Today I attended the Cybersecurity Meetup group: Defcon 813. The group has an on-line presence, but it’s dated.
I joined the group a couple years ago. It’s a good gathering of security specialist in a variety of specialties. We meet monthly. The meetings were consistent when I first joined, but fell off for a while, but we’re back meeting and trying to get attendance back up.
The locations vary. Sometimes it’s a lunch & learn with social, and sometimes it’s just social. The last two months someone has pulled out their laptop to demonstrate. We encourage people of all skill levels. Newbies are most certainly welcome and they get to interact. That’s the purpose.
Groups like this are often posted on Meetup, Eventbrite, and LInkedIn if you’re following the group. There are countless activities posted on the sites curtailing to anyone’s interest.
For those newbies, don’t be afraid to attend events like this. It’s a great opportunity to listen to people actually doing the thing you’re interested in. If you don’t like the environment, move on, go elsewhere.
I’ve been attending a variety of meetups, to include, AWS User’s Group, Java, M365, generic security groups, and more. They’re all incorporating AI in the training content as well – you can”t escape it. I’m a familiar face which is good as it’s not as cumbersome joining in on a discussion, and I’m gaining practical content – not just textbook stuff.
I remember there were events almost every working evening in Tampa Bay before Covid. They obviously were discontinued. But they’ve come back and that’s great.
-Doug