ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Nearly two weeks after the conclusion of the 55th Annual ASIS International Seminar and Exhibits in Anaheim, Calif., officials for the organization report that the recession had only minimal impacts on the event.

“In these difficult economic times we are pleased that so many security practitioners were able to attend this important professional-development event,” said Michael Cummings, president of ASIS, in a statement released by ASIS.  “Even though attendance was down single digits from last year, by all accounts the Seminar and Exhibits was a huge success.  As we have done in the past, we are conducting a full independent audit of our registrations and will post the final figures as soon as they become available.”

The release states that more than 19,300 security professionals attended the three-day event with more than 715 companies exhibiting.

ASIS International had several ‘firsts’ this year including the launch of ASIS Accolades, an awards competition that recognizes the security industry’s most innovative new products, services and/or solutions. ASIS invited exhibitors to submit new technology, product or service solutions for evaluation for the first annual competition.  A team of judges representing end users and experts in physical security and cyber technologies reviewed more than 130 entries before selecting the top 10 winners.

Also new this year was ASIS’s use of social media tools including a seminar blog, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. These forums provided attendees with expanded coverage of the education sessions, in-depth speaker profiles and last-minute updates and schedule changes.

The 56th Annual Seminar and Exhibits will be held in Dallas from Oct. 12-15. The deadline for the call for presentations is March 1, 2010.