Reflections on Winter 2023 Convene

We at the National Cybersecurity Alliance would like to thank all of our sponsors, speakers, and attendees for making our second Convene conference an astounding success!

Running January 10 and 11 in Clearwater, Florida, the conference focused on training and awareness, and we tried to set a tone of empowerment and innovation as we kickstart 2023. 

From Tuesday morning, when SolarWinds CISO Tim Brown gave insider commentary on the devastating cyberattack SolarWinds endured and successfully recovered from in recent years, to Tanner Kooistra of Palo Alto Network giving tabletop exercise tips on Wednesday afternoon, Convene was filled with useful and thought-provoking info.  

“I got a lot out of this conference,” one attendee told us. “I actually want to bring a coworker or two with me to the next conference.” 

Overall, many of the discussions heard on-stage and off seemed to revolve around four main topics: 

1. Emphasizing impact over simply meeting compliance goals 
2. Acknowledging that awareness and action aren’t the same thing 
3. How to build a security-aware culture and cultivate it toward maturity 
4. The successes and pitfalls of gamifying cybersecurity  

While the training and awareness teams at many organizations are small, their impact and importance is massive. Between our events like Convene and our always free-to-share online resources, NCA strives to support these crucial employees! 

While participating in a panel discussion on building strong cybersecurity cultures, Andrew Mattiucci, an AVP of Risk Management at First American Financial Corporation mentioned coming to the first Convene conference, which was held in Scottsdale, Arizona in 2022.  

“I emailed my CEO and said, ‘you all are going to hate me. I have so many new ideas!'” Mattiucci told the crowd.  

Now that we’ve returned from Florida, we hope this is the attitude we can excite in everyone who joined us: passionate, collaborative imagination! Again, thanks to all who Convened with us, and we hope to see you all soon when we Convene next time!