U.S. industry conferences, including a major healthcare meeting in San Francisco, have increased security measures for attendees this year in response to a health insurance executive being near a December investor gathering in New York.
Last year, thousands of executives, analysts, investors, and others freely roamed conference sites and nearby hotels. However, organizers, in collaboration with law enforcement, have heightened security both inside and outside a retail expo in New York, at JPMorgan's healthcare conference in San Francisco, and at the CES technology show in Las Vegas earlier this month.
Teresa Graham, CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals, noted at the JPMorgan conference, "There's a much more significant police presence, and I think JPM is really taking it seriously, and I think that's appreciated."
Security at the National Retail Federation's (NRF) conference and expo involved New York state and city officers patrolling the Jacob Javits Convention Center, with Eric Olson, NRF's vice president of content strategy, commenting, "There's lots more security this time."
Metal detectors and bomb-sniffing dogs were also deployed at this month's Detroit Auto Show.
Experts have observed increased interest in executive protection following the murder of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in December. Companies like Omnilert, which utilizes artificial intelligence to detect guns, are seeing heightened interest from major hotel chains.
Security measures for conferences have been further bolstered with updated speaker information being disclosed closer to event dates to shield identities and additional protection agents being hired for speaking engagements.
Corporate investment in executive security is on the rise, with an Equilar analysis indicating a significant increase in security expenses for S&P 500 companies, a trend that experts anticipate will continue to grow.