Annual Fire Expo Schedule

Join AFAA’s Board of Director’s and Staff for the latest updates organizational updates. Lunch is not provided.

Join the Codes & Standards Committee to hear the latest updates.

Join the FPRF to hear the latest updates.

Join our Exhibitors and others in the industry at our Welcome Reception. We will have two open bars and food.

Sponsorship opportunity available – contact Alex Strausser today if you are interested in sponsoring this event!

Join our Exhibitors and fuel yourself for the day with breakfast!

Sponsorship opportunity available – contact Alex Strausser today if you are interested in sponsoring this event!

Join AFAA President, Dr. Shane Clary as he kicks off the day with opening remarks and introduces our Keynote Speaker!

Together, let’s look through the creative lens of imagination, illusion, magic, science, and engineering to discover how the codes and standards address the unique fire protection and life safety challenges for special amusement buildings, attractions, and themed entertainment venues.

1 hour of continuing education available.

Integrated Testing – Taking Fire Alarm Testing and Commissioning One Step Further

As technology and systems in the built environment continue to advance, the importance of coordination between these systems becomes increasingly critical. This is especially true with fire protection systems intended to protect the well-being and safety of building occupants. Wherever a building or facility incorporates multiple types of “systems” or active life-safety features, as almost every building does, the interaction of these systems must be coordinated to ensure proper operation in the event of an emergency. These interfaces can range in complexity from simple door-hold open devices to complex smoke control systems.

The coordination of these interfaces, often the responsibility of the fire alarm system to initiate, starts in design and is verified through detailed commissioning and integrated testing upon completion of system installation. Specific procedures for commissioning and integrated testing of these systems are outlined in the relatively young standard; NFPA 4 Standard for Integrated Fire Protection and Life Safety System Testing. This standard is rooted in ensuring that the intended physical operation of the interfaced systems is functionally verified prior to acceptance, a concept that is outside the prescriptive scope of individual system standards such as NFPA 72.

This presentation will outline the adoption and application of this emerging standard which has a direct impact across the fire alarm industry. In addition to unpacking the holistic view of integrated testing, this presentation will outline case studies and examples where NFPA 4 is required to be implemented. Given the relevancy to this topic and close coordination with fire alarm systems, smoke control systems will serve as the underlying theme in supporting the presentation of NFPA 4 requirements.

This presentation reflects on the current status of the industry as NFPA 4 is now referenced by recent editions of the model codes and standards. As such, its compliance is already required in many jurisdictions throughout the United States and is on the horizon for jurisdictions who have not yet updated their base codes.

1 hour of continuing education available.

Contact Alex Strausser for more details today!

1 hour of continuing education available.

Join our Exhibitors for lunch!

Sponsorship opportunity available – contact Alex Strausser today if you are interested in sponsoring this event!

Cybersecurity in the Fire Alarm Industry: Protecting Critical Systems

As fire alarm systems increasingly connect to networks, they become vulnerable to cyber threats. This presentation will explore key cybersecurity risks, including attack vectors such as network infiltration, device tampering, and social engineering. We will examine the potential consequences of cybersecurity failures, from system malfunctions to breaches of sensitive data, and offer actionable strategies to mitigate these risks. Attendees will learn how to incorporate NFPA 72’s emerging cybersecurity requirements into their fire alarm systems and best practices to safeguard critical life safety infrastructure.

1 hour of continuing education is available.

1 hour of continuing education is available.

Contact Alex Strausser for more details today!

Get an update on everything at the National Fire Protection Association that pertains to Fire Alarm, this includes some of the major changes to the 2025 Edition of NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code® such as the new requirements for cybersecurity, new detection technologies, and new notification operating modes, and a quick overview of new offerings available from the NFPA including trainings, content, and a look into using NFPA LiNK, its enhanced content, and navigational features. Also, an update from the Fire Protection Resarch Foundation.

1 hour of continuing education is available.

Join Exhibitors and relax with a drink. Attendees will have an opportunity to win a prize with a completed Exhibitor Bingo Card!

Enjoy Orlando, FL

Things to Do

Fuel yourself for the day with breakfast!

Sponsorship opportunity available – contact Alex Strausser today if you are interested in sponsoring this event!

Updates on the organization and our elections.

1 hour of continuing education available.

Contact Alex Strausser for more details today!

An informative presentation that provides an overview of the Alarm Transmission Ecosystem as well as providing information as to why changes are being made that will enhance public life safety. This discussion is important because the technologies for transmitting alarm, trouble, and supervisory signals from the protected premises to the fire department is changing rapidly. Several of the legacy technologies are becoming or are obsolete.

1 hour of continuing education available.

This session will provide a comprehensive review of the opportunities and challenges associated with the new era of energy and electrification through the entire fire and life safety ecosystem. The benefits and hazards of integrating emerging technologies into existing energy infrastructure will be explored along with the best practices for mitigating the risk of shock, electrocution, fire, and arc-flash. The session will offer
guidance information on how to balance the tension between safety, resilience, reliability, efficiency, and sustainability as the energy transition impacts persons and property in the built environment. Additional consideration for natural and human-made disasters as the world trends towards a more urbanized society will also be discussed. Each topic of the session will be aligned with a case study analysis. The session will include a mix of lecture, Q&A, attendee feedback, data analysis, and thought experiment to fully engage and inspire the attendees to participate and contribute to the discussion while offering guidance information and resources for the attendee to share with their colleagues and coworkers after the conference.

1 hour of continuing education available.

Lunch!

Sponsorship opportunity available – contact Alex Strausser today if you are interested in sponsoring this event!

At times, sprinkler and fire alarm professionals talk different languages. However, they both need to communicate with each other to have their systems work together, this presentation will be a conversation between two industry professionals where different terms and topics relevant to the sprinkler and fire alarm systems interface occurs.

The format will be a discussion amongst Rodger and John, experts in the fire alarm and sprinkler field. This will be an open dialogue with thoughtful follow-up questions between the two. There will be a few slides, but the main interaction will take place in an interview style format.

John is a designer, engineer, has “real world experience” installing and maintaining fire sprinkler systems. Rodger is a leading professional who also has the “real world experience” installing, designing and maintaining fire alarm systems.

Some examples of the type of dialogue we will have are as follows. What and why do we have different K-factor sprinklers and how does it impact the fire alarm system? What about the activation temperature of sprinklers?

1 hour of continuing education available.

The NFPA and UL standards allow combination systems to be installed in most applications. Some states, such as California, do not allow combination systems so make sure you know the rules in the areas you are working in. A combination system is when one panel is designed, installed and listed to provide both fire alarm and security functions. Although these are allowed the installation of these systems have a number of rules that must be followed. This session will introduce you to some of these special conditions that you need to be aware of before installing combination systems.

1 hour of continuing education available.

Contact Alex Strausser for more details today!

1 hour of continuing education available.

Closing remarks from AFAA President, Dr. Shane Clary + cocktails. We will also have a SPECIAL SURPRISE GUEST!!

Special Guest sponsored by:

Enjoy Orlando, FL

Things to Do