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Interview: Vladimir Zrnić, Regional Sales Manager for Southern Europe at Advanced

Mr. Zrnic, could you please present yourself to our readers: your professional and educational background and experience, when you started working for Advanced, what your role is, and what areas you cover?
My name is Vladimir Zrnic and I am Regional Sales Manager for Southern Europe at Advanced.
Based in Serbia, I have worked in the fire industry for over a decade. In that time, I have been a designer, contractor and consultant working on many prestigious Serbian projects, implementing highly-rated fire detection and suppression systems.
After more than 10 years at one of the largest fire detection companies in Serbia, in 2017 I joined Advanced, assuming responsibility for driving sales and managing customer accounts across Southern Europe as well as Turkey and Israel.

Who is Advanced and what do you specialise in? Where are your products and solutions sold?
Advanced is a fire protection and life safety systems manufacturer, based in the UK, supplying fire panels to around 80 countries across the globe. Our solutions have been specified on some of the highest profile developments of the past decade, including The Shard, Western Europe’s tallest building, Abu Dhabi International Airport and the world’s longest sea crossing, the Hong Kong – Macau – Zhuhai Bridge.
Alongside our fire systems, we also produce intelligent extinguishant, radio paging and emergency lighting systems. We offer AdSpecials too, which is a custom design and build service, creating specially engineered solutions to meet very specific building needs. All of Advanced’s products are backed up by our award-winning customer service, technical support and training.

What have been some of the most important milestones for Advanced? When did you become a part of Halma and what are the major benefits of this for the business?
Advanced became a part of Halma plc in 2014. Halma is a global group of life-saving technology companies with a clear purpose to grow a safer, cleaner, healthier future for everyone, every day,.
Being part of a larger group of fire and life safety companies enables us to draw on knowledge and expertise from across Halma’s portfolio of businesses, to share expertise and to accelerate the growth of both new product development and the wider business.
Halma is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and having the backing of a FTSE 100 company has also had benefits for us in terms of investment. Another major landmark for Advanced was the relocation of our headquarters and manufacturing plant in 2018, from four separate sites in Cramlington, Northumberland, to a £1million, 48,000 sq ft base in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in North East England.

Tell us more about your existing product line?
As part of our core product line-up, Advanced offers both intelligent addressable fire panels and complete systems.
Our MxPro 5 is the industry’s unbeatable multiprotocol fire panel. Built on almost two decades of market leadership, it offers greater freedom to specifiers, end users and installers. It is FM approved to EN54 Parts 2, 4 and also holds Part 13 approval. It comes in one to eight loop formats, is compatible with Apollo, Argus, Hochiki and Nittan protocols and can be reliably networked into systems of up to 200 panels.
Available for European, African, Middle Eastern and South East Asian markets, Axis EN is our highest performance EN54-approved panel range conforming to Parts 2, 4 and 13. It is certified by FM to EN54 Parts 2 and 4. It is available in one to eight loop formats and configurable into networks of up to 200 panels with a complete range of wired and wireless loop devices and powerful peripherals to choose from. If it’s UL 864 compliance that’s required, our Axis AX panel range comes complete with digital audio and our award-winning, integrated smoke control solution, DynamixSmoke that dramatically simplifies the programming process.
To address false alarms, one of the biggest issues facing fire professionals and building owners, Advanced developed AlarmCalm. As a complete false alarm management solution available as standard on the MxPro 5 and Axis EN ranges, AlarmCalm allows a site to be divided into virtual false alarm management zones called Building Areas, which can have unique or grouped settings, allowing highly flexible false alarm strategies to be set for each area.
TouchControl, available across Advanced’s fire systems, is a 10” HD touchscreen repeater and remote control terminal. Its unique user interface allows easy network control via built-in graphics zone plans.
AdSpecials is a dedicated department within Advanced that works with customers to design and manufacture unique panels, enclosures and control interfaces for sites where customised solutions are needed. The scope of customisation ranges range from simple colour coordination to fully bespoke panel housings that offer environmental protection and specialist control and indication.

All your products are integrated through DynamixTools software. What benefits does this deliver?
DynamixTools is Advanced’s suite of software that makes installing, configuring, customising, monitoring, maintaining, and managing a fire system easy.
Some of its key applications include:
• ConfigTool: used to configure any Advanced fire panel whether standalone or part of a large, networked system
• ServiceTool: offers powerful, flexible service reporting to help you demonstrate proof of servicing, download service reports, inspect device history and keep track of service schedules
• TerminalTool: is used to program any Advanced fire panel, even remotely via PC connection
• LogoTool: lets you brand any Advanced panel with a customer or installer logo which can help remind users who to call for maintenance and reinforce ownership of any service contracts
• ExGo ExtractionTool: designed to work with Advanced’s gas suppression system, it makes the management of configuration, control data and event logs simple and efficient.
These applications are continually updated with new features and performance enhancements for the complete range of Advanced products. Our position in the global fire industry means we help guide legislation and can implement software changes quickly, keeping our customers’ systems up to date.

What international standards do your solutions meet?
In order to satisfy the requirements of our customers around the world, we understand the importance of meeting the criteria set out in various international standards. We are approved to the major international EN and UL standards, and a wide range of regional and local codes. Meeting the necessary standards is an ongoing focus and we are continually building upon our core range of EN54 and UL 864-approved products.

Tell me about some of the biggest fire protection challenges your customers have that you come across most regularly?
The Adriatic region is flooded with fire brands coming from all over the world. Due to the unenviable economic situation, the most important criteria when choosing equipment is the lowest price.
Much of this fire alarm control and indicating equipment does not have the required approvals or the required level of functionality to deliver adequate protection, which often causes big problems for the end user.

How does Advanced offer solutions to these challenges?
We strive to constantly educate designers, consultants, installers as well as end users about the importance of specifying and installing high-quality, high-performing, trusted solutions that meet the necessary standards, and guide them through the equipment selection process.
With over 20 years’ experience in manufacturing and supplying fire detection and suppression systems, we believe that our expertise and experience can help customers prevent these issues and put in place the best possible protection for a wide range of sites.

You state that your growth comes from strong customer relationships. Is Advanced 360 behind that success?
Advanced invests time in nurturing strong relationships with customers because we care passionately about helping our clients find the best solutions to their needs.
Advanced 360 is our award-winning customer support that strives to meet and surpass customer expectations by offering a comprehensive customer care package both in person, online and over the phone.
Support can cover help when specifying a system or during installation and maintenance. We also provide full installer training free of charge for direct customers, online and over the phone, and offer a fault-modelling service.
However, also behind our success is the expertise of the wider team at Advanced. This includes leadership, operations, engineering, technical, digital, marketing and of course sales – all pulling together to deliver high-quality solutions to protect people and property and keep at the forefront of fire industry innovation.

What is new to market or in the product pipeline at the moment?
We’re working on new ways to give fire system users much more convenient real-time, remote access to, and control of, their fire protection. This has the potential to bring large-scale time and cost savings to customers.
Specifically, we are accelerating the development of AdvancedLive – our digital, cloud-connected product offering with some pilot work which we hope will provide better interactions for end users and installers. This exciting solution will, we believe, take our brand promise of ‘ease of use’ to a new level for customers needing remote monitoring and control of their sites’ fire systems.

Advanced systems are found in many applications. What vertical markets do you focus on? Can you name some of the most important case studies?
One of the key strengths of our products is their flexibility to deliver seamless protection across a wide variety of settings, from schools, universities, hospitals and hotels to large-scale industrial sites and critical infrastructure projects.
Some of the projects we’re most proud of include:
• The Historical Archives of Belgrade, where a custom-engineered solution has been introduced. By interfacing our TouchControl touchscreen repeater panel with our ExGo extinguishing system, the installer has enabled visibility over the building’s gas suppression system via interactive mapping.

• The world’s longest sea crossing, the Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macau bridge is protected by our ExGo gas suppression panels – a fantastic achievement.

• London’s 22 Bishopsgate, Western Europe’s second tallest building, has been designed to be at the forefront of fire technology – a fantastic testament to our products and the capability of our AdSpecials team who were tasked with developing a number of customised solutions to protect the site.

What are your views on digital innovation happening in the industry?
More recently, we have witnessed an industry-wide drive towards innovative digital solutions to make control, monitoring, maintenance and servicing of fire systems much quicker, smoother and more convenient.
The development of cloud-enabled products and services is a focus for Advanced, and we have already adopted the technology across our emergency lighting product offering. Going forward, we also see digital innovation opening up new ways of working and transforming how we interact with our fire systems.

What has been the effect of Covid-19 on Advanced? Any good news stories to share?
Like most businesses that have continued to operate throughout the pandemic, we have put in place all recommended measures to keep our fantastic team safe. This way we have been able to continue to work to support the high demand we’ve seen for fire protection products.
Many people have seen the global lockdown of countries as an opportunity to upskill. We’ve introduced a webinar programme designed to explain our solutions in more detail and have also developed a series of online training modules.
In order to continue to deliver seamless customer service and technical support, over the past few months, we have also begun developing a series of video tutorials and walkthroughs that will address many of our customers’ FAQs. These are available via our Vimeo channel ‘Advanced Live’, with new tips frequently posted.

Your opinion about the Adriatic region security market, its pros and cons? And how do you intend to increase market share in this area? Are you looking for new partners?
The Adriatic region has been developing extremely quickly in recent years. It is one of the most demanding European markets in terms of requirements for quality and functionality at competitive prices.
As a leading manufacturer of fire detection systems, Advanced understands the importance of continually listening to market demands and strives to customers’ individual needs through product development and aftersales support.
We are proud to support many long-term partners in countries throughout the region, and are always open to new enquiries and opportunities to support installers, engineers, consultants, specifiers and building owners in meeting their fire protection challenges, whatever they may be.
To learn more about Advanced’s fire and life safety solutions, contact marketing@advancedco.com

Birosafe: Fire proof doors

DPTU “BIROSAFE” DOOEL Strumica is an engineering company founded in 2001. The company is present in the business of manufacturing, sales and mounting of security, fireproof and bank equipment (security and fireproof safes, cabinets, doors, and vaults, etc.).

The company has offices and dealers in all the Balkan countries and is present on the markets of former Yugoslav republics territories (Serbia, Monte Negro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia), Albania, Bulgaria…

BIROSAFE produces and offers different types of security equipment: safes, cabinets, deposit safes, weapon safes, cash transfer safes, vault and vault doors, security doors etc.; as well as fireproof equipment: safes, cabinets, doors etc. Usually the products are made by standard dimensions, but there is also a possibility for tailoring the products according to client demand.

This time we will present our fireproof doors, which can be made like fireproof metal doors in variants under EN 1634-1 EI 30, EI60, EI90, EI120 or EI180 minutes fire protection.

These fireproof doors represent a good compromise of functionality and good design, and can be built into industrial objects (halls, offices…), public objects (schools, gyms…), as well as representative objects (hotels, banks…).
They are made from steel, protected from corrosion, and aesthetically painted.
On the inside, they are filled with special fireproof layers, depending on the class.
They own seals which are active in normal exploitation as well as expanding fireproof seals which are activated in the case of a fire.

Except the fireproof metal doors, Birosafe produces fireproof glass doors in variants T30 minutes, 60, 90, and 120 minutes fire protection.

Fireproof doors in which most surface of the wing consists out of fire-resistant glass.
Made from special fire profiles, they have minimal deformation in case of fire. They have a great rigidity to withstand the weight of the massive fire glass and specially fire charge.
They close perfectly in normal operation and have additional expansive fire seals.
The doors have aesthetic quality and can fit into any setting. Usually they are intended for installation in representative objects.

Birosafe fireproof metal doors can be made also in variant Security fireproof doors according EN 1627, which are fireproof and burglar resistant at same time.
These doors offer much higher burglar resistance.
They feature an adequate door leaf thickness and little rebate space, which makes jimmying more difficult.
Previous experience shows that for the thieves it is much harder to break in object equipped with doors like these. Burglars want to be quick – if a door shows resistance, many will abandon the attempt.
These doors are manufactured according to requirements and norms and compared with the uncertified security doors, it requires great skills and longer time in order to break and open the door.
Birosafe is the only manufacturer in North Macedonia who possesses EUROPEAN CERTIFICATE FOR SECURITY of doors, according to the standard EN 1627, issued by ECB-S Germany.
The Security doors manufactured according to EN 1627 are available in the resistance classes (RC) 1 to 6. The resistance classes 1 to 3 relate to the usual occasional criminals, while the classes 4 to 6 consider the techniques used by experienced, high skilled burglars.

Intersec moves to 2022 at Dubai World Trade Centre

Organiser Messe Frankfurt Middle East offers digital programme for global security, safety, and fire protection industry in 2021

Dubai, UAE: Intersec, the world’s leading security, safety, and fire protection trade fair, has been rescheduled to take place in January 2022, organiser Messe Frankfurt Middle East confirmed today (24 September 2020).

The 23rd edition of the three-day event was originally set to run from 24-26 January 2021 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, however the move to 2022 comes after extensive consultation with key industry stakeholders.

“We’ve spoken to many of our exhibitors, industry trade associations, supporters, and partners over the last couple of weeks and have heard first-hand the many challenges they’re facing putting pressure on their ability to participate at Intersec in January 2021,” said Alexandria Robinson, Intersec’s Show Director.

“Moving Intersec to its customary January dates in 2022 at the Dubai World Trade Centre will allow time for recovery.”

Ms. Robinson said Intersec will be very active throughout 2021 via its ongoing webinar series, while the team is now working toward creating a virtual event early next year to engage industry leaders, regulators, government agencies and opinion formers.

“We might be restricted physically, but we know there is a definitive need for critical conversations and discussions to address the challenges the industry has faced,” she said.

“By hosting these talks via a digital forum it enables us to keep connected to the industry and nurture our existing relationships, whilst sharing solutions and common goals.  We’ll share further details and plans about the digital event in the coming weeks.”

 Intersec’s popular free-to-attend webinar series, of which there’ve been 11 so far in the last four months, has kept thousands of attendees abreast of the latest industry trends and opportunities.

“We know we have a vital role to play in connecting and supporting the industry, and the Intersec webinars stimulate meaningful conversations, collaborations and success stories,” added Ms. Robinson.  “We will continue to run these and support our stakeholders in every way possible until we meet again personally, and safely, at Intersec 2022.”

“One thing is absolutely certain: our community is resilient and will bounce back.  It has been involved in many frontline situations throughout the course of this year and it will continue to play a critical role in the months ahead. Throughout 2021 and come January 2022, we’ll have much to share and learn from each other.”

Intersec in 2020 featured 1,100 exhibitors from 56 countries, while attracting 33,872 visitors from 135 countries.  The global industry event is supported by Dubai Civil Defence, Dubai Police, the Security Industry Regulatory Agency (SIRA), Dubai Police Academy, and Dubai Municipality.

More information is available at: www.intersecexpo.com.

Rapid growth predicted for digital signature market

According to the latest research report on the digital signature sector from Marketsandmarkets, this market is predicted to grow from USD 2.8 billion in 2020 to USD 14.1 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of 31.0% during the forecast period. Government initiatives and transition towards digitalisation are suggested as the drivers for this impressive overall market growth.

Digital signature solution providers offer software to help organisations easily create digital signatures that comply with industry standards and offer support for working with accredited certified authorities. The software providers in the market are focusing on delivering encryption software, PKI solutions, email encryption solutions, and APIs to help end users securely sign documents. Software solutions, as compared to hardware solutions, are growing at a faster rate and contributing maximum in terms of market size in the digital signature market.

The Banking and Financial Services vertical is witnessing digital transformation at every level with rapidly changing customer demands and represents the highest CAGR according to the researchers. The use of online services, such as internet banking, mobile banking, and stock trading has soared. The BFSI vertical is focusing on understanding digital consumer behaviour, preferences, and choices through customer-centric business applications. Digital signatures help BFSI firms in simplifying complex business processes by offering enhanced security and improved turnaround time for on boarding customers.

In terms of geography it is North America that shows the highest take-up in this sector, according to the analysts this is down to the presence of several prominent market players delivering digital signature solutions to all end users in the region. The US and Canada both have strong economic conditions and are expected to be major contributors to the growth of the digital signature market. The geographical presence, significant Research and Development (R&D) activities, partnerships, and acquisitions and mergers are the major factors for the deployment of digital signature and services.

Key and innovative vendors in the digital signature marketplace and named in the report by Marketsandmarkets, include Adobe, Onespan, Thales, Docusign, Idemia, Ascertia, Zoho, Globalsign, Entrust Datacard, Digicert, and Identrust.

G4S UK rejects £2.95 billion bid from Canadian rival

G4S is currently urging its shareholders to dismiss and ignore offer attempts from privately owned Canadian security company, Gardaworld. The latest offer of 190 pence per share, was estimated to be valued by Reuters at 2.95 billion pounds and was unanimously rejected by the board of G4S as significantly undervaluing the company.

Established in 1995, and based in Montreal Canada, Gardaworld is the largest privately owned security services company in the world. The company offers security solutions and professionals to protect people, assets and reputation globally. Gardaworld employs around 102,000 trained and dedicated professionals serving clients in North America, Africa and the Middle East, including Fortune 500 companies and governments and it has also served in the UK for around 15 years.

According to reports Gardaworld has made various attempts to engage with G4S over the last three months, but without success, and now is urging G4S shareholders to take note of this latest offer of 190 pence per share.

Reuters reports that G4S recently revealed it had already declined two previous offers in June for 145 pence per share and 153 pence per share each.

The Board at G4S believes that the timing of the proposals is highly opportunistic, coming as it does at a time of severe turbulence in global financial markets.

Earlier this year, G4S sold the majority of its conventional cash businesses for 727 million pounds to The Brinks Company, and the board believes this move greatly enhances the group’s strategic, commercial and operational focus and strengthens further its financial position. It says that the company is increasingly well placed to deliver growth, profitability and substantial free cash flow and that the group’s resilient performance in the first half of 2020 provides confidence in the strategy and its execution.

Stephan Crétier, Founder, Chairman, President and CEO of Gardaworld, acknowledges that G4S is an important UK employer and a significant provider to both the public and private sectors, but said that he believes G4S “needs an owner not a manager.”

COVID impact ramps up global access control market potential

The latest report from Marketsandmarkets on the access control market includes the suggested impact of COVID-19 on the sector, including global forecasts to 2025 projecting a growth from USD 8.6 billion in 2020 to USD 12.8 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 8.2%. Increasing deployment of wireless security systems and rising adoption of IoT-based security systems with cloud computing platforms are the key factor that is driving the growth of the access control market according to the researchers.

Biometric readers are expected to witness the highest growth rate during the forecast period. Biometric technologies are used to measure different physiological parameters for identification and authentication purposes in access control systems. The market for biometric reader-based access control systems has been further categorised into fingerprint recognition, palm recognition, iris recognition, face recognition, and voice recognition. Biometrics is one of the fastest-growing technologies used to secure perimeters. This technology enables identifying a person’s physical characteristics to provide controlled physical access to infrastructure. This technology is being increasingly used in government facilities, manufacturing units, power stations, defence establishments, and enterprises.

The analysts find that the commercial vertical is the largest end user of access control systems, including facilities such as enterprises and data centres; BFSI; retail stores and malls; and entertainment areas. Manned security for all physical locations is difficult and expensive. The demand for access control systems is increasing since they reduce the need for manned security to a greater extent, thereby reducing security expenditure. These factors are encouraging commercial facilities to adopt access control systems to protect people and properties.

Geographically North America is the largest market, as it is considered by the researchers to be more advanced than in other regions in terms of the implementation of access control systems. Companies in the US, Canada, and Mexico are making efforts to enhance their expertise and develop innovative access control systems and services. This provides them with greater competitive advantage to increase their share in the region’s access control market. The growing number of cyber and malware attacks in the region has compelled several governments and security agencies to enhance security features in their transactions through the deployment of RFID and biometric technologies, which is further contributing to the overall growth of the access control market.

Major companies involved in the development and supply of access control and mentioned in this latest report include, Dormakaba, Ass Abloy, Johnson Controls, Allegion, Honeywell, Identiv, Suprema, Thales, Bosch, NEC and Idemia.

Welcome to INFOSEK CONFERENCE 2020

We kindly invite you to the biggest information security event in Slovenia, INFOSEK CONFERENCE, happening in Nova Gorica, Slovenia, from the 30th of September till the 2nd of October 2020. INFOSEK is in its eighteenth successful year of providing information security professionals from around the world an opportunity to learn about the latest trends, events and issues in the information security and information risk management. The conference is the most comprehensive and important forum on Information Security in the region.
We cover topics such as PSD2, business continuity (resilience & recovery), cyber security, ethical hacking (threats, vulnerabilities, attacks, malware, phishing, social engineering), digitalization, authentication, crypto currency, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, GDPR, ect. You can find more about this year’s programme on our website https://infosek.net/en
We are sure the event represents a big opportunity for every individual and a company to gain knowledge and to network with potential customers.
Every year we host guests from major banks, insurance companies, big health institutions, educational institutions, different governmental organizations and big private companies from IT world.

The conference will take place in HIT hotel&casino Perla, but due to the situation we will also host the conference online. We will be streaming every session live, online participants will also have the possibility to actively participate in the sessions.

For more information about the event please contact maša.arčon@palsit.com
https://infosek.net/en

It is surprisingly easy to switch to electronic access control

London, September 2020 — Ever settled another bill for changing your office locks and thought, “there has to be a better way”? In fact, there is. Access control and digital keys are easier and more cost effective than you imagine.

While mechanical keys will keep a building secure, they lack the flexibility to adapt to your changing security needs. Standard physical keys are difficult to track without a key management system. Some types of key are quite straightforward to cut without permission. And when a key goes missing, changing a standard mechanical lock or rekeying is time-consuming and often expensive — 100€ or more every time*.

Yet the alternative — electronic access control — can seem daunting, over-technical and potentially expensive. But this need not be the case, if you choose the right wireless access control system.

The basics of digital locking
Everything begins with the credential — the digital key your building users will carry at all times. Credentials can be plastic smart cards, fobs, wristbands or even stored in a secure mobile phone app. The best wireless access control systems let you choose the format to suit your business, and even to mix different types of credential in the same building.

When you swap keys for credentials, you bring enhanced flexibility to building security. Most importantly, if someone loses their credential, you can cancel it with a click. You’ll never rekey or change the locks again.

Electronic access control is highly flexible. So, if some staff should have access everywhere, but others only through the main door, it is easy to program the system to allow just that. Plus, you can program and reprogram credentials and wireless door locks as many times as you like: employees leaving or joining the company create very little workload.

If the worst happens and there’s an unexpected incident — unauthorised intrusion or theft — an access control system helps you handle it quickly and efficiently. Because everyone carries personalised credentials, your system software will tell you who went where and when. Yet another occasion when wireless access systems save you time and money.

Install fast, activate immediately
A modern, wireless system with digital door locks, programmable credentials and user-friendly software (to keep it all running) is easy, affordable and fast to install. It takes only one day to switch a medium-sized office from mechanical lock-and-key security to digital credentials. There’s no major cabling, no major adjustments around your existing doors and almost no noisy, dirty drilling.

All over Europe — at offices and sports venues, schools and university dorms, co-working spaces and medical practices — SMARTair wireless locks have transformed workplace security. SMARTair battery-powered cylinders, escutcheons, security locks and readers are fast to fit and can protect almost any door or access point, from boardrooms and storerooms to fire escapes and lifts. Little or no training is needed to use SMARTair’s management software: when your installer departs, hardware and software will be ready to go.

We spend six months of our lives looking for lost things**. Metal keys don’t have to be among them. SMARTair wireless security turns mechanical labours into key-free, happy workplaces.

There is an easy way to make your security stress-free. To learn more, you can download a free SMARTair® screen paper now at: https://campaigns.assaabloyopeningsolutions.eu/smartair-forget-about-keys

ISE 2021 to be held on 1-4 June

Following on from yesterday’s statement that Integrated Systems Europe was being postponed we are pleased to confirm that the show will take place at the Fira Gran Via, Barcelona on 1-4 June.

The decision to reschedule the exhibition from early February came after a period of consultation with exhibitors, the venue and local authorities. In recent weeks we have been working closely with the venue and local suppliers to ensure that the move can take place as smoothly as possible.

From our many conversations, it is clear the industry can’t wait to get back together doing business face to face and we are committed to delivering an engaging and safe in-person ISE in 2021. The postponement of the event to early June provides additional time for the industry to adapt and restore balance. We look forward to hosting the AV community in our new home in Barcelona.

Watch out for our regular updates on all that is taking place at ISE 2021.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mike Blackman
Managing Director, Integrated Systems Events