In 2014, over 500 staffers worked tirelessly to make RSA Conference a success. From building the expo hall to registering more than 28,500 attendees, the Conference is the culmination of months of planning, collaboration and teamwork. For all we put into the show, it can be a bit surreal to see how fast the Moscone Center is dismantled on Friday. While the banners, A/V and booths are temporary, RSA Conference’s content is the cornerstone that persists.
For seven years our Content Director, Jeanne Friedman, has led the RSA Conference content program – a program that I believe to be the strongest in the information security industry. The final, printed agenda does not give justice to the behind-the-scenes work of Jeanne and her third-party volunteer program committee. Before the Herculean task of reviewing the thousands of submissions during the Conference’s call for speakers, the content program team has a vital undertaking. They must first evaluate last year’s submissions in order to determine the tracks that will be most valuable to attendees, creating a platform that will deliver content effectively. Their work is what separates RSA Conference from the pack.
After managing 410 sessions and 604 speakers in 2014, not to mention thousands more over the years, Jeanne has decided to take a much-deserved retirement.
No one is in a better position than Jeanne to understand the effort and passion required to create RSA Conference. Luckily for the rest our team, Jeanne has been working behind the scenes to identify a successor and bring them up to speed. The person ready to build on Jeanne’s years of work is Britta Glade.
Britta has managed RSA’s analyst relations program for the last 13 years and has excelled in the position. She was recently named one of the top ten analyst relations professionals by the Institute of Industry Analyst Relations out of a pool of more than 300 candidates. Given her daily interactions with the leading information security analysts, Britta is well-qualified to identify the current trends that attendees need to know and transform these issues into the world-class sessions that our constituents have come to expect. Jeanne will continue to support Britta during the transition and Hugh Thompson will reprise his role as Program Committee Chair. Combined, Britta and Hugh will continue to drive the best conference content in the industry throughout the year with RSA Conference in Singapore, RSA Conference online programs like webcasts, podcasts and educational content, as well as new endeavors around the globe.
We’re excited to write the next chapter of our content program and are confident that our sessions will continue and enable RSA Conference to be the leader in delivering engaging experiences that empower people to enhance their profession, while protecting their organizations, industries and the world.