Editor’s notes

It was an early day for me yesterday. First up, the Axis Communications media breakfast where the company went over its new product line-up and the benefits it offers from an installation standpoint. I’ll be interviewing Fredrik Nilsson today for SDNtvNews so you’ll be able to hear all the details straight from the horse’s mouth.

The rest of my day:
*Was eager to hear Wal-Mart’s Steve Lindsay’s perspective on video analytics but he was a no show. Jumbi Edulbehram from Axis and Steve Russo from IBM were able to effectively cover the ground from the manufacturer and integrator perspective though.

*I had the chance to chat with Mack Brutsche, director of surveillance at the Atlantis Casino Resort in Reno. The casino recently completed a $75-million renovation that included an upgrade to its surveillance — it added DVTel’s iSOC platform to manage the hundreds of cameras in has in place through the complex. Mack said the digital video helps the security and surveillance departments efficiently share video when necessary. The solution also enables him to authorize security, or other departments, to view only the camera feeds it needs to.
At the Global Gaming Expo two years back, there was some talk about security and surveillance being two very distinct and separate departments — Not true at Atlantis, Mack said. Rather, the partnership helps both be more efficient in combating fraud and thef, as well as controlling security incidents
It isn’t often that I get to sit down with a security practitioner at ISC West so thanks to DVTel for the opportunity.

*I conducted three on camera interviews for SDNtvNews: Carolyn Ramsey and Eric Zei from Honeywell; Tony Byerly, COO (not CEO as I mistakenly told the camera three times before getting it right) of Stanely CSS; and Don Lyman with Tyco. Those videos will be posted on our web site today.

*Next up was a booth appointment at Xtralis (check out the new web site) with Mariann McDonagh. We had a great conversation about social media — I talked a lot about my tweeting experiment, which is going really well thus far. She is looking for ways to leverage these new mediums for marketing purposes but the question is, how do I craft my message and what will be most effective? I think many of us are still trying to figure that out.

*A colleague (don’t know if I can really call him that) called my photo on Twitter, “sexy.” Why is that even relevant? Unfortunately, that comment along with the appearance of Miss Hawaiian Tropic show sexism in this industry, although much better than is was five years ago, is still present.

*Met with Kevin Binnie and Frank Albano at back-up power Alpha Technologies. Their motto: No power, no security. It’s kind of a no-brainer but it would never be something I would think of. What about you? What are you going to do if you lose power and your security system is rendered useless.

*Tyco reception was well attended as was Dedicated Micros’ at Tao. I’m back to following my rules after not getting enough sleep on Tuesday night, but hey, two out of three (so far) ain’t bad.