Last year’s CyberX Tampa Bay event was a big hit, and it was only natural that there’d be another one this year. Like the first one, this year’s event was packed.
The moment I walked into the venue, I saw so many people and had so many conversations that I never got the chance to take pictures until the start of the “welcome” session in the large room:
Suzanne Ricci, Computer Coach’s CEO and one of the event co-organizers, welcomed the gathered throng to CyberX…
…after which we had the choice of two breakout sessions:
- Chronicles of an Entry-level Cybersecurity Professional
- The Wheel of Misfortune
I went to the Wheel of Misfortune, where audience members got the chance to answer cybersecurity questions for Google swag. Anyone in the audience could volunteer to come up to the front, spin the wheel of topics and answer a question based on that topic.
Hosts Jason Allen and Jonas Kelley were pretty relaxed about audience assistance. At one point, I yelled out the acronym for remebering the 7 layers of the OSI network model — “Please Do Not Take Sausage Pizza Away!” — and no one was penalized.
The room, where every seat and available spot to stand was occupied, was lively, with people enjoying themselves. The audience participation, aided by two engaging hosts, kept the room lively until the very end.
It was then time to recognize CyberX Tampa Bay’s 2023 honoree — someone nominated by attendees as being the person who made the biggest positive impact on Tampa Bay’s cybersecurity scene. This year’s honoree was Jeremy Rasmussen!
And to close the evening, there was the keynote panel on cybersecurity myths. It featured…
(pictured above, from left to right…)
- Courtney Jackson
- Mark Keller
- Ryan Williams
- Yours Truly, Joey de Villa
- Ebony Pierce
- Bryson Bort
We covered these myths:
- Mark: “Cybersecurity is an IT problem.”
- Ryan: “You don’t have transferable skills.”
- Me: “Compliance and security are the same thing,” complete with a reference to this scene from the original Jackass movie.
- Ebony: “Cybersecurity threats are only an external issue.”
- Mark: “Macs are more secure than PCs.”
- Ryan: “We passed the compliance assessment so we can rest on our laurels.”
- Me: “I’m too small to be a target,” with a story about (ahem) borrowing cable from the bar next door.
- Ebony: “Cybersecurity threats require careful planning and really smart people.”
- Bryson: “Security Awareness training works.”
This amazing event wouldn’t have been possible without the organizers…
…or without the sponsors:
2 replies on “Scenes from CyberX Tampa Bay 2023 (Tuesday, October 24, 2023)”
Joey, this is a great wrap up of an amazing event. It was a pleasure meeting you and hearing your informative and hilarious stories!