This session covers critical aspects of sliding door systems such as functionality, aesthetic design, space saving, durability, code compliance, and overall versatility of interior sliding door systems. During this course, Stinger will explore participants’ knowledge base of the benefits of sliding door systems and help them understand the key components of the sliding door systems and the different functions of sliding doors.

A major challenge with many companies is preparing the younger generation for their future – including career development and preparing for leadership and ownership succession. Speaker Richard Voreis will prepare the attendees for their future careers at their companies as well as assist company owners and CEO’s in preparing for leadership and/or ownership transition by providing guidelines for the development of potential leaders.

In this session, Voreis will:

• • Address how the top performing companies operate – along with the most essential attributes of effective leadership
  • Offer balanced perspective on both sales and profitability
  • Discuss a strategic planning process to develop company goals and employee accountability that supports them
  • Cover the importance of internal communications

The world of doors and hardware is complicated enough. Add to that the fast-paced environment of electronic access control and many businesses opt to stay away. This may be due to a lack of resources, to not fully understanding the expanded ecosystem or just risk aversion. Whatever the reason it cuts a profitable part out of your bid. Division 8 and 28 have long been thrust together with mixed results for contract hardware distribution and the end user. We all know that even the most careful coordination and collaboration can still yield undesirable outcomes that endanger code compliance. Sourcing both the access control components as well as design and commissioning services from your supplier should eliminate most of the headaches.

Speaker James Stokes will teach attendees how to recognize the many reasons CHDs should decide to embrace electrified and electronic openings without relying on their own resources. He will also help you understand how supplying both mechanical and electronic access control together inevitably results in a more streamlined and compliant experience for the end user. Attendees will leave aware of how electronic access control can also provide longstanding recurring revenue beyond the sale.

This presentation is designed to teach the attendee how to properly assess existing openings to make the proper decisions for providing electronic retrofit solutions. This will include comprehending the existing opening, identifying the existing hardware, reviewing some building and fire code requirements, and of course specifying the correct electronic locking hardware. We will also cover special system design, how to provide mantrap, interlock and other special locking arrangement systems as well as ADA compliance solutions.

After completing the session, attendees will be able to:

• • Evaluate the opening and identify the right locking hardware opportunities to increase profits
  • Understand how to avoid common installation and operating problems
  • Increase their profit per access control job/installation by avoiding costly call backs
  • Ensure the electrified access control hardware product performance meets and exceeds customer expectations

Best Practices for Securing Schools: From Lockdown Measures to Grant Applications

Christin Kinman, End User Consultant, Allegion

Randy Jump, ACH, FDAI; End User Consultant; Allegion

Studies and after-action reports have all shown that one particular measure is highly effective and predictive of saving lives – the ability to lockdown a facility and secure classroom doors from the interior of the space. This is seemingly an obvious statement, but in reality there are many configurations that can be used to secure schools, not all of them recommended or appropriate. Additionally, there are many competing thoughts about how best to secure spaces based upon roles. For example, parents are prone to advocating for barricade devices without understanding the code and access related issues associated with these devices. Law enforcement, too, has differing perspectives based upon their role of responding in the event of an emergency. Facility managers may not be aware of new guidelines and recommendations based upon best practices. Coupled with industry confusion, incorrect solutions are still being applied in the K-12 environment. Other issues include the challenges around funding. School budgets have been decimated with the end of ESSER funding and security funding is challenging to secure. This presentation will provide concrete examples of grants available and key information to completing an application. This presentation is a follow on to the 2023 Connextions presentation on best practices for securing schools.

This presentation will provide attendees with the knowledge needed for the following:

• • Best practices for securing and specifying openings in both new construction and retrofit applications
  • Best Practices for Electronic Locks and Access Control, including credential technology
  • Best Practices for Coordinating Security Elements with Design Consultants
  • Best Practices for Completing a Grant Application for Funding

This presentation will also include numerous examples of both correct and incorrect applications taken from site surveys. Attendees will interact with the presenters and their colleagues to discuss options and apply the knowledge gained from the presentation to correct openings that are deficient. At the end of this session, attendees will have the requisite knowledge needed to apply best practices for securing openings in the K-12 space in both new construction and in retrofit applications as well as learn how to specify correct hardware applications in new projects. They will also have the knowledge needed to apply best practices for electromechanical or electronic locking solutions in both new construction and retrofit applications while also understanding the grant process and key information needed to submit a grant application.

In this session, Scott Director aims to help participants better understand their bid process. Architect’s in the audience will realize that reviewing a detailed submittal during bid time will be beneficial in creating less RFI’s, less misinterpretations of the specs. Distributors will learn that putting the time to provide a detailed submittal during the bid phase will be more frontend work, however, the value they provide to their client will far outweigh the risks of not. And finally, after attending this session, clients like owner developers and GC’s will be able to practice better, more efficient bid habits that allow for cleaner buyouts since the entire bid proposal has now been replaced by an approved as noted submittal.

This session will help participants:

• • Analyze their current bid processes
  • Assess how contract work is awarded from a detailed submittal rather than from an estimated bid proposal
  • Apply how to use this new bid process to close out more work and create a cleaner buyout between distributor and client

Explore the evolution of healthcare facility design and security. Modern healthcare environments are transforming to become more pleasant, secure, and nurturing. Evidence-based and biophilic designs have been shown to improve patient outcomes. Doors, frames, and hardware play a significant role in creating a healing environment. We will review sustainable products, decorative hardware, acoustics, and access control. Technological advancements, including mobile and wearable credentials, are enhancing security and efficiency. These trends collectively improve the safety, security, and overall well-being of healthcare facilities.

Radio frequency (RF) fields are a widespread occurrence produced by high-power broadcast systems, such as AM/FM radio, television, and other communications systems. Other RF sources include power lines, transformers, electromechanical switches, computers, cellular phones, medical equipment, and natural sources like lightning.

The potential hazards of RF fields include the disruption of radio and TV signals, poor connectivity between communication points and systems, electronic eavesdropping, malfunctioning medical equipment, and in some cases, the detonation of explosives.

RF doors are an integral component of a room designed to contain radio frequencies. The conductive surfaces on the ceiling, floor, walls, and door assembly all interface together to form an impermeable RF shielded enclosure. RF shielding is designed to reduce electromagnetic emissions to prevent the transmission of sensitive information outside of the shielded facility as well to exclude external RF noise from penetrating the shielded enclosure and adversely affecting sensitive equipment or test environments.

RF shielding doors are installed in a variety of facilities such as embassies, X-ray imaging and medical facilities, military installations, government buildings, communication centers, sensitive compartmented information facilities (SCIF), radio stations, computer rooms, and transient electromagnetic pulse emanation surveillance technology (TEMPEST) sites.

Principle-based customer service and work management is key to a successful, proactive, and profitable approach to doors, frames and hardware. By identifying essential principle-based actions and the development of consistent habits through proactivity and effective task management, greater customer satisfaction, improved employee retention and loyalty, and increased profitability become a reality. Learning to effectively collect, prioritize and keep track of all the work required of you, whether through email, phone calls, voicemail, in-person, meetings, construction documents or any other method, is essential to profitability and success.

This session will help attendees identify key internal and external principles, learn ways to develop positive habits, and how to identify and utilize effective planning and tools to ensure that your most important work gets done without letting anything slip through the cracks.

By attending this session, attendees will learn how to identify and learn how to apply the essential values and principles to effective work management and prioritization as well as customer service, conflict resolution, employee satisfaction and retention and increased profitability. They will also learn the art of proactivity and how to effectively collect, manage and handle email, voicemail, phone calls, in-person requests and any other type of demands of your time and attention without letting things slip through the cracks.

Finally, attendees will learn to effectively prioritize work based on principles and values to ensure that the most important things get done first. Learn to effectively incorporate daily and weekly planning into your workflow and how to ensure you don’t lose sight of your mid and long-term goals.

The model codes adopted in most US states are updated every 3 years. The 2027 code development cycle is in progress, the 2024 model codes have been published, and many states have recently adopted the 2021 editions. It is crucial for anyone involved with doors and hardware to understand the current code requirements and upcoming changes that affect door openings.

Did you know:

• • The International Building Code (IBC) now includes a section allowing elevator lobby doors to be locked with fail safe electrified locks?
  • Automatic operators are now required by code on the accessible public entrances serving buildings of certain occupancy types and occupant loads?
  • Electromagnetic locks released by a sensor will no longer be allowed on egress doors that are required to have panic hardware?

This session will help attendees become familiar with approved changes to the 2021 and 2024 editions of the model codes and understand how the recent changes affect the doors and hardware that are being specified and supplied on current projects.

This interactive code update will cover these changes and many more recent and upcoming modifications that affect doors and hardware. Learn what’s new, be prepared for the changes that are in progress for the 2027 model codes, and avoid code-related problems on future projects.

The Internet of Things (IoT) technology is revolutionizing the commercial locks and access control industry. This seminar explores how IoT and smart locking solutions create a network of “virtual access panels” in the cloud, enabling remote security monitoring and control at your fingertips. Discover how sophisticated identity and access management (IAM) policies can be seamlessly implemented via smartphone. Rapid innovation in the locking industry is shaping the next generation of security solutions.

After this session, attendees will understand the role of IoT technology in revolutionizing the commercial locks and access control industry, particularly the concept of “virtual access panels” in the cloud and the benefits of remote security monitoring and control. They will also gain insights into how IoT/smart locking solutions enable the implementation of sophisticated identity and access management (IAM) policies through smartphone integration, enhancing convenience and security. Speaker Russell Anderson will also explore how the integration of smart locks and smart access controls is creating next-generation security solutions that are shaping the future of the industry, delivering operation efficiency with enhanced security features.

Attendees of this session will learn correct billing practices for AIA style billings while also considering revenue recognition models for both small job and commercial workflows. Speaker Ian Wagner will cover proper AIA style billing packages: what’s included and how to effective compile and manage billings. Discuss how to arrive at a percent complete and be in an ‘overbilled’ state. He’ll also touch on revenue recognition, specifically discussing Topic ASC 606 and how sales for retention needs to be recognized. Finally, he’ll discuss proper revenue recognition for when firms solicit a down payment to begin work. He’ll cover the benefits from the down payment process, but also the need for financial statements and/or journal entries to be created to account for the movements on the books accurately.

This session is more applicable to subcontractors.

Learn about the transformation happening on campuses across the nation. Digital IDs and smart access control solutions are changing how students, faculty and staff work, live and play. This session will explore how these new technologies enhance campus security, operational efficiency, and the overall student experience. Digital IDs accessed through smartphone wallets have the potential to completely transform the student experience—on campus, in student living facilities, at sports and event venues, and even how students and staff pay for products and services on campus. In this session, you’ll hear from a school security expert, who has been navigating the digital tide in higher education for some time, share firsthand how these changes are reshaping campuses across the country.

Topics in this session will include:

• • The next generation of hardware and technology behind Campus 2.0
  • How modern access is changing student living facilities
  • Leveraging access control platforms to streamline facilities management
  • How digital IDs will replace physical keys, fobs, and RFID cards
  • The role of access control in enhancing physical security across campus

This seminar delves into cutting-edge AI trends like natural language processing, machine learning, and IoT. Learn real-world applications revolutionizing business processes, and strategic opportunities for AI adoption. Attendees will gain insights on leveraging AI for competitive advantage, addressing implementation challenges, and positioning their businesses for success in the era of intelligent technologies.

Speaker Qianyan Cheng will help attendees understand the latest advancements and real-world applications of AI technologies such as natural language processing, machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT) in revolutionizing business processes. The session will explore strategic opportunities and competitive advantages that can be gained through the adoption of AI technologies, and how businesses in the door and hardware industry can position themselves for success in the era of intelligent technologies. After attending, participants will be able to identify and address potential challenges and considerations in the implementation of AI solutions within an organization, including preparing for successful integration and overcoming barriers to adoption.

Based on the book with the same title by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen, this session will help attendees learn about how to better approach Difficult Conversations with employees, with customers, and with fellow managers. This session will summarize key takeaways from the book and provide suggestions on how to navigate difficult conversations more successfully.

This session will help participants identify and understand some of the key ways manager tend to be bad communicators and help them understand new tools for improving communication with others, especially those they manage. Finally, we will review some hypothetical on-the-job scenarios where attendees can practice applying the new approaches they have learned.

This session will introduce Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS) guidelines, a national best practice for assessing and developing a school security plan for administrators. Additionally, we will cover common door security related issues that are observed at Uvalde and other active assailant events.

Key Learning Objectives

1. Gain a high level overview of the PASS Guidelines and how to incorporate these into your physical security assessments
2. Hear testimony and review findings regarding access control door failures from Robb Elementary and previous events commission reports.

Pocket doors have always been a source of contention for builders and architects. In this presentation, we delve into the history of pocket door technology and discuss how cutting-edge advancements are transforming the perception of these once-troublesome openings. Discover how modern solutions have instilled confidence in builders and architects, allowing them to integrate pocket doors into their projects and take their interior designs to breathtaking new heights.

This session will be presented using an engaging PowerPoint presentation that includes project photo/video footage to explain the history of pocket doors and modern innovations in pocket/sliding door technology. The presentation will end with a Q&A portion, where the speaker will accept questions from the audience.

The top distributors and subcontractors know what it takes to be successful and this session will address those “best business practices” from our industry so you can gain the same competitive edge. Speaker Richard Voreis will base this session on his extensive research in the building and construction industries and help you compare your company to others through a 14-question self-evaluation.

After this session, attendees will have a better grasp on:

• • Addressing the internal issues at their company that are restricting growth
  • How to implement a successful management system that will drive sales, profits and accountability
  • Empowering their employees to do their jobs so they are results-focused and accountable
  • Becoming highly focused on maximizing profits
  • How to determine the future direction of their company

Security standards for fenestration and door systems for Ballistic, Bomb Blast, Storm Impact, and Forced Entry threats change constantly. In this session, speaker Wade Arnold will present encompassing solutions for doors, openings, storefront, and glazing systems.

Attendees will walk away knowing how security glazing and door systems work and function. They will also be presented with case studies on how systems protect buildings and occupants and understand different industry standards for ballistic, bomb blast, storm impact, and forced entry.

Leaders are under more stress than ever before, and they are being pulled in many different directions. A mindful leader is able to cut through the noise and chaos and discern where to focus, how to delegate, and communicate with authority and empathy. They exude presence, are emotionally-intelligent, and able to create and sustain loyalty and high-performing teams. They are also more confident, innovative, and have a positive mindset. Leaders who utilize these principles and practices move quantum leaps ahead in their personal and professional lives.

This program, based on research-backed practices and neuroscience, will help leaders:

• • Better leverage their time, energy and effort for successful outcomes
  • Find their flow leading to less stress and burnout and more innovation and resilience
  • Communicate with clarity, calm, and confidence/compassion
  • Develop clear visions/goals for themselves and their organizations
  • Inspire the execution of steps needed for attaining goals