The Executive Women’s Forum is a conference put on for women involved in information security at a leadership/executive level, and I had the chance to go for the first time this year. I’ve never been to an all-women conference before and although I have mixed feelings (it is, after all, inherently discriminatory to exclude men) I found it worthwhile. I met some very interesting people and had a chance to think about some issues that I don’t often run across in my daily project work, as well as a different perspective on some issues such as risk management that are relevant to my daily work. I also got the chance to try out playing golf for the first time as part of a networking event pre-conference, which was an experience that left my right upper arm/shoulder sore for a couple of days afterwards! Oh well, all par for the course as a golf newbie, I expect.
One notable difference to many other conferences I’ve attended: the lack of posturing. Most people there were genuinely interested in discussing the issues at hand rather than proving how good they were (yes, there were exceptions, but they were few). That made the event more valuable, and a lot more fun.
“I don’t want to join a club that would have me as a member.” –Groucho