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Last updated
19 April 2000
Did you catch the news story about a laptop storing top secret information that turned up missing at a convention this week? Do you worry about the safety of those attending your meetings and conferences? The Professional Convention Management Association has prepared a booklet about safety that is available from them at 100 Vestavia Parkway Suite 220, Birmingham, AL 35216-3743 telephone (205) 824 7262.
Much of being safe is in being aware and being prepared and finding a balance between being paranoid and being careless.
When planning a trip to a conference, participants should make sure they have the name of a contact back home in their wallet with other critical information such as any medical conditions or concerns. The contact back home should have a list of all credit card numbers and who to call to alert about a stolen credit card.
At any time in public, participants should be careful about flashing cash or valuables or unintentionally giving away information that might be useful to a criminal. When using public telephones, be careful about who might overhear privileged information or see you punch in account numbers. When using a laptop, be aware that someone may be reading over your shoulder so be careful about what is on your screen.
Laptops, personal organizers (PO), and other electronic gadgets have added to security concerns because they can store so much information. We can trade contact information by letting our PO's talk to each other. But what happens if an entire list of conference contacts is lost because we sit on the PO and break it, it gets stolen, or some other disaster happens? What could happen to your business or personal life if the wrong person took off with your laptop? Do you make regular backups of important data and store that backup in a safe place? Do you take precautions so that if your electronic gadget is stolen the information in it remains confidential?
"Its easy to be brave when far away from danger" Aesop (620-c 560 BC).
"Fate laughs at probabilities" E G Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873)
"One of the rules of caution is not to be too cautious." Bahya ibn Paquda c. 1050 - 1120).
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