With RSA Conference just four weeks away, I can very confidently promise the best content yet. Our speakers and facilitators have been hard at work developing their materials, and our Program Committee has been carefully reviewing their work and providing feedback. My goal is nothing less than blowing you away with the quality of the content we offer.
Now is the time to be planning your attack to help you get the most out of your time at RSA Conference. We’ve tried to make it very easy for you to review all of the different content offerings online, where you can view them by day or by track. We even have some potential journeys through Conference depending on your area of focus. Take the time now to schedule your time using the Scheduler tool. This allows you to build your schedule and add it to your personal calendar. It also helps us, as organizers, know how to plan for room flow. In some cases, we also push information out ahead of time to people interested in a specific session (in all cases with our Learning Labs—more below).
As you’re building your schedule, keep in mind some of the different learning environments available. As has been discussed in past blogs, RSA Conference offers a wide variety of learning formats to match the different learning styles of our attendees. We also know you value networking and meeting your peers, so we’ve tried to expand these opportunities with our interactive offerings.
Focus On Series: This is a new program that gives a small number of attendees the opportunity to dig in deep with some of the morning presenters. No new slides will be presented and the interest of the group will guide the conversation. This is a tremendous opportunity to get up close and personal with some of our fabulous presenters and have engaging conversation with your peers. Nine sessions will be offered on both Wednesday and Thursday, and attendance will be capped at 50. If there is a Focus On session to support a morning session you already have on your radar, add it to your Scheduler and plan to engage.
Learning Labs: If there is one thing you must make sure is on your agenda this year, it is a Learning Lab. We have an amazing lineup with content to suit every type of security professional, with Labs ranging from hands-on technical environments that explore and exploit vulnerabilities to cyber-wargame exercises to communication skills to privacy to security culture transformation to futurecasting. These two-hour in-depth facilitated experiences offer tremendous interactive depth for our attendees with something for everyone. Make sure to add the Labs you are interested in to your Schedule (more in that below)—prep work will be sent via email to anyone who’s scheduled a Lab and a few have pre-calls as well. You won’t want to miss any of this.
Peer2Peer: Returning to our agenda during the afternoon this year is the ever-popular Peer2Peer discussion format. In a setting of just 25 participants, facilitators will guide discussions around different topics. The offerings have been carefully curated by our Program Committee to make sure there’s something for everyone. If you want to find others who are focused on a particular area to laser-focus your networking, be sure to explore the Peer2Peer agenda.
Forums: These lunchtime sessions in the Viewing Point focus on key government issues that are impacting the industry. They are announced late in the cycle in order to drive focus on current Beltway debates.
Birds of a Feather: Be on the lookout for boards on the 2nd floor of Moscone West where you can sign up to drive a Birds of a Feather breakfast conversation or see what conversations are planned that you may want to join. We’ll also promote known BoF topics via digital messaging and social media to help spread the word. These will be very informal gatherings—an opportunity for you to grab your breakfast Wednesday and Thursday morning and then sit down with other like-minded individuals for an early conversation and expand your network.
We are looking forward to welcoming you to our 25th anniversary event this year. Be prepared for the best learning and networking week yet!