I had the privilege of attending the Secure World security conference these past two days, and really enjoyed it. Maybe it’s the vestiges of the pandemic, but I initially found myself feeling somewhat reluctant to be in such a large event, but I found people to be generally really approachable and friendly. I decided to be very transparent, from the very start of meeting someone, that I am looking to enter the cybersecurity field- I felt that was only fair since everyone has limited time, and I didn’t want to take up their valuable networking time with someone (aka, me) who is new to the field if that wasn’t what they were really wanting. However, I found that most people were still very friendly and were generous in giving tips and suggestions – all of which, to be quite honest, made me feel quite overwhelmed with gratitude. I mean, seriously, how neat is it to be part of a community where people are genuinely wanting to help others grow in the field?

Some of my takeaways were that it really is a good idea to take advantage of the professional associations and groups that are in the Seattle area- something that I have known, theoretically, that I should do, but haven’t really done. Also, that given my interests in both getting solid in the technical aspects as well as the GRC, policy, and business aspects, that it’s a good idea to try to keep building skills in both of those areas. I think I’ll just have to set intentionality there, and use good planning and time management skills. I really do find so much interesting, and there’s an ever-present danger of going down rabbit holes or losing focus.

That being said, I enjoyed the speakers and the copious amounts of coffee and really interesting conversations. Once I decided to just be myself, to just be honest that I’m trying to build experience in the field, then I found it to be a really informative and enjoyable experience.