When I imagine professional conferences, I see people in their business suit best trying to impress others with their knowledge and prestige. This impression may be influenced by more academic conferences than I can count. So when I signed up to represent the REN-ISAC at my first Women in Cybersecurity (WiCys) conference, I was expecting to learn a lot from the professional sessions, as well as feel that subtle pressure to stifle my quirky, punky tendencies and be on my best professional behavior.
However, at WiCys 2022 in Cleveland, I found a lively community of diversity and acceptance. I met people of all races, gender identities, ages, abilities, and professional levels and backgrounds. The power Doc Martens I insisted on wearing fit right in with the variety of personalities and clothing styles.
I bring up clothing because it is an expression of a person’s individuality and identity. It was so refreshing to be in a professional atmosphere where people, especially women, are not trying to squash their personalities into a business suit. Here professionals of all varieties could just be themselves, filling the space with contagious energy and easy camaraderie.
The conference sessions also embraced the diversity of the WiCys community while empowering attendees to create positive change. Dr. Latanya Sweeney’s (Harvard Kennedy School of Government) opening keynote highlighted technology’s role in creating a technocracy, a society where inherent bias in technology impacts everything from perceptions of hirability to voting numbers to proposed bail amounts. Despite the negative effects, Dr. Sweeney inspired us all with hope. “We have opportunities to save the world,” she said.
Jen Easterly’s rockstar performance also empowered and inspired. Easterly, the Director of the US Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), made an impressive entrance backed by squealing rock guitars and raucous applause. Dressing in bell-bottom jeans, a t-shirt bearing the Ukraine flag, and a smart tan blazer, Director Easterly became, for me at least, a model for women in the cybersecurity field. She was animated, knowledgeable, and a badass rebel who owned her uniqueness on the stage by celebrating her love for AC/DC and her dreams for a more equitable cybersecurity profession.
I was starstruck. I have never had a cybersecurity fangirl crush until that moment. I wanted to go out and buy a dozen Jen Easterly posters and plaster my office with them as I did with the rock icons of my high school years.
I came to WiCys to present “It Takes Many Sailors to Move this Ship,” a session where two colleagues and I would admit that our professional backgrounds were way outside of cybersecurity. Prior to my time at WiCys, I was so nervous to discuss my strange professional path from Shakespeare to cybersecurity, but in that welcoming environment, our presentation seemed like just a fun conversation with friends.
In addition to stellar keynotes and accepting community, the conference included sessions on professional development, application privacy, cloud security, diversity and inclusion, and even a role-playing game-inspired tabletop exercise. The sessions were creative, intelligent, and accessible
WiCys was the most accepting and welcoming conference experience I’ve ever had, and I would highly encourage anyone, especially those feeling nervous about attending or presenting at a cybersecurity conference, to embrace your unique perspective and share it with the WiCys community. I did, and I enjoyed every minute of it.