ESC Winter Meeting Recap

The theme at last week’s Energy Security Council‘s (ESC) Winter 2016 Conference was dealing with crises.  From the recent resurgence of terrorism in the west, how to plan for and survive active shooter events, lessons-learned from a “Black Swan” event, to how to intelligently anticipate future risk events in the sea of … Read more

Compliance vs. Risk

How are they related, what are the differences, and how can they be used together to manage cost and effectiveness? We often see compliance management substituted for risk management in both safety and security, which is out of sync with the business at large. When executive business decisions are based … Read more

Personal Security for Travelers

These days being a tourist or business traveler can be hazardous to your health. Terrorist attacks by Radical Islamist terror groups are on the rise in places where westerners congregate, socialize and stay. On 20 November 2015 the upscale Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako, Mali was attacked by heavily-armed gunmen who … Read more

Business Risk: Why Good Intelligence is Critical

Three dimensional chess is an apt analogy for the mental contortions the CEO of a multinational company must endure when contemplating risks to the enterprise.  The variants to this game, played out in real life, involve global time zones, shifting business alliances, natural disasters and climatic events, geo-political upheaval, and … Read more

A Recap of the Energy Security Council Conference

On August 14, 2014, the Energy Security Council (ESC) hosted its one-day summer conference alongside San Antonio’s scenic Riverwalk and Butchko, Inc. was there to meet with old friends, make new ones, and take the pulse of the oil and gas industry’s security community. Two particular topics caught our interest … Read more

Leadership Innovation and Change at ISC West 2014

Benjamin Butchko, our President and CEO, was selected to be a Judge for the New Product Showcase at the Security Industry Association’s premier program at ISC West 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. We asked him to share his insights from the program. The role of “Judge” at the New Product … Read more

An Open Letter to My CEO

Every CEO faces the challenge of managing risk and opportunity. They are two sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other. When you sit down with your management team, you expect them to provide you the right information at the right time with the context of … Read more