Connecting Globally

My First ASIS Europe Experience in Dublin

By Irona Wilson

I have worked with the ASIS UK Chapter for the past 6 years and this year I had the opportunity to attend ASIS Europe in the beautiful and vibrant city of Dublin. This was my first opportunity to experience direct contact with ASIS International and members of our global community. The incredibly warm, friendly, and welcoming environment by the members took me by surprise and made it easy to make new connections and understand the true benefits of being part of this global Association.

The day events, and specialist presentations gave me a true insight to the benefit of the ASIS community, a better understanding of the Connects platform and its functions which gains you access to every member all over the world and how you can use this to access a wider connectivity whilst working within your business. It also highlighted the information available through the platform and how to join groups that could benefit you within your career through discussion or information sharing.

The first day was the volunteer leadership event where we had the opportunity to discuss the value of ASIS, share internal processes, communication with our members and what platforms we favour to share the events and information within our individual Chapters. This was followed by networking drinks and canapes for those arriving on Tuesday night and a good time to start building relationships.

The official opening by the Irish Chapter was with the Dublin Fire Brigade Pipe Band followed by the keynote speaker Ed McLaughlin, President and Chief Security Officer at Mastercard. This was one of several speakers and discussions I attended from the number of tracks available. Throughout the 3 days I spoke to volunteers and Chapter Board members from Singapore, Mexico, USA, France, Spain, and Benelux to name but a few. The connection the Association provides is incredible for global business and the community is driven to achieve the best possible support to all the ASIS members, at whatever stage you are at in your career. The event allowed me to appreciate the gains available by attending these events, providing exposure to so many people in a variety of roles within our industry. As a Chapter member I have gained new friends and personal growth with ideas I can bring into my daily business life.

If you are committed to making the most of what ASIS has to offer, and able to attend ASIS Europe next year, GSX or any of the many UK Chapter events, whether in person or online, I believe you will see the wealth of information and knowledge the membership has to offer. I have come away from ASIS Europe invigorated, witnessing how many people are determined to continue developing our industry and provide a more professional environment attracting our future security professionals.