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They were big shoes to fill. Paul was hugely respected in the industry and still is. And even when he became a competitor I like to think we remained friends too. It was a relationship like many in this industry — people move on to other companies and competitors but remain part of the bigger picture and stay in touch.

As I write my last editorial for SP&T News I hope we all can do the same. I’m so going to miss all the people I’ve come to know in this industry.

After Paul left I teamed up with publisher Peter Young and  took on the venerable SP&T News. I discovered a whole other part of the security world — those incredibly passionate and smart people who architect the systems that protect people and organizations.

Together with my colleague Neil Sutton we hit the trade show floors, criss-crossing the country. We went to ISC West and East and talked to countless people about their part of the industry and tried to bring back information readers would find informative. We watched closely as IBM and Cisco first started to eye up the industry. Having come from the IT world before arriving here I was sure they would make huge inroads, but the reality is that it is the security professionals, I believe, who will ultimately capitalize as systems converge. They are, after all, the ones with the security expertise.

I want to thank everyone who has supported me in this chair over the years. I have never had a problem getting someone in this industry to help explain systems to me, recommend sources for a story or provide content for us to help readers better understand the massive change happening in this industry.

My deep thanks go to SP&T publisher Peter Young who guided me along on this journey and introduced me to countless people at tradeshows and conferences, in airports and even bars. Peter taught me the value of relationships and making contacts, the importance of meeting the industry at our booth at each CANASA show whether it was Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto (sadly I never got to an Atlantic show!).

Peter and I covered a lot of miles together and found ourselves in some crazy situations on the road as flights were delayed, cancelled and otherwise complicated. I remember coming back from ASIS Dallas last year and getting stranded another night in that city at a sketchy airport hotel. We ended up on the shuttle bus from hell the next morning with Morgan Pasnon from Genetec. Nothing like a 4 a.m. run to the Dallas Fort Worth airport and a run to the ticket counter to bring people together.

But it was those kind of crazy travel experiences that made the journey that much more interesting and allowed me to get to know so many people in this industry so much better. Each trade show was like a reunion of old friends. I will miss that.

I also want to thank our biggest boosters along the way. Steve Basnett, JF Champagne, Mona Emond at CANASA — our association partners who work so hard to support this industry. Susie Wang and Peter Levoy from Anixter, Norm Hoefler from Bosch and Bob Moore from Axis, the fabulous team at Genetec, Lori Herder and Chris Welling at Honeywell, Luc Provost and Lynn Dry at APA and countless others.

Please continue to support my colleague Neil Sutton as he takes over the magazine. I will miss you all but hope we can stay in touch. You can reach Neil at nsutton@annexweb.com