View from the Chair

Brad Minnis, CPP

View from the Chair

Fellow members of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter:

Welcome to the February edition of the SFBA Chapter Newsletter. We are rolling out a new newsletter format this month, and I hope to reach many more members in this fashion than just having people remember to visit the website. Reaching our members in a more credible fashion is one of our goals for this year.

If you missed the January meeting, you missed a great presentation! First, we showed the ASIS video “The First Response” which was a tribute to the ASIS members who perished in the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001. We then heard an excellent presentation on Business Continuity Planning by Xochitl Monteon from EORM in Sunnyvale. The presentation, and others from past meetings, are available for download in the Members Only section of our webpage (www.sfasis.org).

The January meeting was well attended, and we had some guests from the National Institute of Technology visit us. As you may know, they have launched an entry-level certificate curriculum called Homeland Security Specialist, designed to prepare students for entry-level jobs in Security. I made a presentation to the class in January, and there were less than ten people in the class. In the last two weeks however, the class, located on Charcot Avenue in San Jose, has grown to over thirty students. The school is sponsoring all of the students as student members of ASIS in our Chapter, so look for them to attend more monthly meetings in the near future. As a matter of fact, they are working on a study project, which we will be inviting them to present to the membership at an upcoming meeting.

This month we have the pleasure of holding the monthly meeting on the 20th at Lam Research in Fremont. Ted Barron, CPP, who just completed certification as a Protection Professional, will be speaking to the membership about Risk Management Programs and their Successful Application, along with other important chapter business. We have been working diligently to complete the monthly meeting schedules in advance so we can get them posted as soon as possible. Look forward to some exciting meeting locations and topics coming up in the near future.

In March we will hold our annual St. Patrick’s Law Enforcement Appreciation Luncheon at the San Mateo Marriott Hotel. Last year we had a great turnout by our membership, but unfortunately we did not have a lot of law enforcement at the meeting. I want to ask everyone now to PLEASE invite your local law enforcement representative to the luncheon and show your support and appreciation for these officers. Art Lesser, the Chairperson for this year’s event, has been working very hard to put together a very memorable program, featuring a wonderful lunch of the traditional corned beef and cabbage, as well as some exciting displays and entertainment. Please register now on our website and again, bring your local law enforcement representative. The Chapter has also invited the Chiefs of Police from all of the Bay Area cities and counties. Let’s all make this one of the most memorable St. Patty’s Days ever!

Many other things are happening behind the scenes at your Chapter, as well. We have filled almost all of the committee chair positions, and I want to thank Lew Schatz, CPP, for signing on as this year’s Legislative Liaison, and John McNamara as the historian. One of the things we have a problem with, is we have boxes of historical data that have been moving around from place to place, with no coordination or retrievability for the data. I will be working with John to come up with a long-term solution to this matter. Along with long time volunteers such as Rudy DuBord III, CPP, Kathleen Goelkel, Cindy Doyle and others, the Chapter is starting to run on all cylinders.

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the Annual Seminar. R.D. Nunes, Committee Chair, and his committee, are really working hard at bringing a terrific annual seminar to you once again. A full line up of speakers and exhibitors are already in place and we look forward to one of the best seminar years ever. I have also just heard that the very popular Diversity Seminar, presented by ASIS National, may be brought to San Jose to be held in conjunction with the Chapter’s Annual Seminar. More on this to come.

And if that is not enough, remember to support the CPP Review Program and the Assets Protection Course I, which will be held next month in San Francisco at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at Union Square. We will be selecting four or five members from the Chapter to receive grants to attend these programs, and I encourage member companies to support the programs as well, by sending security professionals to enhance their knowledge in these two excellent programs.

Please plan to join us on February 20th at Lam Research and I hope you approve of the new newsletter format. Please also be sure to visit our website often for additional news and top-notch security information. Feedback and comments are always welcome via email at chair@sfasis.org.

Sincerely,
Brad Minnis, CPP
Chapter Chairman