Conference and Training Fundamentals. What to do, how to get funding, and how to maximize your supervisors' return on investment (ROI).

1. How to Convince your
Supervisor to Send
You to a Conference
or Training, and
What to Do When You
Get There
by Jason C. Rochon, M.S. and future Ph.D

2. tcpdump -nAi eth2 -s0 | grep -A5 "jcrochon"
 Husband and Father
 Intermittent Faster
 I only eat between 12n–8pm
 Information Security
 A.S., B.S., M.S. in Computer Science
 Thesis: Networks Theory, Cloud/Grid Computing, Security
 Future Ph.D in Computer Science
 Dissertations: Intrusion Detection, Network Anomalies, or
Performance Tuning
 Short-term Goals
 Certifications: Security+, SSCP, CISSP

3. Responsibilities
(my Five 9’s or 80/20’s)
Current Primary Responsibilities
Favorite Topics
Dean of Students
Office
Digital Certificates EzProxy Abuse
Library Access
Intrusion Detection
Snort
MalwareBytes Splunk
Intrusion Detection & Prevention
Systems
Security
Research

4. Get PREPARED
 Proper Prior Planning Prevents Potentially Poor Performance
 Take a look at the agenda ahead of time
 Usually on the conference website; contact the organization
 Conference themes, session lengths, pre-tests
 Highlight any sessions that interest you and/or may be relevant to your
workplace
 Share the agenda with your supervisor; explain how the sessions
will enhance your contributions to the company
 If possible, review the attendance list and note contact information of
other attendees in your area of specialization
 Opportunities to collaborate with those attendees; which means
your notes can be improved substantially

5. Get INVOLVED
 If the conference is calling for individuals to present papers
 Submit and present papers on relevant topics
 Volunteer; conferences may allow individuals to edit papers (Critique
the Geek), make speaker introductions or perform administrative duties
 Gives you the opportunity to show your supervisor that you are
committed
 Involvement increases retention
 Go behind the scenes (pre-/post-conference networking, breaks,
dinners)

6. Get NETWORKING
 It's important to build your contacts at conferences
 Long-term growth of your career
 Day-to-day technology and information advice
 Here are some easy ways to meet new people:
 Name tags with their company's name
 Volunteering at conferences
 Introducing a speaker
 Meal breaks

7. Get WRITING
 Take notes at all different times during the conference
 Speaker sessions, open sessions, lunch meetings, breakout groups,
even off-the-cuff discussions at networking sessions
 Spend some time at the end of each day reviewing your notes and
creating a concise summary to e-mail to your supervisor
 Repetitive reciting strengthens the retainment of knowledge
 Demonstrates your involvement
 Inquire if the acquisition of more information is needed
 May give your supervisor some good ideas for upcoming initiatives
 Summaries should focus on
 Who you've met, and what you've learned
 How those people and ideas can benefit the company

8. Get DISCOUNTS
 Find coupon codes
 Newsletters and websites
 Offer 5-10% off
 Free online access bundles (extend your learning window)
 Early registration
 Average $300-$500 savings
 Attend the online version
 1/4 the registration fee, plus savings on travel and expenses
 Volunteer
 SANS training for $800

9. Get REAL
 Present fiscal reality could mean you cannot attend training; eventually
the budget will loosen
 Before spending money on training, many companies want to know
the Return on Investment
 Overcome financial concerns, by starting small
 If the organization behind a large international conference has a
local chapter, attend one of their forums or meetings closer to home
 Gain specialized knowledge on topics through Webinars
 Make sure to stay current on information
 Having an established knowledge base, you'll have stronger
justification for being sent to a conference on the topic
 If all you want to do is have fun; then it might be best to just take a
vacation