Find news and information for the executive corporate security director, CSO, facility manager and assets protection manager on issues of policy, products, incidents, risk management, threat assessments and preparedness.
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58 Security Dealer & Integrator / www.SecurityInfoWatch.com April 2017 America's Fastest Growing Security Dealers and Systems Integrators More recently, GC&E; has been able to attract additional personnel solely from recommendations provided by its current employees. "With the majority of our technical professionals recruited via employee referrals, we significantly improve the likelihood of recruiting strong, technically qualified personnel, who are proven performers and are more likely to quickly and positively acculturate into GC&E;," O'Sulli- van says. "Within our competitive industry, retaining a qualified workforce is imperative to business success," he continues. "At GC&E;, we recognize that our people are our num- ber-one asset and serve as the foundation for our success. Our culture challenges our staff to evolve their technical skills, industry experience, and business know-how." GC&E;'s "One Team" culture promotes teamwork and collaboration. "Always work to recruit and retain the best talent available in your market," O'Sullivan says. "Work to build a team of technical professionals who have a passion for the electronic security industry; who strive to constantly improve their technical and professional competencies and acumen; who want to ensure the work is done properly; and that their customers are 100-percent satisfied," he adds. Putting GC&E; on the Map GC&E; has worked to enhance its brand, name recognition, and value proposition to customers, partners and employ- ees. e two-pronged approach includes digital marketing initiatives, as well as hosting it first "Converged Security Summit" – which was held in early March 2017 at Atlanta's Georgia Aquarium. e idea is to give their clients something extra that is not a direct sales pitch – rather, something that offers ideas from industry experts and allows the customers to hobnob with one another, and establish business relation- ships that help solve security problems while giving them a feeling of community. e Converged Security Summit (CSS) is a one-day, comprehensive program that brings together experts in physical, electronic and information security to discuss best-practice countermeasures to safeguarding IT infra- structure and information assets. It presents solutions for perimeter security, privacy and employee safety. O'Sullivan says the company was pleased with the atten- dance and feedback it received. More than 200 IT, IA, and security professionals attended; along with 20 security and IT vendors; and three distinguished, industry-recognized leaders who provided their insights on the constantly evolv- ing state of information and physical security. e keynote speaker was Kenrick Bagnall, a detective constable for the Toronto Police Service who specializes in Computer Cyber Crime (C3) Intelligence Services, who spoke to attendees about cyber threats to critical infrastruc- ture. Jim Crumbley, CEO of Risk Response Team, outlined the relationship between IT and security/public safety; and Moses Anderson, CTO of Shield IS, spoke on "e Com- munity of ings." "e Summit was a great success and will be an annual event," O'Sullivan promises. As far as digital marketing, "we work to continuously update and refresh our website to reflect current and evolv- ing service offerings," O'Sullivan says. "We routinely sched- ule push-outs of company news, employee achievements, new or enhanced service offerings, and other newsworthy items through Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn." is year, GC&E; plans to expand its efforts to include short videos addressing current and evolving technological advancements, information security, information assur- ance, and breaking news from vendor partners. Among the hot topics are the IoT and other trends. "To supplement our positioning on being a thought leader in the electronic security arena, we will publish and present whitepapers, annually host the CSS, and present relevant thought pieces at security industry conferences," O'Sullivan says. Over the next five years, look for GC&E; to open offices across the U.S., where its federal and electronic security divi- sions have strong growth and diversification prospects. ■ » Curt Harler is a technology writer and regular contributor to SD&I; magazine. Reach him at curt@curtharler.com. At the GC&E; Systems/Shield IS booth at the CSS, Network Engineer CJ Leffel and Senior Sales Engineer Charlie McRoberts meet some of the 200 attendees.