The third Blue Team Con was held August 25-27, 2023 in Chicago, and I was in attendance for the third time. This conference holds a special place in my heart for a few reasons:

  • It’s defense-focused. Offensive security may be sexy, but I am much more comfortable in a defensive role.
  • It was the first con I attended while associated with Trimarc. I actually attended the inaugural occurrence the weekend before I officially started with Trimarc.
  • It’s in Chicago! Chicago is my favorite large city.

This year’s con was extra special for me because I finally got to meet my direct manager. That’s right - I’m two years into the job, and I’m just meeting my manager in person for the first time. Remote work is weird.

In general, the conference was pretty similar to years prior except there was a much larger number of students entering the field and people attempting to make the jump from other fields into cybersecurity. There were far fewer sales lead generation opportunities than years past, but maybe I’m just not a salesperson and can’t identify those opportunities when they arise. Regardless, we had a great turnout at our booth most times of the day, and our Identity Security Village was a hit, as always.

But the best part of all was just hanging out in person with my coworkers. Remote work can sometimes dehumanize your coworkers, but seeing them in person really reminds you that there are nice people behind the screen. We all had great fun eating delicious pizza and drinking delicious whiskey.

I can’t wait to do it again next year.