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View from
the Catwalk
October 2007

YOU TALKING TO ME?

I was recently told in no uncertain terms to go "!$#*&?!" myself by a beautiful young lady outside my local coffee shop. A little shaken at the time, (but not too stirred) I somehow managed to stay composed.

Assessing the likely reason for this unnecessarily ugly situation, I wondered did I accidentally bump her Mocha Latte? Did I park too close to her Hummer? Was it my t-shirt that reads Blondes are not Dum?

Raised to always act like a gentleman in the presence of a lady, I cautiously approached my verbal attacker to see if I could ascertain the cause of her disposition.

Doooh! (Homer Simpson moment). Did I feel like a schmuck when I discovered she had one of those "Major Tom to ground control" gizmos attached to the other side of her head. I believe they call it blue-tooth or as I affectionately now refer to it as "rude-tooth".

I learned a lot that day about communication. I also learned to stay clear of Mocha Latte drinking Hummer driving cyborgs. When it comes to listening to people I don't know very well, "Trust but verify" - Ronald Reagan

A couple of weeks ago I had a much more positive communication experience. I was invited to attend and speak at the inaugural Northeast Regional Surveillance Directors Conference at the Borgata in Atlantic City. About 50 surveillance executives gathered from New Jersey, Connecticut, New York and Delaware for a great day of information sharing and discussion on issues of the day.

Organized by Greg Schaaf (Borgata Surveillance Director) and his enthusiastic team, it was an honor for me to be invited to such an important event for surveillance professionals on the East Coast. Kicking this type of forum off after 5 years of being in the information sharing wilderness is a credit to Greg, his team and all that were in attendance.

The Borgata team is also responsible for recently launching a great newsletter designed to share important information amongst surveillance operations in the region. Here's a copy of their first issue.

Most in attendance agreed that it was long overdue and the meeting is sure to be the first of many regular information and networking events to be held in that region. To steal another Reagan quote, the surveillance professionals on the East Coast took great steps to "Break down the wall" which for so long isolated them from the rest of the casino world.

Anyway, good job East Coasters, keep it going and thanks for inviting me to an excellent conference and even more thanks for getting me out of Joysee without getting whacked.

- Enjoy the game
Willy J. Allison
October 2007

ANNOUNCEMENT:

REGISTER FOR WGPC08 BY NOVEMBER 1st
& TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE EARLY BIRD RATE

David Callahan
to speak at WGPC08
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Callahan



David Callahan