School kids, the Shard, South Africa, and all sorts else…

There’s been a genuine deluge of events and meetings over the past few weeks.

A touch overwhelming at times. But only a touch.

The ground we’re covering is amazing. It’s the sort of schedule that makes you briefly consider asking IT whether teleportation has been released in beta yet.

Last week I wrote about the exhibition for school leavers at the Excel in the big smoke. Well, the very same day, the ever-active, ever-eager Smoke Screen team split up to search for clues. And by ‘search for clues’ I mean headed across town, alongside the meandering Thames, for an event at the Shard.

Two wildly different worlds in twenty-four hours:

Fresh-faced teenagers first. Seasoned industry veterans hot on their heels.

It sums up perfectly where we are as a business – putting time and energy into people at every stage of the security pipeline.

Okay maybe not every stage.

We’re not currently demonstrating security fog to toddlers.

Or to prolific retail offenders already behind bars.

Although maybe that second one has legs. Imagine the deterrent value of a shoplifter telling their nefarious friends: “don’t go near a store with Smoke Screen. You’ll be done for.”

Anyway, I digress.

Scott was at the Shard while I was across town meeting the head of a leading South African retailer – the reason I sadly couldn’t be at Retail Risk – Cape Town. Ironic, I know.

But you can bet your bottom dollar we were represented in South Africa too, and Dana absolutely smashed it.

She chaired a round table focused on a message I’ll never get tired of reinforcing: security fog isn’t just reactive, or a dramatic “we’ve finally had enough” measure. It’s a first line of defence! A proactive deterrent that stops incidents before they really start.

It was Dana’s first time representing us solo at a Retail Risk event, and her round table sparked plenty of fascinating, promising conversations.

She’s brilliant at relationship building when she positions herself in the right spaces. The technical nuances of our niche can be a learning curve, but the first-hand support we offer end users makes a real difference, and Cape Town was another example of that.

Huge shout out to Dana. Never in doubt, but still worth saying.

Meanwhile, London served up a beautifully weird moment. After my meeting, I was at King’s Cross with the usual crowd of blank-faced travellers staring up at the departure boards. I turned around and there stood industry icon Helen Clayton – who had spent her entire day with Scott at the Shard.

People say you’re never more than six feet from a rat.

No, I’m not calling Helen a rat.

I just mean… you’re probably never more than three hours from a Smoke Screen employee.

Much nicer than rats. Far less creepy.

Speaking of the team – I want to give special credit to Scott and Jack. Our Fight Back Against Retail Crime events are accelerating at a pace we’ve never seen. Two in one month was new for us. We just did two in a week. That’s a different level.

It proves the appetite is out there. The demand. The need.

Salisbury was a standout. We quite literally ran out of space at the Guildhall, with Police, BCRP leads, BID members, and heaps of vendors packing in under the ornate ceilings.

Milton Keynes followed with the same energy.

Next up: Bristol and Birmingham.

And perhaps the best sign of all is that we’ve got previous attendees approaching us and asking: “can you run one where we are?”

That’s when you know you’ve hit something real.

Which brings me to the thread running through all of this:

We’ve got a lot of fingers in a lot of pies right now – but not out of vanity or some unerring desire to make noise.

We’re out there because we’re genuinely invested in this industry. In its people, problems, and progress.

When you rock up everywhere – from schools to global conferences, from the Shard to community halls – you’re not necessarily spreading yourself thin.

But you’re certainly helping to stitch the industry together.

That’s exactly where we should be.