Our change in meeting formats late in 2005 to a quarterly-based,
evening meeting has afforded us much more time to
network with our co-members and peers as well as make
available more value-added presentations by leaders in
our industry. As such, our first-quarter 2007 ACP SE FL
meeting was held on Thursday, February 15, at the Westin
Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale (it’s right off I-95, easy to
get to). Presenting at the meeting was Cisco Systems,
who also sponsored the event (a big THANK-YOU to
Cisco for that).
As is our modus-operandi, attendees helped themselves to appetizers
and a cash bar while greeting and networking with
colleagues prior to the start. And let me tempt you to
the next meeting by saying the chocolate-fondue that is
served mid-meeting is worth the drive.
At the start of the meeting, Linda Hoffman, Chapter President,
covered some ACP business, including the introduction of
the new SE FL Board (the Board members are listed on our
website:
http://www.acp-international.com/seflorida/html/officers.html).
The new officers have all been very eager to help out,
and you will be seeing changes to the chapter throughout
the year, such as a newsletter, added events, new and
innovative presentations and speakers, and more. And
speaking of the newsletter, our inaugural issue of
Continuity Today was distributed. Although
many of us had a hand in the creation, special thanks
goes to Jennifer Lay for being the creative mind behind
the splashy format. And you can submit stories and
articles for the newsletter, just follow the guidelines
on the web-site (http://www.acp-international.com/seflorida/html/symposium.html).
Cisco representatives Mike O’Hara Garcia (Strategic Account
Manager) and Mary Luke (Consulting System Engineer) gave
a tag-team presentation on alternative communications
and a system called IPICS (IP Interoperability and
Collaboration System). “It’s an easy to use, scalable
and comprehensive solution for communication
interoperability”, as per their website. Basically, the
system lets you share information (as in voice systems)
either within or across agencies or departments, and
over various devices like home, cell, radio, PTT, etc.
And it’s not just for emergency service organizations,
like fire, police, dispatch, etc. It has features that
can be used in the workplace, as it is IP-based. Mary
brought in (or more accurately, lugged in, as the box
probably weighed more than her) a demo setup, which
included all components, even the router config. She
showed how different devices could speak to one another,
and how security was set to lock out others. Now, I
can’t do it justice here in this write-up, but it was a
neat concept that I’m sure will gain a good following.
So let me point you to Cisco’s website for much more
detailed information:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6712/index.html.
We do thank Mike, Mary and the other Cisco reps that came to share
and display their communications tools and products and
answer questions by the members.
Cisco was our main presenter for this meeting, which filled up just
about all of our time. Just remember, these meeting are
held for you, our members, and your attendance is
appreciated. We did move these meetings to the evenings
to accommodate everyone’s busy daily schedules. So
please take the time and attend the meetings. I think
you’ll be glad you did.
I look forward to seeing you at future events.
Tom Serio
Secretary
ACP SE FL Chapter
tom.serio@officedepot.com
click here for
Pictures from Past Meetings
Past Events Calendar
