Settling in for ASIS 2015

  • By Ginger Hill
  • Sep 28, 2015

I consider myself pretty well traveled having gone to Canada, the UK, and Mexico, and to various places across the United States, including Hawaii, and stayed in some amazing hotels. This led me to believe that I can handle pretty much any hotel elevator…until I arrived in Anaheim, Calif. for ASIS 2015.

I checked into the hotel and got my key from the very friendly hotel associate, and headed to the elevator. I was excited to be on the 14th floor, but even more so about the balcony connected to my room so I could get some fresh California air! The elevator keypad requested my floor to which I willing obliged by typing it into the keypad provided. I expected one of the eight or so elevator doors to open, but nothing happened except the letter "E" popped up on the screen. I typed it in again and got the same "E" but no doors opened. I stood there totally perplexed. What was I supposed to do with the letter E?

A couple of minutes later, some business men came around the corner and typed in their number and doors started opening left and right as they started scattering into the various elevators. With a puzzled look on my face, I turned and asked one of them how this all works, and in the thickest British accent, he replied, "You're with me." I was a little taken aback with the "forwardness" of his statement and asked, "How do you know?" Texas-style, of course, as I walked onto the elevator with him.

He explained that each elevator has a letter assigned to it and that when the floor number is typed in, the keypad tells you which elevator to get on. And, because my back was turned to the "E" elevator, I hadn't seen the door open…twice!

Wow! What an ordeal, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this is swank security! Each time a hotel customer comes up to their room, they are assigned a different elevator, preventing a pattern of the same behavior from being established. This helps to prevent would-be criminals from learning when certain people are heading to their rooms or leaving, giving them the opportunity to possibly break into their hotel rooms.

Coming to this realization, I did feel a bit safer; after all, I am here for a security tradeshow.

About the Author

Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.

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