From April 10-13, ScanSource Networking and Security attended the largest converged security trade show of the year, ISC West, at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, N.V. Inside ScanSource’s golf-themed booth, our executives, Tony Sorrentino, Christie Hamberis and Tracey Boucher —as well as other members of our team— were on hand to discuss new and ongoing initiatives in the industry.

According to SDM Magazine, this year’s ISC event was the most successful show to date and featured a number of opportunities for 30,000+ attendees to dig deeper into existing and emerging technologies.

Among the breakout areas in the expo were the Connected Security area, the Public Security and Safety expo, the Connected Home, and the Emerging Technology Zone, which showcased next-gen products to hit the market. Further, there were 120 products in the Security Industry Association’s (SIA) new product showcase. An eye-opening 85 breakout sessions complemented the expo and covered hot topics around access control, IOT, cyber-security threats, and facial recognition software, among many others.

Because the Sands Expo Center doubled as a virtual technology showcase, ISC attendees were able to touch, feel and demo products in real-time. Everything from turnstiles to facial recognition cameras to home security panels were on display.

What made the ScanSource booth different was the opportunity to have a little fun on the putting green while chatting about our new services and programs. Attendees could take their turn at the hole-in-one challenge, offering those who completed three holes in one the chance to win a pair of custom Nike shoes. We also provided fun golf-themed giveaways and hosted social media contests, giving away a Sonos speaker and Titleist golf balls.

Outside of the putting challenge, the topic du jour was our new Accelerate program, which delivers Hanwha-Techwin network video recorders (NVR) to customers at rapid speed. Because we’ve now expanded our in-house inventory, we can build, configure, test, and ship NVR orders from our Custom Configuration Center. This, in turn, accelerates the installation process for our resellers. ISC West attendees were excited to hear that many of these products are already in stock, and ready to ship, with the build time of custom products being only two to three days.

Amid the laughter of some gone-awry putts, we enjoyed sharing the exciting updates around our Success Made Easy program. Well-known to existing ScanSource customers, this loyalty program received a facelift for 2018. In conjunction with Top Golf, we’re taking our golf-themed networking events on the road to several locations around the country.

As we talked shop about products from our best-of-breed manufacturers, we were also excited to hear what’s new in the solution marketplace. Deep learning, cyber hygiene, thermal imaging cameras, cloud security, network audits, on-prem vs off, and heat maps, were all heavily-discussed topics throughout the week at ISC West.

One ISC West tradition that continues to grow is ScanSource’s sponsorship of the Thursday morning Mission 500 5k/2k race. Our team braced the early morning to be part of an incredible cause and enjoyed the camaraderie of other industry professionals in the windy, but refreshing, Vegas spring weather. Mission 500 is a nonprofit organization that works closely with the security industry to provide aid to families in the U.S. affected by poverty. ScanSource looks forward to being part of this event each year.

Our week concluded with hundreds of putt attempts and a few lucky winners of custom Nike sneakers, a couple of happy hours on the show floor (thanks Hanwha and Salient Systems!), and more than 400 visitors to the booth. Follow along with our post-ISC West coverage on Twitter at @SCSCSecurity and @ScanSource. We can’t wait to continue all of the great conversations from ISC West 2018!