Monitronics celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 by being a gold sponsor at an inspirational event.

The annual Conference on Crimes Against Women (CCAW) was held in Dallas, Texas, March 8-10at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel in Downtown.

The conference serves to educate and inspire those who are in and those who support law enforcement. Prosecutors, medical personnel, social workers, police officers, forensic examiners, and victims’ advocates from across the country were in attendance.

The cause is an important one to us at Monitronics because we are committed to protecting women and all people from violence. In the United States, an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year. One in six women will experience a sexual assault or an attempted sexual assault. One in 12 women has been stalked in their lifetime. Almost one third of female homicide victims are killed by an intimate partner.

The Monitronics informational table saw dozens of visitors who learned about our award-winning monitored alarm services and our efforts to partner with law enforcement. Several employees manned the table to show support and learn how we can be of assistance in communities across America.

The key note speaker was the Honorable Judge Ronald Adrine, an acting Judge in Ohio and co-chair for the National Judicial Institute on Domestic Violence. Judge Adrine set the tone for the conference which was advocating for top-notch police work, followed by committed prosecutions using the latest in technology to ensure convictions of violent offenders.

CCAW organizers left no stone unturned when selecting workshop topics and speakers. Attendees were able to receive continuing education credits for attending workshops such as:

* The Change Process for Abusive Men
* Women in Gangs
* The Power of DNA Technology in Solving Crimes
* Sex Offender Registration: What you need to know
* Ethical Considerations for Prosecutors in Sexual Assault cases
* Case Study: The Bike Path Rapist

Workshops were led by experienced professionals including:
* Jennifer Markowitz, Forensic Nurse
* Bob Morton, FBI
* Sergeant Chuck Young of the Dallas PD
* Jodi Rafkin, National Center for Victims of Crime
* Christine Mansour, Human Rights Initiative of North Texas
* Dottie Laster US Attorney’s Human Trafficking Rescue Alliance
* Kristen Anderson, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

The Conference on Crimes Against Women was founded in 2005 by the Dallas Police Department and the Genesis Women’s Shelter.

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Here are some photos from our Friday anniversary luncheon. Aren’t we pretty? To see the entire set, visit our Flickr page here.

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As part of National Optimism Month in March, we’re blogging five reasons why our customers should be loving us in 2010. We see so many reasons to be optimistic about the coming months, from exciting new technologies to our efforts to make sure every alarm is a real alarm. We’re excited about this year and here’s why.

5 Reasons To Love Us in 2010

1. Business is good and we’re focusing on customer service. Even in this down economy, we’re growing and we are paying special attention to your needs. We want to hear from you on this blog, our Facebook page, or our Twitter account. How can we serve you better?

2. Speaking of social networking, we HEART our 344 fans on Facebook and our 470 followers on Twitter. We share safety tips, insider news, and fun facts on both, as well as responding to customer praise or complaints. Come join the online party.

3. New technologies are helping people feel more secure. We’re now offering customers the ability to stream live video of their homes to a BlackBerry or iPhone or watch video clips online. They can even arm and disarm remotely (and more!).

4. We’re providing better protection against unethical scammers. This summer will be a test of our efforts to stop what we call “summer slamming.” This is when unscrupulous door-to-door security sales people try to rip you off and trick you into “switching” service. We’re getting more assertive in stopping this practice. Learn more at www.monitronics.com/securityscam.

5. We’re saving lives. Our award-winning monitoring center had an average response time of just 22.1 seconds in 2009 and in an emergency, every second counts. You can trust Monitronics with your safety.

This is why WE think our customers will love us in 2010. What’s your opinion? Leave us a comment and let us know.