Until Next Year ISC West
- By Sydny Shepard
- Apr 12, 2016
The show is over. The booths are packed up and the product demos are comfy in their travel boxes. The tired security professionals have long made it home from Las Vegas and, hopefully, have caught up on the much needed sleep that most of us sacrificed during the expo.
Now that I’ve experienced the show, I can say that I honestly wasn’t prepared for all that I was going to see when I stepped off the plane in Las Vegas on Thursday morning. First of all, it was my first time in Vegas. How could I not be overwhelmed by the splendor of a city copy-catting some of the greatest marvels on Earth? I got to see the Eiffel Tower for goodness sake!
Once the marvel wore off a little, I was able to get down to business with my appointments on the show floor, which is what I was probably the most unprepared for. I had been told to wear comfortable shoes and to try to find a chair every once and a while by those ISC West veterans, but I wasn’t able to brace myself for the sheer enormity of the event.
I thought that I was getting shoe recommendations because I would be standing a lot, but walking? I did so much walking. To put it in perspective for you, I usually walk about 10,000 steps in a day (on a good day!) and on Thursday, Day 2 of the show, my Fitbit logged a record breaking 28,008 steps. For those of you who are interested, that’s 11.28 miles in one day. Needless to say, next year I’m bringing my running shoes.
Another thing I wasn’t fully prepared for was the electric atmosphere that the show gave off. Everyone was so excited to be at the show. I didn’t run into one person who wasn’t totally pleased by the opportunity to hang out with some of the industry’s biggest names. Even when I was exhausted from my 11 mile hike, I was still more than happy to trek across the show floor to make my next appointment because I was genuinely curious what the next company on my list had going on in terms of their newest products.
Now, I have an entire year to prepare for ISC West and I will make the most of it. You better believe that next year I’m packing tennis shoes and a smile for all of those I’m fortunate enough to meet.
About the Author
Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.