Re: Public conferences

["Kang Choo Kai" <skpoo () pacific net sg>]

Paul, great to know that you are the Common Criteria (CC) speaker. I am sure
a lot ppl are interested to know about the downsides of CC. Can you share
the interesting topics which you have presented in public conference
concerning CC?  or you have more interesting topics in mind?

Hi all, if you are going to attend a "Firewall Public Conference",  what are
the technologies you want to know? what are the topics that you think would
be drawing the crowd?

Your input is very much appreciated.

rdgs,
poo

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Robertson" <proberts () patriot net>
To: "Kang Choo Kai" <skpoo () pacific net sg>
Cc: <firewall-wizards () honor icsalabs com>
Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2003 7:59 PM
Subject: Re: [fw-wiz] Public conferences


> On Thu, 31 Jul 2003, Kang Choo Kai wrote:
>
> > Hi All,
> >
> > I am really getting bored with the public user conferences, the
organiser is
> > kind of like hard selling their products and keep on sharing about their
own
> > products. Can't they come out something more interesting to really
benefit
> > all the participants?
>
> I tend to avoid most vendor-sponsored conferences for this reason, unless
> teh vendor has significant technical information to impart that's actually
> useful (for instance, I went to Guidance's conference last year and that
> was very useful.  But then, I've yet to go to a computer forensics
> conference that sucked.)
>
> > We would like to know more about the trends of the technology, strength
and
> > weakness of the technology, the benefits of the technology and so on.
Isn't
> > this much more interesting rather than just product information?
> >
> > Anything interesting to share?
> >
> > how you wan the conference to be like?
>
> Most conferences get people to talk who are with vendors and who have
> products or services to sell.  That tips the utility in quite a strange
> way.  There are conferences which don't do that, such as USENIX Security,
> and you should consider those.  You might also consider user's groups
> where the presentations are not 90% vendor performed, often that's a good
> way to get real information.
>
> The other option is to provide feedback both before the conference starts,
> and after it's over.  Most conference organizers will take feedback into
> account when booking speakers and when requesting topics.
>
> When I spoke at CeBIT America recently, they were more than happy that
> my Common Criteria presentation was basically a long rant about what
> sucked in Common Criteria.  I remember several years ago, someone on this
> list let me be the "Anti-VPN" speaker on a VPN panel at NISSC, which was
> a great deal of fun, because those with vested interested at the time had
> trouble defending a lot of their enthusiasm for the then-immature
> technology.
>
> I've gotten a lot of feedback about how refreshing it was to not have
> someone pushing the program speaking, so I don't believe you're alone in
> your frustration.
>
> When I was approached for CeBit, I was told they were looking for "someone
> who's opinionated and independent.[0]"  My employer gave me the time, I
> came back with some leads, and I didn't spew the vendor line[1], so
> everyone was happy.
>
> Finally, if there's a Q&A session, or better yet, if the persenters will
> take questions while they're presenting- asking the tough questions and
> about the downsides of particular technologies is a great way to find
> things out.  Sometimes you can catch them beforehand and say "Hey, I
> really hope you're going to cover some of the downsides too!"
>
> Paul
> [0] Me?  Opinionated?  The shock!
> [1] ICSA Labs basically competes with Common Criteria certification, I
> discussed that up-front, but I'm not a marketingdroid or salesreptile, so
> I can get away without doing the evangelical dance.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
> Paul D. Robertson      "My statements in this message are personal
opinions
> proberts () patriot net      which may have no basis whatsoever in fact."
> probertson () trusecure com Director of Risk Assessment TruSecure Corporation
>
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