Boost Your Profile & Help Me Improve IFSEC Global

As readers may or may not have noticed, I’ve replaced Rob Ratcliffe as IFSEC Global’s content and community manager. Hello!

It’s an interesting time for me to join the fire and security industries. Business licensing and the approved contractors promise to be big security issues in 2014, while risk assessments and false alarms will be burning issues (no pun intended, believe it or not) in the fire-prevention world.

Both communities, meanwhile, will watch with interest the ongoing convergence between the industries as detection and notification technologies become increasingly digital and interlinked.

Two weeks into my role and already a story has landed on my doorstep: Several fire engines arrived at our premises yesterday morning to investigate an ammonia leak from a 5th-floor fridge. (In case you’re interested, the room was isolated and evacuated, the ventilation switched off to prevent ammonia spreading through ductwork, and the room sealed. The fridge was put in a sealed container and removed from the building. Once stabilized, the fridge will be disposed of under WEEE regulations.)

Anyway, by all accounts my predecessor did a pretty good job. I hope to build on his success by injecting some fresh ideas and impetus into editorial output.

I see my role as comprising three main responsibilities:

• Commissioning insightful comment and advice — either in the form of articles or interviews — from influential figures in the fire and security industries
• Engaging closely with the community — “below the line” in articles, through social media, and at in-person at events and interviews
• Ensuring the highest journalistic standards in terms of writing style and quality

I certainly won’t — at least until I’ve been at the helm for a while — be opinionated on a subject in which I remain a novice, albeit one keen to learn.

That’s why I need your help, readers from across the supply chain — from manufacturers to installers, end-users, and the fire service. If you’d like to contribute articles or conduct an interview then please email me at adam.bannister@ubm.com for more information.

I want IFSEC Global to be an eclectic mixture of industry news, insight, and opinion, featuring Q&A interviews, technology reviews, how-to guides, and more. We will also boost video output.

Your feedback and suggestions are most welcome in the following areas, too:

• Articles or article types (e.g., how-to guides, regulatory news, articles about access control) that you particularly enjoy and would like to see more of
• Articles and article types you think we should do fewer of (perhaps, for instance, they’re telling you what you already know)
• Any other feedback

Anyway, I look forward to meeting many of you throughout 2014, whether for interviews, in meetings, or at the big one: IFSEC Global’s show in June, now relocated from Birmingham to London’s Excel.