Attending a conference can be a challenge! How much time should be spent on watching the talks and how much time should be spent networking?
A good rule of thumb for attending talks is to find if talks are being recorded and posted online. This is important because there are instances where one will not be able to attend all the interesting talks at one time. However, important to networking because recording of the talks allows for one to watch the talks later and circle back to their social media info that the presenter provides. This means that one can circle back with the presenter if a talk is missed at a later date, but this also means that attending talks for the content is no longer entirely necessary as the content will not be lost if posted online.
When attending talks, make sure to do the following: if attending in person take notes on something that interests you about the talk, even if the entire talk doesn’t interest you. This would be really helpful when talking to others, as others can like other talks than you do and if you found something interesting about that talk, you can potentially make a new contact.
If they talk interests you, take time to go to ask questions at the talk, try to find the speaker after the talk and ask questions and network, or reach out via their social media if unable to ask at the end of the talk or circle back with the presenter after the talk during the conference.
If one is a volunteer for a security conference, that is a great way to network with others as it forces the interactions and gets one out into the community.
Make sure to be able to speak about yourself: your job, what you do, what interests you in cyber security, and know what to ask about others to seem interested in them. The information security currently is a small community; therefore, one is often likely to see the same people. It is a good idea to understand that if you are not the most interested in the topic being discussed, stick around and see where the conversation is headed and use basic social skills to introduce yourself if possible.
The rule of thumb is to make sure to talk to a lot of people, network a lot, and attend as any afterparties as possible. We are not recommending partying, rather what is being said is that if there is an after conference event in a ball room, make sure to attend. This is where a lot of networking happens because the attendees dont need to run to attend different talks. Do not make stupid decisions to drink and drive and the like, but we are recommending to attend the afterparties if possible and responsibly.
Do not be rude, racist, sexist, or do something illegal. Those are 100% unacceptable ways to network and be part of the information security community. These specific types of actions are highly frowned upon and should never be seen in the community.
To find a security conference near you, make sure to check out our calendar or a site such as https://infosec-conferences.com.
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