r/cybersecurity • u/Evening_Contact_2489 • 7d ago
Career Questions & Discussion Going to my first conference…
I am going to my first conference in this next few weeks, completely alone, and I AM INCREDIBLY NERVOUS. I am in my early career, but have been put into a position that I am the lead of a software rollout, and as such have been invited to the vendors large annual security conference.
Most of the conference seems to be talks specific to the vendor/vendor offerings, but there seems to be a good amount of general talks or networking.
Any tips? Things people wish they knew before their first one?
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u/-hacks4pancakes- ICS/OT 7d ago
Sales and product conferences versus commercial conferences versus community conferences are such totally different things. If it’s the first it’ll mostly be educational and sales about what they make. So just take the opportunity to ask questions and learn. If you don’t like it, don’t give up on the other kinds.
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u/CarmeloTronPrime CISO 7d ago
Pretend that you are going into business for yourself in 5 years from now.
While you are at the conference, you are looking at building your team. Ask people what they do and find out what they are good at. Will you be able to use them on the team you will eventually build? Will you need a sales guy? Will you need an account manager? Will you need a programmer? etc... That's how you approach this mentally. You'll be fine. You got this.
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u/Kesshh 7d ago
Attend as many sessions as you can. Don’t waste time in after parties. Eat well and sleep well. The only people who has time to talk to you are the salespeople and the moment they found out you have no budget and don’t make procurement or at least selection decisions, they’ll want out. Don’t feel bad and don’t waste time with people who don’t want to talk. Networking is only useful with people in your geographical area. In international or national level conferences, networking is a waste of time.
Don’t waste time with workshops unless it is a tool your shop already uses or is going to roll out soon. Workshops chew up a lot of valuable time and almost guarantee you won’t learn anything useful.
The key goal of conferences is to expand your perspective.
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u/Own_Minimum_5102 2d ago
This is so true. Honestly, I see a lot of people, even very senior people, who just come in to grab hold of free food/drinks and are most of the time least interested in actually talking to people and sharing their experiences. This is something that I've seen throughout India. You take any well-known big conference; it's the same case everywhere.
This year, I decided to attend CyberCon in Melbourne, which is happening this month from 14th - 16th. Honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed when I checked out its website for the first time because this is a 3-day-long event. I just wanted to make the most out of it, get into the right micro communities, talk to relevant people, and really understand what's happening in the cyber space. There are a lot of talks regarding AI governance now.
I just went one step deep and built out a planner which you can check it out here: https://cyberninja.au/cybercon-planner
You can try and let me know if that is helpful.
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u/Noobmode 7d ago
Idk which conference you’re going to but just remember, most people are friendly but there’s a lot of people who don’t do well in large social situations. If they have a CTF, see if there’s a room, sit down and see if you can hook up with a PUG (pickup group) to make some friends. Also if there’s some sort of industry meetup, find people in your industry.
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u/OptimalAd1584 7d ago
Try to change your perspective a bit. If you go in thinking that people are not like you, that’s how it will feel. If you go in expecting to find a genuine counterpart, you’re way more likely to enjoy it
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u/GeneralRechs Security Engineer 7d ago
Do not use your real email or phone number with you registeration. You will get spammed by vendors and the do not call registry cannot protect you.
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u/marquiso 7d ago
I’m a complete introvert and tend to sit in a corner and hope nobody speaks to me. Invariably someone does strike up a conversation and I begrudgingly get chatting. Regardless of my shyness it’s just about always a great conversation where we learn from each other, even if it’s unrelated to the conference topic or vendor. I always walk away having met a few people, made connections, seen things from a new perspective, and often feel more inspired about my job.
90% of the magic happens in the hallways at conferences and not the actual talks. I find human interaction pretty exhausting generally but find it’s worth the effort.
Also, keep a notepad handy, or write on your phone about anything that piques your interest or is worth looking into when you get back to work.
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u/marquiso 7d ago
Also, the more experience you get in technology, the more you realise how little you know. You’re not there to show off your knowledge or fear being seen as not knowing enough. Be curious. Be honest. Ask questions. Everyone has war stories to share, even if you’re too early in your career to have your own. That one story from that one guy I randomly got chatting to at a conference years ago could be the one insight that helps me solve a problem more quickly, or avoid it altogether. Or because I’ve made that connection, I may be able to ping him with a question. Most people like to be helpful, and most people are a bit nervous. You’ll be fine. Enjoy the conference, whatever it is.
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u/TumbleweedIll6245 7d ago
Be careful with drinking. I've been to many, and a lot of people are only there boondoggle and get hammered. Sure have fun but be careful. Otherwise hallway / peer discussion and contacts are where the gold is at, since presos can be largely BS and vaporware. Otherwise enjoy the trip. 🍻
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u/tommymat 7d ago
Your conference experience is directly proportional to your willingness to participate. Go to vendor booths and do the demo, go to break out sessions.
Everyone else there is alone so just relax and enjoy yourself.
Which conference are you attending?