The highly anticipated event of the year for the security industry finally happened! The Electronic Security Expo opened and brought together security professionals from all over the country. ESX attracts the biggest, best, and most progressive installing and monitoring companies in the nation to meet with exhibiting electronic security equipment vendors and industry providers.
Each year, ESX is proof that it is possible to offer a show floor large enough to spotlight an incredibly wide range of security products and services, yet manageable enough to tour at a leisurely pace and drill deeply into any category. No end users. No chaotic crowds. This is a tailored educational event designed to help you grow your business. Here are some highlights of the many thing’s security pros were able to experience at this year’s ESX.
Day 1 – Monday
ESA Meetings
The Electronic Security Association, the owner of the event, jumpstarted the events at ESX with several meetings including the ESA Associate Member Meeting, ESA Annual Meeting, ESA Education Committee Meeting and Executive Management Professionals (EMP) Meeting to discuss industry trends and more. Thanks to everyone who attended the ESA Annual Meeting and supported our award winners for excellence in the industry, the installation of our newest Board members.
After the meetings attendees jumped into ESX’s Executive Leadership Workshops. These workshops were an opportunity for connecting with, learning from and growing with other C-Suite operators and owners of electronic security and life safety companies. The program offered insights to freshen up your leadership approach and motivate your team in an intensive afternoon of workshops led by experts. These leadership workshops were also led by a John Maxwell sales expert.
ESX finished Day 1 of the event right! There is no better way to take in Louisville than with live music, local beer and spirits, and a mix of local flavors as we celebrated the launch of ESX 2023! The Opening Celebration was a perfect opportunity to mix and mingle with other attendees and catch up with old industry friends in a more casual, laidback environment. This time around, the Opening Celebration had a LIVE Karaoke band to get security pros to sing the night away.
Day 2 – Tuesday
Moderated by George DeMarco, the OpenXChange Breakfast is where we talked about the newest-of-the new; technologies, services, and go-to market strategies and the changing competitive landscape that will influence the direction of our industry. Our expert panelists this year included Elizabeth Parks from Parks Associates, Bart Proctor of Pye-Barker and Tyler Tribe of Becklar. This lively panel, from various segments of the industry, focused on what’s likely to happen and how it’s going to impact your business in the near term and long run, including technologies that you should pay attention to, like ChatGPT.
The education sessions continued on Tuesday. They focused on women in security, marketing, emergency response systems, reducing truck rolls and more.
ESX’s expo floor provides access to multiple exhibitors in varying industries such as Fire Detection, Access Control, Smart Home Building, Video Surveillance IT/Networking and so much more! Tuesday also offered 5 incredible educational sessions on sales, management, operations, monitoring and more from speakers with years of real-world experience, as well as free technical training to exhibitors and sponsors. Throughout the day, attendees were able to walk around the expo floor, observing the latest technology from exhibitors in the industry.
There also was the keynote luncheon on the main stage featuring Keynote Speaker Jon Acuff. Jon Acuff’s inspirational session was titled Soundtracks: How the Best Teams Overcome Overthinking to Navigate Change, Increase Productivity and Win Consistently. The Sara E. Jackson award was also presented after the Keynote to Kirk MacDowell of MacGuard Security Advisors.
The Innovation Awards recognize outstanding products and services that drive the electronic security and life safety industry forward. Our panel of ESX judges — integrator leaders from across the nation — presented the ESX Innovation Awards to products and services that offer significant growth opportunities to dealers, integrators and monitoring centers.
The SIAC Awards Reception is where the Youth Scholarship award was announced. Individuals were honored throughout this networking reception, as we identified the industry’s leaders working to resolve alarm management issues. We awarded the PDQ Awards, along with SIACs William N. Moody Award.
After a day on the expo floor attendees visited the local Kentucky nightlife at the ESX Pub Crawl! Security pros shared experiences, caught up with friends and made new ones in a casual atmosphere. ESX is unique in that it offers opportunities where work meets play and industry friendships are formed.
Day 3 – Wednesday
The education sessions continued through Wednesday. They focused on driving higher RMR, fire alarms, recruitment and retention, talent acquisition, sales, tracking KPI’s and more.
Attendees were able to connect with lunch on the expo floor while continuing to make connections with peers in the industry. This was a fantastic opportunity to showcase each product and service. Wednesday also held historical artifacts on the expo floor where attendees could get a unique bourbon trail tasting.
There also was the General Session on the main stage featuring Keynote Speaker Kenyon Salo. Just steps away from the expo floor, this highly energetic and engaging presentation, security pros learned how to create phenomenal experiences, share powerful stories, and help others along the way. Elevate your life, both personally and professionally.
The Electronic Security Association (ESA) celebrated its 75th year with a Diamond Jubilee at the Frazier History Museum with a 1920’s themed celebration. The Morris F Weinstock Celebration commemorates the accomplishments of a security professional whose lifetime achievements have made a significant impact on the industry and was presented to Jamie Vos of Security Solutions Northwest. Both events held Wednesday evening wrapped up the third day of ESX.
Last Day – Thursday
With classes like How to Encourage Collaboration Between Sales and Installation Staff, and The Top Applications and Monitoring Services for Video Surveillance, Thursday was filled with education-packed sessions that have been designed to help electronic security pros move their business forward towards efficiency and productivity.
Opening the last day of the Expo is the Closing Luncheon where former US. Army Black Hawk Pilot, Elizabeth McCormick, shared the professional development secrets for success with her stories of overcoming overwhelming obstacles, while inspiring you to soar to success! Come here for inspiration, motivation and networking with like-minded electronic security and life safety peers. This plated luncheon included programming that will inspire members of your organization to accomplish their goals and lead others to climb to higher levels of success.
This bourbon experience was at the close of the 2023 show. Directly after the Closing Luncheon, buses picked up Bourbon Experience attendees and headed over to two distilleries. The first stop was the Evan Williams Distillery and the second was the Stitzel-Weller Distillery. Both are on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail and buses then returned attendees to their ESX Host Hotels.
So far ESX 2023 is one for the books! Make sure to save the date for ESX 2024 hosted in Louisville, Kentucky June 3-6! It is bound to be another incredible experience at the Electronic Security Expo.
Check out this years ESX’s Highlights here:
Elizabeth Parks
Bart Proctor
Tyler Tribe