Las Vegas, Nevada, September 28, 2017—BICSI, the association advancing the information and communications technology (ICT) community, brought its 2017 BICSI Fall Conference & Exhibition to a close this afternoon. The five-day conference attracted thousands of attendees from all over the world to gain industry knowledge, take in the latest ICT technologies and network with colleagues. 

Thursday's Closing General Session opened with two educational presentations. First, Aaron Hesse, RCDD, PE, of Avista Utilities in Spokane, Washington, delivered “Smart Cities—Real Opportunity or Marketing Hype?” Then, Todd Frederes of CISCO in Des Moines, Iowa, spoke on “Workplace and Building Trends—Digital Transformation and Buildings.” These presentations rounded out a three-day program of more than 20 technical sessions.

“One of the facets we continue to improve upon at BICSI Conferences is our educational content,” said BICSI President Brian Ensign, RCDD, NTS, OSP, RTPM, CSI. “With topics like smart cities, the Internet of Things, 4K systems and building automation systems, BICSI educational sessions remain at the forefront of new technologies in order to provide our attendees with the latest information to apply in their careers.”

BICSI Cares, the charitable arm of BICSI that supports children’s, then made a donation to the Mesa, Arizona-based Room for Joy. The organization provides fun and medically appropriate rooms for chronically ill children. Following the BICSI Cares presentation, attendees heard from star athlete and heart transplant survivor Simon Keith. Keith delivered a moving keynote speech in which he shared his journey to becoming the
first athlete in the world to play a professional sport after undergoing a heart transplant.
The feedback on the conference from both attendees and exhibitors has been overwhelmingly positive.

“This is my second time here at a BICSI Conference from the UK,” said Duncan Lindsay of Network Centre in the UK. “It’s great to be able to compare how things are in the U.S. and the UK. It gives me a much better global understanding and helps me to perform my skills and projects better.”

George Leudermann of Circa Telecom said, “The traffic [in the Exhibit Hall] has been phenomenal. We’ve gotten some great leads, and it’s a great venue to meet all of our existing and new customers.”

During President Ensign’s closing remarks, he announced that the 2018 BICSI Winter Conference & Exhibition will be held February 4-8 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. Details can be found at bicsi.org/winter.