A Dinner Date for FAST: SIA Members Help Raise Funds for the Foundation for Advancing Security Talent

While attending the 2024 ISC East trade show, Dan Rothrock, senior vice president of global development at Zenitel, learned about an auction event at SIA Honors Night to benefit the Foundation for Advancing Security Talent (FAST). Dan spoke up to Brian Matthews, cloud evangelist at LenelS2, saying that he wanted to help. Brian responded brilliantly that Dan could always auction dinner at his house…

The quick dramatics aside, and unbeknownst to Dan’s wife, Stephanie (there was no time for a quick call), Dan secured the dinner item to the auction. The $2,000 bid was ultimately won by Matt Barnette, president of PSA, but here’s where the auction story becomes interesting.

A long way from New York’s ISC East/Honors Night affair, the owners of Integrated Security Technologies, Andrew and Christine Lanning, caught wind of the auction via social media and reached out to see if a matching bid could secure them some seats at the dinner with Matt, Dan and Stephanie. The offer was accepted, donations were submitted and what became the largest single auction donation to FAST was born. We’re relaying that story as an industry challenge to those of you with accommodations to please consider donating a similar offering at next year’s FAST benefit auction. And now on to the dinner.

The dinner date was eventually settled for the Friday before ISC West 2025 in order to accommodate everyone’s travel schedules. After a few mechanical delays for the Lannings, the troupe set upon Kansas City, Missouri, on or about March 28. The Lannings began their day with an extensive visit to Zenitel’s North American headquarters. The company’s staff and facilities were widely open to discussion and were thoroughly excited to share their industry and workplace experiences.

Matt spent his day with the Cam-Dex Security Corporation, an owner/member in the PSA Security Network.  Cam-Dex’s president, Dan Krumme, gave a tour of their Kansas City Headquarters building and introduced Matt to the team.  A highlight of the facility is the roughly 100-year-old bank vault from the buildings former owner.  Krumme spent the afternoon reviewing Cam-Dex’s business outlook and shared his insights on the industry.

As the afternoon sun lowered in the Missouri skies, everyone descended upon the Rothrock household.  We were greeted by Stephanie with a fantastic champagne toast alongside a surprise visit from Dan’s neighbor Steve Sanders, who is the director of photographer for the Kansas City Chiefs. Steve brought over his Super Bowl rings for us to marvel at, and he even let us try them on. This bonus dinner addition was further enhanced with generous pours from Dan’s staple of exotic bourbons, whiskeys and scotches, complimented by a global charcuterie du jour, that nearly kept us all at Dan’s bar past dinner time.

Steve headed home with a promise from all to visit him at the Chiefs stadium someday.  Dan commandeered some steaks onto the grill, and the dark liquors gave way to the crisp clinking of long-stemmed wine glasses and cheers for the long-lived elegance of the fine wine that began coolly caressing our palates.

Over dinner it was agreed by all parties that organizations such as FAST, SIA’s RISE community and the SIA the Women in Security Forum were going to be the lifeblood of our industry, if it was going to survive the always encroaching IT technology wizardry and workforce pressure at our doorsteps. We also agreed that more dinners of this type would promote relationships that may bear innovative ideals and open unexplored territory for our industry.

We were all happy to be a part of this inaugural FAST benefit auction dinner, and we agreed that Stephanie deserved the most credit for her efforts, Dan for his pouring prowess, Matt for rising to the bidding challenge during the auction and the Lannings for recognizing and acting on an opportunity to contribute in absentia.