Vice Views

Fellow members of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter:

During the Annual Seminar and Exhibits last month, I happened to run into Ursula Uszynski, who manages many of the educational programs presented by ASIS National. We spoke for a few minutes about miscellaneous programs, then moved to the subject of ASIS National bringing some meaningful programs to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ursula told me that, until recently, costs associated with conducting programs in the Bay Area have been extremely prohibitive, especially when trying to keep the costs down on programs so they are cost effective for attendees and their companies. This is true not only for the educational program space, but also for meals as well. Post 9/11 however has seen a decline in lodging and meal costs, not only in the Bay Area, but in the rest of the country, as companies reduce costs in an attempt to attract more programs and travelers to their cities.

Many of you are not aware, but the SFBA Chapter’s CPP Committee Chairman, Mr. Rudy DuBord, CPP, spent quite a lot of his time and effort over the last year lobbying National to bring the CPP Review Program to San Francisco. I am happy to report that his efforts have paid off BIG TIME. There will be a CPP Review Course held in San Francisco in 2003, on March 14th and 15th at the Crowne Plaza Union Square. But it gets even better. In addition to the CPP Review Course, ASIS will also be presenting the Assets Protection Course I – Concepts and Methods, on March 17 through 20, also at the Crowne Union Square.

I have attended both programs, and frankly, the Assets Protection Series (I, II, and III) were some of the best courses I have taken in the security industry. Each APC program is four days long and delivers some high quality education.

Back to Ursula – One of the problems National has in certain locations is attendance at some of these programs. San Francisco events apparently have not been well attended in the past, and we have been asked to promote these events as much as possible. There are several benefits to SFBA members for attending courses locally.

• Reduces travel costs
• You can still go home to your wife, husband or significant other at the end of the day.
• You get a valuable education at a great price.

In the next few months, we will be heavily promoting these events, and will also look at ways to sponsor some members for attendance through some of our education funds and scholarships. In the meantime, you can also help us continue to have these programs offered locally, by registering for and attending the events, so we help National ensure a good turnout.

For more information on these, and other ASIS educational programs, please see the following link:

http://www.asisonline.org/calendar2003.html

As always, email comments and feedback are always appreciated.

Sincerely,
Brad Minnis CPP
Vice Chair SFBA Chapter
vicechair@sfasis.org