A number of possibilities.

Here's a riddle: What has no mass but has such weight that it can be used as a solid foundation on which to build strong security policies and career decisions? The answer: Good data.

But just as it takes a community to raise a child, it takes a Society--the entire ASIS International membership--to build a good database of security department salaries, budgets, staffs, and responsibilities. With that in mind, Security Management has decided to go beyond the traditional approach to surveys, where a few hundred readers are randomly selected to receive a salary survey questionnaire. Instead, the survey has been inserted into this month's issue. (Please see the insert after page 50.)

The goal is to obtain a large enough response to permit a much more detailed analysis than in prior years. With a sufficient level of input, the analysis will be able to offer considerably more specific salary data by region, for example, which will make the data more useful for everyone.

That's why it is critical that you, as a security professional and ASIS member, participate in the enclosed 2004 ASIS International Employment Survey. Without your input, businesses will have no credible compensation standards to aid them in their security management, planning, and resource allocations.

The enclosed survey has been simplified for your convenience and should take no more than 15 minutes to complete and return to us in the postage-paid envelope. Alternatively, you can go to the Security Management Web site (www.securitymanagement.com) and click on the survey link to fill out the questionnaire online. Filling out the survey online eliminates the mailing and processing costs and makes data analysis easier because numbers do not have to be manually input from the paper forms. Members are, therefore, encouraged to take advantage of this option. And for each online survey completed, a $2.00 contribution will be made to the ASIS International Foundation, Inc.'s 9/11 Scholarship Fund.

Your answers will be held in strictest confidence and used only in a compiled analysis in conjunction with data sent in by others responding to this questionnaire. (If you check a box on the survey indicating that you are willing to be interviewed, an editor may contact you for additional information. Your name will only be used in connection with that interview if your permission is expressly granted.)

ASIS members have always responded enthusiastically when called into action, and we're counting on you to help us with this important research.

Thank you in advance for your contribution.

SHERRY HAROWITZ

Editor-in-Chief