View from the Chair

Happy New Year to You and Yours!

It is an honor to be named Chair of such a long established organization. Over 45 years! It is also humbling to be with such esteemed company. Your San Francisco Bay Area Chapter (#006) Executive Council Team Members for 2002 are:

Chair: Connie Vaughn, Business Development Manager for a national security vendor with nearly 10 years experience in Silicon Valley. Phone: 408-954-8274. Email: Connie.Vaughn@alliedsecurity.com 

Vice-Chair: Brad Minnis, CPP, Worldwide Safety and Security Manager for Juniper Networks with over 20 years of security experience in the high tech industry. Phone: 408.747.4898 Email: bminnis@juniper.net 

Secretary: Ken Fauth, CPP, Security Consultant to high tech companies, hospitals, and other commercial institutions. With over 35 years of security experience, Ken brings to our team an extensive background in security management, security instruction (at the college and university level) and several years volunteer service at ASIS International. Phone: 408-262-4165 Email: KenFauth@aol.com 

Treasurer: Patrick Sharkey, CPP, Loss Prevention Principle for Guidant, a medical device manufacturer, with over 16 years of security experience. Phone: 408-845-3070 Email: psharkey@guidant.com 

If no one else noticed, I have the dubious distinction of being the only Council Member without a CPP. And yes, they have all already chided me mercilessly for it. Anyone need a CPP study buddy?

If you were unable to attend the December meeting, which was a little 45th Anniversary Celebration and a little SFBAC-ASIS historical perspective, the information about our Chapter, its founding members, and past Chapter Chairs was both entertaining and enlightening.

If I understood my predecessors correctly, about November or December of this year I should have this whole “Chair” thing down. Of course then it is time for me to pass the gavel.

On a more serious note, 2002 will be a defining year for our organization. Since the 911 attacks, the face of security has forever changed.

As security professionals, we preached security is everyone’s job, but few listened. Today, security has become everybody’s business. People who never gave security a second thought are now wanting to know what their executives are doing about their workplace safety, what kind of backgrounds are their companies performing on new hires, who has access to what areas, and every other element of security and safety.

We have come under the scrutiny of every single internal and external customer we serve. Fortunately, for most of us, it is a blessing because systems and services budgets previously denied are getting funded, or at least considered.

None of us would have chosen this route—nearly 3000 Americans dead—to promote our industry’s agenda. It is a very tough way to earn the respect safety and security has long deserved.

The irony of security is that nobody notices it if it is done well. Departments don’t experience losses and unauthorized activities don’t occur. Even when security issues do come up, they are addressed in a professional manner. The professional relationship based upon mutual respect between various corporate departments and security has now deepened.

Not one other corporate department, except maybe facilities, touches so many lives so many times a day. Unlike facilities, Security’s boundaries are not limited to the physical aspects. Security is in IT, at executive homes, on the employees’ key chain, at the park during the company picnic, at urban transportation centers in the form of executive protection and travel safety tips, virtually everywhere an employee is on company business, security and safety is there too.

When I started working in the security industry ten years ago, I took the job for six months tops. I thought the title would look good on my resume. I didn’t want to be in security. My exposure to security up until then had been in the movies and on television—not exactly glamorous, high tech, or professional.

When I started getting to know you, the ASIS members, you changed my entire perception. That positive image continues to this day.

This is the year to get involved. Your Executive Council is a dynamic group of experienced, trend-setting security professionals. Each one is hardworking and committed to the security industry and our local chapter’s success.

The San Francisco Bay Area Chapter is one of the largest and oldest. Let’s really turn ASIS on its ear. We are the premier organization on security. Let’s make sure our customers, our peers, and our communities know this.

Thank you for this opportunity.

Respectfully,
Connie Vaughn
SFBAC-ASIS Chapter Chair