in Irving, Texas. On Tuesday I had the privilege of moderating the general luncheon session, titled, "The ESA Home Integrator -- A New Vision for the Residential Market."

Vivint has had a disputed ride to its place as the No. 4 company in the industry on the SDM 100, but its bold “first adopter” attitude of new technologies is helping make security a “Best Buy” and opening new growth — and that needs to be recognized.

Vivint Inc., Provo, Utah, is not a security company. Well it is, but it isn’t. On the one hand, it sells security systems and is the No. 4 security company on the SDM 100, so some people call it a security company. On the other hand, it also offers a full line of home automation services, leading others to call it a home automation company. Confused?

The California Alarm Association's (CAA) Board of Directors held its meeting at the Winter Convention being held December 8-10 in San Francisco. I arrived a few minutes early to grab a "good seat" from a journalist's perspective - a seat with a good view of everything going on in the room.

Today I took the quick flight from Los Angeles (L.A.) up to San Francisco to attend the California Alarm Association’s (CAA) Winter Convention held December 8-10.

I use an Android phone. I also use apps. So I was happy to see new research stating that Android has overtaken Apple with a 44 percent worldwide share of mobile app downloads. Don't get me wrong, I don't have anything against Apple; it is just that research like this indicates a continued emphasis from companies to produce more apps for Android, and that means more apps I can chose from.

There is value in reliability. There is value in new technologies. There is value in services that make life easier. There is value in quality customer service. There is a whole list of ways that Security Networks, West Palm Beach, Fla., continues to provide value for its affiliate dealers and the end users the affiliates serve.

Every year, Protection 1 sets an internal theme. In 2011, the theme was “Unstoppable,” which evolved from a paraphrase of a Thomas Edison quote that says, “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves,” describes Jamie Haenggi, chief marketing officer, Protection 1, Romeoville, Ill.