The perfect day
Where would the A-Team have been if Hannibal had failed to produce one of his plans? Locked up, most likely, or even dead. And that would have made a fairly mediocre programme even more boring. So if you’re only going to IFSEC for a single day, make damn sure you plan your visit. Have a look at the index in this very magazine, and study the floor plan. IFSEC’s pretty well organised into sections, with areas like ‘CCTV Village’ and ‘Counter Terror’, so you can target specific product areas. But some sneaky manufacturers produce the whole gamut of security kit, so what you are interested in may not actually be in that particular section. Fear not! If you want to see a particular company’s products, go ahead and make yourself a note of where they are, and maybe even place a very small, removable sticker on the floor plan. If you have access to scented, ‘scratch and sniff’ adhesives, you may wish to assign certain scents to particular exhibitors. It’s up to you. All this may seem jaw-droppingly obvious, but we’re acquainted with quite a few idio… Ahem. Many times we’ve heard people say they really meant to see somebody, etc, but only remembered after the show had closed for the day. The idiots. And make sure you pre-register to avoid the morning queues. Seriously. It’s a good move.
Concentrate. Focus.
It’s tempting to stroll around at a show as delicious and enticing as IFSEC, gorging your eyes on the security temptations that litter every nook and cranny of the cavernous NEC. You could slip into the security connoisseur’s equivalent of a diabetic coma. By the time you’ve had your badge scanned or dropped your business card in for numerous prize draws, had a ride on the bucking bronco, beat your boss on the latest edition of Burnout, done some speed dating, gazed forlornly at the sandwiches in the distance as you queued for lunch, and wandered into a dentistry exhibition by mistake – the day has gone. And that’s great. It’s like a security-themed adventure park! Or something. But you’ve forgotten about doing business! Darn. If you really want to make the most of your time, pre-book appointments. Manufacturers would rather spend their exhibition time with serious customers, and you can often see most or all of their products at once.
In your face
When it comes to remembering names and faces and even sometimes both simultaneously, are you rubbish, or even awful? I thought so. It’s embarrassing, isn’t it, when you have to peer at someone’s chesty region to get a glimpse of their badge. Try to anticipate who you might bump into so you look much more clever than you are. And remember to take plenty of business cards to get your name and company out and about.
Get your kit on
Wear comfortable shoes. WEAR. COMFORTABLE. SHOES. I can’t stress how important this is. IFSEC covers six vast halls at the massive NEC, and they are big suckas. Seriously. So you will be doing some walking if you plan on spending any sort of significant time at the show. A hell of a lot of walking. Or even just standing around talking/boozing (or both). So don’t try and break in a new pair of shoes at the show. Also bear in mind it can get pretty warm inside the halls, thanks to thermal energy, in the main. Stay comfortable, stay sharp, and stay successful.
Getting heavy
Now, I’m not saying you’re a weakling or questioning your strength in any way, but it really is amazing how quickly those carrier bags get filled with brochures. Before long you’re holding back the tears as your shoulders are wrenched out of their sockets – and the more you collect, the less likely you are to read them. Be discriminating. Not in a sexist or racist way – that would be moronic. Just don’t take the brochure if you know you will just throw it away. And if you’re a manufacturer – don’t waste your resources. Short, information filled sheets are better than huge, perfect bound brochures. Why not give out the essentials and direct them to your website? This is a modern world!
Once in a lifetime
It might seem like a dream, or an urban myth, but people do come across things at IFSEC that can change their lives – or at least their business fortunes. So it pays to have an open mind. Manufacturers who might seem fairly peripheral to security will have a presence at the show – and their product or service might be the very thing to answer your company’s needs. So go off the beaten track a little, and investigate the smaller stands, maybe in areas you wouldn’t necessarily normally consider. You never know what sort of gadget might change your working life for good. You really don’t. You don’t, ok? Ok!
