Bringing with it five days of educational sessions, along with two days of new technologies and services on exhibit, PSA-TEC 2010 celebrates its 30th year when it opens Monday, May 24, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill. And for the first time, the show is not restricted to PSA Network members; it will be open to any member of the security industry.
 
Highlighted by the conference program that runs through Friday, May 28, the show is scheduled to provide attendees a bounty of knowledge and insight. Many of the security industry’s leading minds will be present to offer their perspectives on the important issues that security dealers and integrators face in these challenging times.
 
The conference is broken into three tracks: business optimization, IT and physical security, offering attendees a wide variety of subject matter from which to choose.
 
The business optimization track, which is designed with owners and senior managers in mind, will focus on high-level topics that are pertinent to running an organization. Staff from technicians to business owners will find a variety of topics, including an array of Cisco and Microsoft courses, packed into the IT track, and the physical security track, the conference’s core educational offering, provides a little something for everyone, from purchasing agents and sales reps to technicians and project managers.
 
Providing the Keynote address will be Jeffrey Baxter, Grammy Award-winning musician and national security advisor for the private sector, Congress and the national security establishment. Baxter will speak on the topic of “Asymmetrical Thinking in a Conventional World”. The Keynote Reception will take place Wednesday, May 26. It opens to all badge holders at 5:30 p.m.
A former guitarist for the Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan and Elton John, Baxter became interested in the defense industry while researching emerging defense technologies that he could apply toward music. He will focus on the issue of preparing for the new social order and economic configurations of the next century, while asking the question, “Are today’s strategies and processes going to be relevant to the future?”
 
The PSA-TEC State of the Industry presentation features a roundtable discussion by seven security industry experts. The discussion begins at 8 a.m. on Thursday, May 27. Sandra Jones, principle consultant for Sandra Jones and Company, moderates. Speakers on the panel include Bill Bozeman, PSA Security Network; Dave Carter, Security Network of America; Richard Chace, Security Industry Association; Paul Cronin, 1nservice; Brian Hansen, BICSI and Chuck Wilson, NSCA. The presentation will cover market trends, convergence, strategic partnerships and predictions as to where the industry will be in the future.
 

The exhibition runs Tuesday and Wednesday, May 25 and 26. Hours are short on Tuesday; 3:30 to 5:30 p.m.; the show will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. For more information or to register, visit www.psatec.com Early-bird rates are available for those who register by April 15.