Based on your experience and knowledge, what would you say is the BEST Information Security event to attend and why?
I went to my first security conference 13 years ago and have been hooked ever since. While I have only gone to a small percentage of the hundreds of events that occur each year across the world, I’ve been fortunate to find many events that I keep going back to. Of those, my favorite yearly event is easily ShmooCon.
This year represented my 5th ShmooCon and is the security event I’ve attended the most over the years. Despite the event being in Washington, DC and I residing in Michigan, it’s well worth the trip each winter to brave the cold, snow, and Metro construction to attend this special event.
For me, ShmooCon is an amazing event for a few main reasons:
1) By limiting the number of tickets sold provides for an environment that you can have meaningful conversations with people and not feel overwhelmed.
2) The CFP selection process consistently has some of the best talks I see each year in terms of freshness of content and quality of presenter.
3) DC has all of the history, restaurants, bars, and transportation options you need to enjoy not only the event but also the city you’re in.
4) The ShmooCon team hosts a party for attendees, generally at a venue private to the conference, often with an open bar, awesome live DJs, and a great vibe.
5) Vendors are actually enjoyable there and not easily accepted. Being able to discuss technical topics and have good demos actually adds to the event!
There are very many unique events each year but ShmooCon continues to stand out for me. If you haven’t attended before, get your refresh button ready and try to make it out in 2015 – tickets go fast!
Mark Stanislav | Duo Security | @markstanislav
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