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TMA Annual Meeting 2017 Keynote Speaker Jack Uldrich Will Share Insights on “Future-Proofing” with Industry Leaders

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Scottsdale, October 7-11, is “First” Annual Meeting of Newly-Renamed The Monitoring Association

TMA-Scottsdale_V1CThe first official annual meeting of the newly-named The Monitoring Association (TMA) will build on the previous successful meetings of the Central Station Alarm Association, bringing value to attendees through high-level sessions on technology advancements and business management, along with the networking opportunities for which the event is renowned.

“Over the past several years, we have ‘reimagined’ our annual meeting to provide participants with the kind of value in both content and engagement that is unmatched at any other industry event,” said TMA President Pam Petrow. “2017 will build on our past successes – we’ll present a program of the kind of top-level engagement and professional development that our members have come to expect from our Annual Meeting, while we celebrate our new name and our mission to advance the professional monitoring industry.”

“The annual meeting was exceptional [in 2016],” said Wes Usie, President, Guardian Alarm. “The meeting content, speakers and social networking events were fantastic! I came away with a lot of useful information that will help my business.”

The 2017 TMA Annual Meeting will be held in Scottsdale, AZ October 7-11 at the five-star Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. The Sonoran Desert location and event schedule allow for focused professional development and networking in a spectacular natural setting. “The Annual Meeting keeps getting better every year,” said Morgan Hertel, Vice President, Rapid Response. “And the ‘onshore’ location makes it easy to attend.”

Uldrich smallTo launch the forward-thinking education program October 9, TMA welcomes keynote speaker Jack Uldrich, a well-recognized global futurist, speaker, and author of eleven books. He is a frequent speaker on emerging technology, change management and leadership and has addressed hundreds of corporations, associations and not-for-profit organizations on five continents.

“In the near future, the greatest change will be the accelerating rate of change itself,” said UIdrich. He will present an enlightening, entertaining and educational session, sharing insights from his forthcoming book, Business as Unusual: How to Future-Proof Yourself Against Tomorrow’s Transformational Trends, Today. “I’ll outline the trends transforming the world of tomorrow, as well as identify concrete actions business leaders can take today to future-proof themselves and their companies against ‘the tides of tomorrow,’” he added. The session is generously sponsored by Honeywell.

Uldrich is a frequent guest on national media and regularly appears on the Science Channel’s ”FutureScape” and the Discovery Channel’s ”Inside Out.” He is an ongoing contributor on emerging technologies and future trends for a number of publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Wired Magazine and BusinessWeek. A former naval intelligence officer and Defense Department official, he served as the director of the Minnesota Office of Strategic and Long-Range Planning under Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura.

Additional education sessions (October 9-11) at the Annual Meeting will focus on helping leaders address critical issues and challenges facing the monitoring industry, such as best practices in operations, executive management, technology updates, and telecomm issues. The complete roster of speakers will be announced over the summer. TMA will hold Board of Directors and Committee meetings October 7-8.

To see the preliminary schedule, register, and reserve hotel rooms for the TMA Annual Meeting, visit tma.us/2017am. The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess is approximately a 30-minute drive from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

 

CSAA Becomes “The Monitoring Association”

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The Monitoring Association Logo 2017VIENNA, VA (March 16, 2017) – The Monitoring Association (TMA) is the new name of the 67-year-old Central Station Alarm Association. The name change reflects an adjustment in mission and focus necessitated by growth and changes in the alarm monitoring industry.

In a letter to the CSAA membership, President Pamela J. Petrow noted that “our new name reflects our renewed commitment to our mission: to advance the professional monitoring industry through education, advocacy and public safety relationships. It also emphasizes our long range goals to grow the association beyond our traditional services to embrace the opportunities of our changing industry.” She added that the new name’s meaning “will be reflected in all future initiatives of [the] association.”

“Monitoring life safety events in the traditional central station model remains our core business,” said CSAA Executive Director Jay Hauhn. “That will not change. However, our demographics surveys show that members increasingly monitor more than traditional fire and burglar alarms – they monitor medical devices, access control, and other non-emergency but meaningful events. Our new name allows room for the association to encompass all the areas our members are beginning to monitor and any into which they may move in the future.”

The association’s new name was chosen by members at the June 2016 General Membership Meeting in Fort Worth, Texas. That vote was the result of more than a year’s work by leaders and members of the association, who found that members were quickly expanding into monitoring beyond security systems, and that the use of the term “Monitoring Center” was growing as a result.

“The term ‘Central Station’ no longer has wide recognition outside of our industry,” said CSAA Vice President of Marketing and Communications Elizabeth Lasko. “Our new name will facilitate our efforts to educate the public about the critical role TMA members play in public safety.”

This is the second time the organization’s name has been changed since incorporation in 1950 as the Central Station Electrical Protection Association; it was changed to CSAA in 1989.

“Our new name change reflects our evolving association,” said Shannon Woodman, COO of Washington Alarm and a member of the TMA Executive Committee. “Under Pam’s and Jay’s leadership, our association has made many positive changes that will help ensure we continue to grow into the future. Many of our members are monitoring much more than security alarms and fire alarms. Along with the name change, we will be looking to expand our membership to companies who are monitoring things such as GPS monitoring, process event monitoring and network monitoring.”

TMA’s website can be reached at www.tma.us. (The association also owns the domains www.tmaweb.org and www.themonitoringassociation.org.) Member ID numbers and login information for the website will not change. TMA staff will use the email suffix “@tma.us.” All emails to the previous “@csaaintl.org” address will be forwarded.

TMA members should expect to receive newly-branded membership materials in the coming months as the rebranding unfolds. Association programs including Five Diamond, Excellence Awards, Online Training, and the Annual Meeting and Fall Operations Management Seminar are also undergoing rebranding and will be re-launched under the new name.

“Times change, and successful organizations need to change with them,” said Bud Wulforst, a past president (2007-2009) of the association. “The transition to the name The Monitoring Association reflects our willingness to understand and address the evolving realities of our industry.”

Questions about the name change should be directed to Elizabeth Lasko, TMA Vice President of Communications, at ewlasko@tma.us.

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About The Monitoring Association
The Monitoring Association (TMA), formerly the Central Station Alarm Association (CSAA), is an internationally-recognized non-profit trade association that represents professional monitoring companies, including those listed by a TMA-approved Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, such as FM Global, Intertek/ETL or UL. Incorporated in 1950, TMA is legally entitled to represent its members before Congress and regulatory agencies on the local, state and federal levels, and other authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) over the industry. TMA’s mission is to advance the professional monitoring industry through education, advocacy, and public safety relationships. www.tma.us. For more information, contact Elizabeth Lasko at TMA, 703-242-4670 x 16.