No one is impervious to hacking and phishing, not even the International Secure Information Governance & Management Association. Yesterday hackers were quick enough to send a pretty convincing...

The SEC recently announced that it adopted rules requiring public companies to disclose material cybersecurity incidents they experience and to disclose on an annual basis material information regarding...

By: Kelsea Eckert, Attorney The answer is often YES! A shredding company may have the right to pursue lost income from an at-fault driver and the at-fault driver’s...

Running a business can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to ensuring compliance with various regulations and laws. Compliance is important not only for legal and...

Offsite storage can provide many benefits to a business, including increased security and disaster recovery capabilities. Offsite storage is valuable to an organization for the following reasons and...

As technology continues to advance, it is important for businesses and individuals to properly dispose of their electronic devices. While going to a computer recycling company or shredding...

The business world may be shifting its focus to the digital realm, but vigilant cybersecurity is only one aspect of data protection. In fact, Varonis reports that while...

Editors Note: This article was previously run in a 2018 NAIDNews publication. i-SIGMA decided that its information still proves accurate and relevant today, especially in light of Giving...

Earlier this year, i-SIGMA hosted a webinar by guest presenter Daniel Risen, an Employee Benefits Advisor and Business Development Executive for OneDigital. Daniel shared with Members how to...

By now, most readers have most likely heard of the Morgan Stanley Data Breach incident. The latest $35M fine from the SEC, on top of the $128.2M Morgan...

When hiring a typical service provider - a painter or carpet cleaner, for instance - it’s expected that you’ll have questions. How much will it cost? When can...

The title of this blog may seem odd coming from a person who has spent the last 22 years promoting service provider certification. Please bear with me. As...

Secure data destruction service commonly provides clients with containers to accumulate paper or other media prior to destruction. And, while it is true that the containers are designed...

First of all, it is important to remember that i-SIGMA is a non-profit trade association with a mission to improve market conditions for all its members, and the...

Quebec’s Bill 64 was passed unanimously becoming the most recent example of the continued conveyor belt of regulations inspired by the EU General Data Protection Directive that focuses...

Gone—for now anyway—are the days when finding and retaining good employees could be taken for granted. The recent i-SIGMA member survey, along with many conversations with members on what to...

The eagerly awaited i-SIGMA Compliance Monitoring Service has arrived. Starting immediately, many service providers will use it, and soon clients around the world will begin seeing promotions encouraging...

It is understandable that most organizations today want to do the right thing when destroying discarded media on which is recorded personal and competitive information. And, in this...

Guest Article By: Joshua D. Hundeby-DeVries, CSDS Editor’s Note: In light of current market dynamics, where many clients now find their employees working from home, it seems appropriate...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : June 7, 2021 Gilmore Services, an i-SIGMA Associate member, and a data and document security company based out of Pensacola, Florida, has rebranded itself...

(This blog is provided for perspective only and not to be taken as legal advice) As I often remind service providers, though i-SIGMA certifications (NAID AAA/PRISM Privacy+) require...

Author's Note: In writing this, I am acutely aware that many i-SIGMA members find themselves at this time having trouble finding good employees. Despite that fact, or maybe...

To keep i-SIGMA certifications (NAID AAA and PRISM Privacy+) relevant, they must reflect and validate service providers’ regulatory requirements. As I have often written, that is one of...

This is the second blog of a two-part series. The first installment provided a perspective on the relative differences in NAID AAA Certification and NIST 800-88 and its...

This blog will be presented in two-parts. In this first installment, I will provide a perspective on the relative differences in NAID AAA Certification and NIST 800-88 and...

It’s happened to many data destruction service providers and to those it hasn’t happened yet, it will at some point. It looks like this: You have been destroying...

Most readers will immediately associate the title of this blog with the U.S. Homeland Security campaign to enlist the public in their efforts to expose potential risks. The...

For all the bad things about the pandemic shutdown, one thing is certain; it has forced you to reduce your operations down to the basics. You had no...

I was recently asked if there was any information on how certain categories of business… say financial … might be generating more business for i-SIGMA members than another...

There’s been a lot made of the fact that a considerable portion of the workforce is working from home. The conversation in the industry has focused largely on...

As many are now aware, Morgan Stanley recently issued a data breach notification, after learning that IT assets disposed of four years ago may not have been properly...

First, I would like to commend Morgan Stanley. They somehow learned IT assets disposed of four years ago may not have been properly wiped by the vendor they...

Things are tough. It perfectly understandable that you, your staff, and your customers are unsettled. It’s going to be that way for a while. As it stands, there’s...

In March, i-SIGMA announced changes to PRISM Privacy+ Certification making it not only more affordable but also a much stronger sales tool. March is also when COVID-19 made...

By: Tom Dumez, CHP, CSCS With my many years of involvement with PRISM and so many relationships that have been formed over the years, I am asked by...

By: Cory Layes Shredders across the country have experienced a significant downturn in business due to COVID-19. Over the past two months we have spoken to a large...

You’ve heard the predictions. The COVID-19 shutdown will change things forever, and work-from-home will soon be the new normal. Mother Nature and the government decided we were all...

Governments around the world are beginning to lay out guidelines and best practices as they start to announce roll-out plans for re-opening businesses in the near future. By...

No, I’m not being trite, talking about what you can do before a crisis begins when we’re two+ months deep into one! While no one could have planned...

As secure data destruction and/or records and information management business, your services truly are essential. While governments release restrictions and economies prepare to re-open, it is important for...

By Bob Johnson, i-SIGMA CEO Last week, I had the pleasure of moderating a panel discussion of four of the smartest people in the secure destruction and RIM...

A blog by i-SIGMA CEO Bob Johnson discusses how i-SIGMA members can constructively use any downtime resulting from the current shutdown. _________ Did you know the saying “When...

A blog by i-SIGMA CEO Bob Johnson discusses how i-SIGMA members can constructively use any downtime resulting from the current shutdown. _________ Did you know the saying “When...

By Bob Johnson By far the most significant benefit of my nearly 30 years involvement with NAID and now i-SIGMA has been the number of inspiring people I’ve...

On November 1 of last year, Canadian businesses became subject to new mandatory breach reporting regulations under Canada’s federal private sector privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and...

The premise of my last blog was that there is a big benefit to developing your revenue model based on data security services (i.e., consistent revenue). I explained...

Early Monday morning an email from the Compliance Officer (CO) of a large client organization has been received by the Operations Manager (OM).  Not the ideal way to...

While the downturn in prices of recycled materials affects all information destruction companies, some are feeling them more than others. Service providers – both on the electronics side...

Planning, training, and mock disaster exercises - Three key components of an effective disaster plan.  Regardless of the size of a RIM provider or company service level, the...

By Bob Johnson Over the past decades, NAID members have come to know me for trumpeting the latest data protection regulations and for expounding on their various threats...

In a previous PRISM International blog, there was a discussion related to RIM providers responding to issues of abandoned records within a record center.  As a follow-up to...

Who pays the bill when the company declares bankruptcy? When a practitioner retires and/or meets an untimely death–who pays the RIM service invoice?  What about the outstanding invoices...

With the availability of the new i-SIGMA Contract Template, it’s time for a conversation. Contracts are a pain. Why make a big deal out of something about which most...

It is commonly understood that professional services command significant economic advantage over services requiring no perceived expertise.  For most, medical doctors come to mind, and even within their...

By Bob Johnson The unethical business practices found in every business have one thing in common; they prey on customers who don’t know any better. It’s not the...

By Ray Barry, Managing Partner at Shred America The most important quality that top sales professionals and business owners possess is, without a doubt, a positive attitude. I...

By: Gail Bisbee, RN, BSN If so – you may be misleading the client! A record center or service provider as a company is not a “certifiable” entity...

Kelly Martínez, NAID Director of Marketing & Communications It has been my privilege to serve as editor of the NAIDnews these past two years. I hope this association...

Kelly Martínez, NAID Director of Marketing & Communications When I think of autumn, my mind’s eye sees burnt orange leaves the color of the sunset swirling down in...

I am a dinosaur fan. There is something about them – perhaps a culmination of their might, gentleness, ferocity, biological intrigue, and historical mystery that captures my attention...

Bob Johnson, CEO, NAID May 25th was the effective date for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). As the most progressive data protection regulation on the planet, it is...

By Bob Johnson It is understandable that data controllers would be comforted by believing that once they have a certificate of destruction from the service provider, they are...

Kelly Martínez, NAID Director of Marketing & Communications Reading this edition of the NAIDnews, you may have noticed it’s a bit thicker than usual. There was a lot...

Kelly Martínez, NAID Director of Marketing & Communications It’s sort of like the holidays… as the stores begin to deck out with decorations and houses in lights, and...

Kelly Martínez, NAID Director of Marketing & Communications I still consider myself new to the association. Next month will mark my one year anniversary. And while I come...

Kelly Martínez, NAID Director of Marketing & Communications As I put together this issue of the NAIDnews, I was impressed by a key theme, motivation. According to Psychology Today, “Motivation is...

Kelly Martínez, NAID Director of Marketing & Communications Have you ever heard the phrase “Content is King”? Bill Gate first coined the phrase in 1996 and Marketers have...

Bob Johnson, CEO, NAID The headline a few days ago read: “WSU gets costly lesson in theft of hard drive with more than 1 million people’s personal data.”...

By Bob Johnson I came into this blog series with two intentions: First, I wanted to demonstrate the fact that the new Information Disposition textbook confronts the top...

By Bob Johnson NAID members rated this issue as tenth in our survey of misconceptions that prevent them from providing service to their customers and prospects. Personally, I...

By Bob Johnson At its worst, the conversation unfolds something like this: Service Provider: “I would like to discuss your records destruction needs.” Data Controller: “That’s not necessary. We keep...

By Bob Johnson In Chapter 6: Secure Destruction Methodologies, the section Process/Particle Size Standards, Guidance and Requirements most directly confronts this misconception starts on page 132: In navigating...

By Bob Johnson There is a good reason Chapter 7: Information Disposition Policies and Procedures is dedicate strictly to advising data controllers on how to create their internal...

By Bob Johnson There are several ways in which data controllers put themselves at risk by destroying only a portion of what should be destroyed. Usually it is...

By Bob Johnson Of all the misconceptions, that put clients at risk and minimize the role of service providers in protecting clients, mistaking general unsecure recycling as a...

Bob Johnson, NAID CEO The third most costly misconception is when customers do not give appropriate attention to destroying the media that they discard on a daily basis...

Bob Johnson, NAID CEO This is the third installment in my blog series on using the Information Disposition textbook to overcome the most costly customer misconceptions. It makes...

Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In my last blog, Selling Information Disposition by the Book (vol. 1), the first in this series, I talked a bit about the mechanics of...

Bob Johnson, NAID CEO The new Information Disposition textbook (Information Disposition: A Practical Guide to the Secure, Compliant Disposal of Records, Media and IT Assets) is an amazing tool for...

Bob Johnson, NAID CEO When NAID embarked on the Downstream Data Coverage insurance pathway, it did so primarily because the professional liability coverages members were purchasing did not protect them...

Kelly Martínez, NAID Director of Marketing & Communications My father is an expert fisherman. I spent much of my childhood sitting in a boat or tramping up the...

Kelly Martínez, NAID Director of Marketing & Communications I was being responsible and cleaning out our electronics bin. Do you have one of those in the garage? The...

Kelly Martínez, NAID Director of Marketing & Communications In case you missed this message in the last edition of the NAIDnews… As the new Director of Marketing &...

When we first spoke with underwriters about creating a professional liability policy to correct the problems with existing coverages, they freely admitted that covering data protection risks was...

By: Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I am easily distracted. I was in the middle of writing a draft of the 3rd chapter of the forthcoming Information Disposition textbook...

By: Bob Johnson, NAID CEO It’s rarely a good way to start an article, but I would be remiss if I did not begin with a disclaimer.  My...

By: Bob Johnson, NAID CEO As the secure destruction industry gets ready for another successful NAID Conference - its 22nd, it occurred to me that the thousands of...

By: Bob Johnson, NAID CEO This is the second of three articles on current aspects of the secure destruction market we face going into this New Year. The...

By: Ray Barry Two of the main reasons some salespeople fail are: Lack of initial sales training and support Lack of ongoing support and COACHING. Every great athlete...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In the book “Powerful Times” by Eamonn Kelly (Wharton School Publishing), the author describes our era as one of great paradoxes; great wealth-creation...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last year, you know there’s been a major shift in the market for national service...

By: Bill Moore, President Moore & Associates Editor’s Note: The author will be speaking at NAID 2016 on the near-term and long-term outlook on recovered office paper, which...

By Ray Barry, NAID Deputy Director As my time as a NAID staff member is drawing to a close, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO From the dawn of sales, sales professionals have struggled with the task of getting to the decision maker. It’s frustrating to discuss the...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Earlier this week, the 2016 NAID Conference Committee sent out a call for presentations for the NAID 2016 Annual Conference. Though the event...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In the span of 30 minutes of watching TV, there was commercial promoting Angie’s List as a source of qualified service providers from...

By Ray Barry, NAID Deputy Executive Director The key to accumulating a long list of loyal clients in the document destruction industry is “relationship-based” solution selling. It is...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Unfortunately, some clients have a troublesome and risky perspective on their data destruction requirements. Namely, they think they already know all they need...

By Amy Larrimore, Chief Executive Officer of The Gamechanger [caption id="attachment_1027" align="alignright" width="221"] Business man in a position ready to race at the office[/caption] If you wanted to...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Whose fault is it if a competitor is screwing up the marketplace with low pricing? Who’s to blame if a customer doesn’t care...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Last year I saw a headline reading, “Study shows employees and contractors are biggest cause of breaches.” My first reaction was “that’s interesting.”...

By Heather Shimala, Document Recovery Account Manager “Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable.” - Gen. George...

By Tom Adams, Chief Marketing Officer for Flourish Press Do you feel like you live on a hamster wheel every day in your shredding and destruction business? Do...

By Joe Harford, founder of Reclamere All machines need some sort of oil to run. This is no different when it comes to the machine that produces revenue...

By Tom Dumez, President of Prime Compliance We have all read the stories: a large retail store has a data breach, a large home improvement store has a...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Let’s just say ABC Corporation hires a data destruction service because they are the lowest price. It does not take a lot to...

By Dr. Ross Federgreen, CSR CEO, CIPM, CIPP, European Privacy Association More than half of U.S. states today have enacted data protection laws and regulations, growing from just...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO A "destroy all" data disposal strategy is the only safe and reasonable option. For instance, at our organization, I have no control over our firewall. Emails are...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In any service industry, there is the temptation to embellish, a.k.a., “marketing puffery.” To some degree, I think we forgive it because it...

By Ray Barry, Chief Shreducation and Member Relations Officer In the information management and destruction industries, relationships rule the sales process. You get a new client as soon...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Every data protection law in the world holds clients responsible for making sure their third party data processors meet regulatory requirements and security...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Athletes, especially professional athletes, provide one of the most obvious examples of human beings who have to continually focus on improving their performances....

By Ray Barry, NAID Deputy Executive Director As many of you know, this is the time of year we all start planning for 2015 to make ourselves and...

By Ray Barry, Chief Shreducation and Member Relations Officer When I speak with business owners in the information destruction and records management industries, one of the biggest issues...

By Ray Barry, NAID Deputy Executive Director The most important quality that top sales professionals and business owners possess is, without a doubt, a positive attitude. I have...

By Ray Barry, Chief Shreducation and Member Relations Officer “People will pay more if they perceive there is greater value or a deeper reason for buying from one...

By Ray Barry, NAID Deputy Executive Director People buy for their own reasons, not yours. This is a mindset that average sales professionals do not understand. The top...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Over the past few weeks, I’ve been reminded twice that the networking and partnership techniques taught at Shred School are both valid and valuable when...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I spend a little time in the Shred School workshops talking about the use of press releases to get publicity. Over the years, I have...

By Holly Vandervort, NAID Chief Compliance Officer One of the more game-changing additions to the NAID AAA Certification Program in 2014 was the requirement for certified companies to...

By Ray Barry, NAID Deputy Executive Director The sales professional who listens the best, wins the sale. It is the most important part of the sales process yet...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO As I write this, I’m at the Los Angeles Shred School workshop. At the front of the room Ray Barry is teaching 35 industry professionals...

By Ray Barry, NAID Deputy Executive Director We are taught at a young age to not brag about ourselves. I tell my son this all of the time....

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In my most recent SDB magazine column, I ruminate on the low barrier to entry in the secure destruction industry. I encourage you to...

By Ray Barry, NAID Deputy Executive Director One of the most challenging things in developing new business is identifying the stage of buying in which your prospect is...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Recently, I read an article about how sales is changing in many ways. I could not help but draw comparisons to NAID members...

By Ray Barry, NAID Deputy Executive Director In previous NAIDnotes posts, I have discussed how important it is to stand apart from the crowd of “shred-a-likes” in order...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I’ve been a bit preoccupied with the early signs of the consequences of data breaches entering a new era. As I have written, when...

By Ray Barry, NAID Deputy Executive Director The summer has arrived here in beautiful South Carolina and it’s time for baseball! If I am not teaching companies how...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Within weeks of the massive Target data breach last December, privacy and legal pundits began speculating about class action lawsuits that would result....

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In the upcoming edition of ITAK, the professional journal of the International Association of IT Asset Managers (IAITAM), I wrote an article with...

By Ray Barry, NAID Deputy Executive Director Whether you are a sales professional, business owner, or you wear many hats, your typical day is most likely hectic and...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I was recently reminded of one of my favorite Peter Drucker quotes, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” It’s a great way of expressing...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Over the last few months, several members inquired whether it would be better to attend the annual conference or Shred School. In my...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO There’s no shortage of marketing gurus with innovative ways of warming up the prospect so you can get a meeting. But, I caution...

By Mitzi Ott, Recall So simple, sure seems suspicious … No, not those five S’s. Today, in a world of instantaneous marketing brought to business operators via their...

By Drew Dekker, NetGain Vice President These days, getting found online is one of the most important factors for the success of any business, and that goes for...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO My first reaction was, “WOW!” My second reaction was, “It’s about time.” My third reaction was, “This is going to change everything.” I...

By Tom Adams, Coach and Adviser It’s an important goal for almost every salesperson: get access to senior executives in prospective client companies — the C-Level decision makers...

By Joe Harford, Reclamere founder Yes, you read the title of this post correctly. We’re going to have a conversation about firing customers, a concept that many of...

By Angie Singer Keating, Reclamere CEO You most likely already have a firewall and security software to protect your network. Thus, your systems should be well protected from...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO It’s the universal lament of the secure data destruction vendor heard from New Hampshire to Hong Kong: “The customer only cares about price!”...

Ray Barry, Chief Shreducation and Member Relations Officer “The main work of a trial attorney is to make the jury like his or her client.” – Robert Cialdini,...

By Ray Barry, NAID Chief Shreducation and Member Relations Officer As we begin a New Year, all of us look at the previous year and think of what...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Among the many panel discussions at the NAID 2014 Annual Conference, the session “Circling the Wagons: How to Build and Manage Your Own...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO It may seem like an unusual position to take at first, but the NAID ‘em campaign stems from the idea that NAID members and their...

By Ray Barry, Chief Shreducation and Member Relations Officer By the time you read this, 2013 will be over. I don’t know about you but this year has...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO This is the first of a series of posts to familiarize readers with 2014 conference educational content. Not only will this help attendees...

By Ray Barry, Chief Shreducation and Member Relations Officer Ahh, the good old “call me back after the holidays” stall. I am sure you have heard this stall...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO From the beginning, NAID has held the position that a fully informed customer is the best strategy for improving conditions for reputable secure...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In my last blog, I wrote about the strong-arm tactics being used by some HIPAA compliance consultants to coerce destruction providers into using...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO When the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) contacted NAID to help write the FACTA Final Disposal Rule, their main concern was what they...

By Ray Barry, Chief Shreducation and Member Relations Officer In sports, life and business, there is a pretty simple rule: the more we do something or the more...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Reading Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” became popular in business management circles in the 1990s. You still hear it referenced today, though...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I’d like to think the increasing regulatory liabilities for data protection would make customers less susceptible to misleading or false marketing claims but...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO With NAID member locations nearing 2,000, I am sure it won’t surprise anyone to learn that between emails and phone calls, I personally...

By NAID President Tom Huth, Allshred Services, Inc. As NAID president I have the opportunity to talk to a lot of members. For the most part, I am...

By John M. Mesrobian, J.D., C.P.P., C.F.E., C.I.P.P. Recently, there have been a few events that remind us of the important role NAID plays in the marketplace. Readers...

By Kristina Carlberg, NAID Director of Communications Next month will mark the one-year anniversary of NAIDnotes. At the beginning, this blog was started to give a voice to NAID...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Having reached the midpoint of 2013, I thought I’d use this time to point out some of my favorite blog postings from the...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Way back when the idea of creating a secure destruction industry organization came about, I originally envisioned it as an institute rather than...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO On Tuesday, I described how privacy and data security, though often thought of interchangeably, are two distinct and separate concepts. Today, I will...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO When I address an audience of privacy professionals, especially an international audience, I often point to the fact that the U.S. has the...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In preparing to serve as Friday’s opening speaker at the Ontario Occupational Health Nurses Association’s (OOHNA) Keeping Workers Well event, it occurred to me how...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO At one point in my career in the secure destruction industry, before NAID, I made my living as a consultant. One of the proudest...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Today it is my pleasure to write a little about the NAID management team and its latest addition, Michele Goodman. Michele joins Kathy...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO My commute from home to the NAID headquarters office is an enviable three miles and usually takes less than seven minutes. For the...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO For better or worse, it is appropriate to consider NAID an industry institution, which is a good- and bad-news situation. The good news...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I am betting something has happened at your organization in the last couple of months that was worth bragging about. Maybe your company...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In Tuesday’s blog post, I wrote that one of the ingredients to NAID’s success, or any association for that matter, is the appropriate...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Although most members are not aware of it, four or five other industry trade associations have been attempted to share the same space...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In Tuesday’s NAIDnotes post, I tried to delineate the evolution, relative merits and divergent perspectives on shred day events. Today, I’d like to...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Free shred days have become a polarizing issue in the secure destruction arena. For anyone outside the secure destruction industry, these are events,...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I was recently thinking about how much the B2B sales have evolved over time, probably prompted by my fondness for the TV show...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Of all the lessons learned over the 14 years of the NAID AAA Certification Program, the single most important lesson was the critical...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO At this point, I am comfortable saying the NAID AAA Certification Program is a success. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of room...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO As I set out to write this blog, as I have done virtually every Tuesday and Thursday for the last six months or...

By Kristina Carlberg, NAID Director of Communications In the wake of two tragedies this week, I wanted to write a lighthearted post, something that could inspire creativity and...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Over the years, I have received a number of calls from members asking about what they should do when they find illegal items...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I assume that anyone in business for more than a few years has heard some variation of the 80-20 rule. One common iteration...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO There were so many sessions at NAID 2013, it would be impossible to say one was more valuable than another. I am sure...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO During the NAID 2013 Annual Conference, even with over 30 years in this business, I along with the rest of the attendees heard...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Many NAID members originally participated in the NAID AAA Certification Program to set themselves apart from their competitors. Now that the program is...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO As I sit in my hotel room preparing for NAID 2013 to begin, it dawns on me how unique and valuable this event really is....

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Many NAID members are unaware of the depth and complexity of the association’s operating structure. That’s unfortunate because it is a big deal...

By Paul Garfunkel, Intek Leasing I have been asked several times why social media is beneficial to my business. The answer is simple, social media is the online...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Anyone who has worked on a NAID conference committee knows that the event often starts with as many as 80 potential sessions. In...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Anybody in sales is all too familiar with sayings like “people do business with people,” “all sales are based on relationships,” and “people...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO As the NAID 2013 Annual Conference nears, I find myself reflecting on last year’s event. More specifically, I was thinking about two points...

By Angie Singer Keating, Reclamere CEO As professionals in the secure destruction business, we must project an image that conveys trust and expertise at all times. While we...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Optimism is returning, and rightfully so! We are surrounded by signs that the economies of the world have turned the corner. Construction is...

By John Boyens, Owner of The Boyens Group If a salesperson or business owner wants to get off to a quick start in 2013, they can’t confuse sales...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO For this year’s NAID conference, attendance numbers are looking very strong. Most of the advance promotion for the event stresses the topical subject...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Over the past couple of years, there has been a lot written about how the secure destruction industry has been changing, including how...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In the not-too-distant past, some members would say they were not getting NAID Certified because many customers were not aware of it. Similarly,...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO There is a great discussion unfolding on the unofficial NAID LinkedIn group page where industry professionals are sharing ideas about involving route drivers...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Yesterday, the NAID Board of Directors approved the slate of candidates competing in the upcoming general election. This election is to fill board...

By Andy Sokol, Owner of CopyScan and Dean of Scanning School More businesses than ever are changing the way they think about their paper records. From environmental pressures to...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Would you trust a contractor to build you a house without a plan? Would you set out on a long road trip without...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Sometimes, though not enough as far as I am concerned, I am asked to use NAID’s pulpit and expertise to help members in...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO One of the country’s most prominent and respected privacy experts, attorney Kirk Narha, reported the HITECH Final Rule may be released soon, possibly...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Maybe I am wrong, but I think few people would argue they are running their businesses (or doing their jobs) as well as...

By Joe Calloway, Author of “A Category of One” Like just about every other business in the world, the secure records destruction industry has and is experiencing unprecedented...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I have often related the story of having traveled all the way to Warsaw, Poland to address a business group, only to be...

By Tom Dumez, President of Prime Compliance The “Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules” Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was initially published in July 2010....

By Bob Johnson, i-SIGMA CEO It is normal to feel a renewed sense of ambition and optimism at the start of a new year. I know I do....

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In most industries, a good reputation is paramount to meaningful sustained success. It just so happens that in the secure destruction industry there...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Most entrepreneurs are prone to action. That’s not to say they aren’t also analytical because obviously they have to be. In fact, success...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In Boston this morning, a group of secure destruction professionals took the Certified Secure Destruction Specialist (CSDS) Examination. It was the second such...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Last year the majority of NAID conference attendees overlooked what turned out to be one of the best sessions at the event. To...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In my last post, I described how a recent article about the decrease in business communications paper drew its conclusion from flawed evidence....

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO First, let me say that I understand that for many people, including me, the holidays have a deep significance that is often lost...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Ok, it is not very original or creative to write about gratitude on Thanksgiving Day but here I go. Though celebrated on different...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO As long as history has been recorded, economic and social worrywarts have been predicting social and economic collapse. Recently, I read an article...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Most NAID members know that I was in the secure destruction business for 14 years prior to founding NAID. While the marketplace has...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Last week, NAID issued a press release offering advice to organizations that may have been left with wet paper records after Hurricane Sandy....

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Understandably, NAID members look to the association as a source of education. NAID takes this responsibility very seriously and member feedback tells us...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In 2006, the five largest credit card companies formed the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council as a self-policing data security initiative designed to...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Many organizations have mission statements and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. At their best, mission statements provide a litmus...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO From any perspective, the NAID AAA Certification Program has been an amazing success. The program will soon certify its 1,000th member location. Also, hundreds...

By Gary Dickson, Q.C., Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner In recent years we have had a number of serious privacy breaches in Saskatchewan. Given the frequency and size...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO As this NAIDnotes blog entry gets posted, I will be conducting the first ever NAID-Canada Data Destruction Policy and Training Development Workshop for...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In my blog next Tuesday, I will continue my pricing thread about why secure destruction professionals aren’t willing to do what’s necessary to...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I’ve been thinking a lot about how to follow up last Tuesday’s blog. To refresh your memory, I discussed how those who use...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I grew up loving the game of chess. My grandfather taught me how to play. [caption id="attachment_1301" align="alignleft" width="300"] Chess pieces on chessboard...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO A while back, the Harvard Business Review published an article about the death of "solution sales." The article explained that buyers now had access to...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO First of all, I want to thank Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner, for acting as NAIDnotes’ guest blogger this past...

By Ann Cavoukian, Ph.D., Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario When a privacy breach occurs, it can be a nightmare for those affected and take years to rectify....

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO One of the challenges to the secure destruction business is the low barrier to entry. Of course, those getting into the business on...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Universally, sales and marketing experts encourage those representing a business to actively seek public speaking engagements. They rightly point out that such educational...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO A few years back I read a book that talked about how some companies get in “the zone.” Being in “the zone” meant...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO If your secure destruction company is relying strictly on cold calling prospects for sales, you’re going to have a rough time growing your...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO As announced later today in NAIDDirect, training for the next round of Certified Secure Destruction Specialists (CSDS) examinations starts at the end of this month,...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In my last two NAIDnotes entries, I discussed why you owe it to your clients to arm them with a justification for why...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In my last NAIDnotes entry, I explained why the biggest favor you can do for your customer and your company is to make...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I read a book a few years ago called “The Ultimate Question,” which chronicles the ascent of Enterprise Rental Car from a backwater...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO In today’s blog I am going to offer a perspective on competition that is often overlooked: the good side of competition. Have you...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO I often hear from NAID members that increasing prices is "impossible." However, price increases are not only possible, they are a necessary part...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO It is illegal to select a data destruction service provider on price alone. So what qualifications should you use to select a vendor?...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO Compliance with some regulations is determined by very objective, clear requirements. For instance, in the U.S. you must pay your personal taxes by...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO NAID has one mission: to promote the proper destruction of discarded information by outsourcing to a qualified service provider. That’s it. In service...

By Bob Johnson, NAID CEO According to Dictionary.com, a “blog” is a website containing a collection of writer’s or group of writers’ own experiences, observations, opinions, etc., and...