Vice Views

SFBA Chapter Members:

Greetings and Happy New Year:

This is the first edition of “Vice View” and I appreciate the opportunity to communicate with the membership. After completing my first year on the council, I feel like I have a good understanding of how things work in the Chapter, and some of the incredible opportunities that we have to elevate the visibility and contribution of the Society, and particularly the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter.

We all are acutely aware of the events of September 11, 2001, and the profound impact they have had on our lives, and our way of life. There has been no time when the Security profession has been more in the spotlight, and this creates enormous opportunities for us, as security professionals, to make a positive impact on our communities and our workplaces.

To quote from the ASIS mission, “ASIS is dedicated to increasing the effectiveness and productivity of security practices by developing educational programs and materials that address broad security concerns”, and, “leads the way for advanced and improved security performance.” There has been no time where these goals have been more important and meaningful, and I would like to talk for a moment about a few initiatives we will be working on this year.

First, there have been numerous programs presented on various topics, from technology security, to homeland security, to hijacking prevention, travel security, and self-defense. In addition, radio and television news programs routinely broadcast news items relative to security. In many cases, speakers for these programs have little to no formal security background, and frankly, I have been disappointed in the quality of some of the information that has been discussed or broadcasted. It is my opinion, and the opinion of several other chapter members, that we should have a “speakers bureau” which would be a resource for organizations to obtain speakers on specific security topics, as well as being a resource for news organizations to obtain “expert information”. This will be a project that I intend to spend a lot of time on this year, and you will hear more from me on that.

Secondly, many organizations that, prior to 9/11, may not have appreciated the value that a credible security organization delivers to that organization, are now viewing security as a valuable asset. Several organizations have increased security at their sites, and many are now considering employing security professionals in their organizations. With over 700 members, the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter should be viewed as one of the leading resources for sourcing and referring security professionals. One of the things I would like to see for this year and in the future, is to expand and build upon our referral services, and aggressively market them to recruiting organizations. Two things will happen when we do this – the SFBA Chapter will provide better, meaningful services to our members, and, organizations should find it easier to recruit the professionals they desire.

Lastly, for the Chapter to be successful, we need the participation of our members, both by attending monthly meetings and our events, and more importantly by getting involved with Chapter activities and initiatives. I have been somewhat disappointed in the levels of participation in the last year. I keep hearing things like “There is always some sales person there trying to sell me something”, and “the topics are not meaningful”. I used to say some of those things myself, but the more I think of it, it is really not the case. The fact is, guard companies, systems companies, consulting services, and service providers are as important to the delivery of quality security services as “security practitioners”. To try to exclude these types of individuals would be a huge dis-service to the organization, in my opinion.

Having said that, there are some things that are inappropriate, and deserve to be pointed out:

  • Conducting a sales pitch at monthly meetings or ASIS events is inappropriate, EXCEPT at the Annual Seminar and Exhibits. (See Professional Conduct at ASIS meetings.)
  • Official Chapter Mailings and other materials, which are funded by the chapter, should not include the name, address, slogan or other advertisement on the letterhead or envelope. When a council member or event chair sends a Chapter mass-mailing using their company letterhead, they should PAY for the postage.
  • Mentioning and recognizing sponsors, who donate time, money and other services, is entirely appropriate in Chapter Mailings and by providing other recognition.

There are a number of volunteer positions available, and you can view them at www.sfasis.org I encourage you to get involved and lets all work together to make the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter the best of them all.

I appreciate comments and suggestions, and you can send them to me at bminnis@juniper.net In the meantime, I look forward to seeing you at this month’s meeting.

Brad Minnis CPP
Vice Chair SFBA Chapter