The International Organization of Black Security Executives (IOBSE) held their 2017 annual meeting last week, April 25 – 27, at Walmart headquarters in Bentonville, AR. “This year’s conference was an amazing event and one of the best ever,” said Don Knox, CPP, CITRMS, director of enterprise security, crisis management, and business continuity for Sears Holdings, and current president of the IOBSE. “We wish to thank Walmart for their extraordinary hospitality in hosting this year’s conference.”
The organization’s annual meeting is focused on providing an educational forum for attendees to learn about emerging trends in the security industry as well as offer ample time for networking with peers. Presenters included executives from Gap Inc., Ross Stores, Walmart, Sears, CVS, Tyco, LinkedIn, and The University of Central Florida. Presentation topics included:
- The new dynamics of threat assessments,
- Building and leading high-performance teams,
- Leading change,
- Active shooter response, and others.
Two discussion panels on security convergence and building your professional brand were also enthusiastically received by attendees. Walmart executives on the security convergence panel (shown above from left) included Jerry Geisler, Gary Smith, Tom Arigi, and Ken Sensor. Not shown was Anthony Williams also from Walmart, who moderated the panel.
One of the unique aspects of the IOBSE conference is their sponsorship of college students interested in the security industry who attend the conference as guests of the organization. This year, 27 students from universities across the country were among the attendees. The conference concluded with their traditional black-tie dinner where several members were recognized for their contributions to the security industry.
For more information about the IOBSE, visit iobse.org. The learn about the origins of the organization, read LPM’s past feature story, “IOBSE: A Message of Workplace Inclusion and Leading with Purpose.”