Fun and controversy in the classroom

Well, we've got almost a day under our belt at an ASIS Workshop and I'm happy to see the group "gelling" quite nicely. What makes for a successful workshop? I really don't fully understand the dynamic since there are so many variables, but I know that...

• if you've got great talent in speakers, it's going to be worth it; worth it, that is if you like as Severin once told me, "it's like herding cats"


• everyone has a different reason for going to the class and not everyone will be satisfied

Ben came through with a couple of great speakers, one of which sounded exactly like David Letterman - an excellent bonus. We should have had a session where we have "David" at his desk and one of the speakers as a guest on the couch. I must find someone who will let me do this.

Yes, you cannot please everyone; right after the required and perfectly executed chocolat chip cookie break (thanks Becky), I had someone complain to me that I should not have had the classes go to 5PM as all the stores in town are closed after hours.

It was so great seeing Dave and Leslie, those two lovebirds from San Francisco; Dave carried a good "managing" load of subjects in this workshop. Charlie boy had his usual rip-roaring form of entertainment, while Severin provided the backbone of the seminar with a very excellent metrics presentation. I could not continue the "shout-outs" without recognizing Jeff's hard work, our Practitioner Professionals, Jim, Jose and Ed (Special Ed here on the boards). Shaun Pal gave us quite a nice overview on standards. Above all and the man who was there for me throughout this whole ordeal, was Phill who untiringly both emceed and taught many sessions. I will never forget our fireside chats with a few entertaining students and his lovely wife Sandra. West coasters know how to live!

People and companies that are "always right"

Do you know anyone like this in the industry; I'm sure you do!

Here's a couple of related questions:

• How do you figure out whether they are right, wrong or just early?
• How do you use, ignore or postpone the use of a technology?
• If a person or a company is so influential that you can't ignore them, how do you deal with this?

Only Yoda is always right, especially when he makes reference to Road Cycling:

"Remember, a Roadie's strength flows from the Schwartz. But beware. Anger, fear and strange brightly colored clothing...Fredliness are they. Once you start down the path to Fredliness, forever will it dominate your destiny"

Security Trade Shows and the Tour de French Toast

After another couple of events under my belt where I was both excited and honored to conduct or be a session contributor, I noticed a few startling (and comforting) facts:

There are many of us that don't know the difference between techical evangelism and outright product marketing

When given the opportunity to share the stage, you may be either uncomfortable or wonder why you didn't do this sooner

I also noticed that everyone except for the contributors here, my cats and local bike store are claiming to originate standards in the security industry

If you have friends in this industry, they will help you out...thank you Kent, Jerry, Michael and Severin for doing great sessions on Network Security, Practitioner Focus and New Tech

Finally, the answer that you really want to know is to get the stuffed French Toast with strawberries - excellent right before a 40 mi bike ride

Your Best Class?

I've been really lucky the past five years to have come across professionals that have helped me in workshops, sessions, internet stuff and generally how to communicate.

Here's a few random thoughts; please discuss...

• A subject matter expert that write a session is not always the best person to give it
• The person that organizes a workshop is not necessarily the best person to present a session
• You should always assume the teacher will not show up or say the dog ate the presentation- If you can cut a session's slides by 2/3 and say about the same thing, you should do it (I have to really start taking my own advice!)
• Stop using PowerPoint as your primary means of communication; the slides are just there to support what the edu team has to say, not the other way around
• People are freshest in the morning- People like freshly baked chocolat ship cookies in the afternoon
• Put an energetic speaker on after lunch so as to not induce "food coma"
• If you're managing a workshop, make sure the content is useful for the goals of the workshop- "Design" sessions are far easier to write than "Managing" sessions
• Involve people that actually use the systems, not just the marketers of them
• Everything has a means of regulation; if there is an AHJ out there that can impact your discussion or some legal precedent, you better be ready to talk about it
• Many come to education sessions expecting there will be a discussion of the device's, system's or security program's cost- Many people will try to leave early
• If you tie in some type of relavent accreditation or recognition, they will come in droves
• Every industry has its terminology; show people how to survive a project meeting?
• If you can provide the handout material electronically, people seem to prefer that media
• If you have a professional event person like someone having the CMP (Certified Meeting Planner) credential, you'll take a huge step closer to success
• Keep the room cold; plan on 20% of the people attending to show up unregistered (walk-ins)
• Get plenty of sleep the night before your session, or just plan on having a Starbucks runner ;)