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By now, you’ve probably purchased your passes. Your flight is booked. Your supply of business cards sits at the ready.
What more is there to do in preparation for RSAC 2025, taking place from April 28 to May 1 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco? Possibly quite a lot! That’s because when it comes to the whirlwind of RSAC, planning is key.
Whether this is your first time attending RSAC—or your first time in a long time—here are some tips and tricks to make the most of your time at the conference.
Plan Your Agenda in Advance
There is no shortage of keynotes, panels, roundtables, and parties to attend at RSAC every year. With that in mind, it’s best to browse through the different tracks in the event’s full agenda to identify which events you must attend, would like to attend, or are fine skipping.
Which events should you attend? RSAC’s keynotes are led by speakers from big industry names, like Google, NVIDIA, Crowdstrike, Cisco, and more. While it’s always interesting to hear from these leaders, smaller industry panels and roundtable discussions may provide insights more applicable to your work, as well as better networking opportunities.
In your scheduling calculus, also keep in mind that some events will be recorded and available to watch after the conference, while others will not. If you’re torn between two events, consider what conversations to attend (and participate in) live and what you can watch later.
RSAC has also seen a growing number of after-hours events and parties. These are great opportunities to network and connect—and maybe have a little fun! Many after-hours events are tailored to specific interest groups, such as cybersecurity marketers, RSAC first-timers, craft beer lovers, military veterans, and more.
For example, this year ThreatConnect will be at the “Rockin’ Mocktails,” a sober-friendly event featuring custom mocktails, punk rock-themed arts and crafts, a (temporary) tattoo artist, and more. The party is on Monday, April 28, between 7 – 9 p.m. You can register here.
You can also find lists of networking events here and here—don’t wait to RSVP, some events fill up fast!
Make Time To Connect
If you really want, you can fill every minute of your time at RSAC by attending a different panel, speaker, or event. However, we wouldn’t recommend it! Instead, make sure to block off some downtime to connect with others—after all, the theme of this year’s conference is “Many Voices. One Community.”
Not sure where to start when it comes to networking? Here are our top tips:
- Lunch is a great opportunity to carve out time to connect. Everyone’s gotta eat. Consider meeting over lunch for a more casual environment.
- Find fellow product users. Sometimes the best insights come from peers using the same tools and platforms. For example, ThreatConnect customers can check out our Customer Meet-Up on April 30 to see how others leverage TIOps, Polarity, and Risk Quantifier.
- Find out which peers will attend in advance: RSAC is action-packed. If there’s someone you really want to talk to, shoot them a message to find time to meet up before the event, so it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle.
Practice Good Security
It’s always a good idea to practice what you preach. Conferences are often a prime target for bad actors and adversaries, so don’t let your guard down at RSAC. Keep the following security best practices in mind throughout the event:
- Avoid public Wi-Fi networks, like your hotel network—use a personal cellular hotspot instead.
- Use a VPN at all times.
- Patch all devices that you plan to bring to the conference.
- Turn off Bluetooth on all devices.
- Don’t pick up unknown devices, such as stray USB drives.
- Avoid ATMs around the conference center.
- Protect your RFID-enabled devices with RFID sleeves.
- Be on alert for phishing emails purporting to be linked to the conference.
- Use multi-factor authentication whenever possible.
Make the Conference Work for You
Perhaps our most important piece of advice: There’s no “right” way to attend the event, so make RSAC work for you. If you feel fried after the first day, pace yourself for the rest of the event. If you need some downtime by yourself to recharge, take it. RSAC often has a “quiet room” where you can go to get some work done. Outside the conference center, you can also find an area with fountains that’s nice for a break. Wear what’s comfortable (including comfy shoes) and show up in whatever way best suits you.
Where You Can Find ThreatConnect
Whether you’re a customer or not, we’d love to meet you at RSAC 2025. You can find us at Booth #4419, where we’re hosting the ThreatConnect Museum of Cyber Defense, an interactive journey through cybersecurity past, present, and future.
We’ll also be at the booth hosting demos, handing out “Logagator” and “TIPopottamus” collectible t-shirts, chatting about use cases, and offering more sustainable swag options.
If you miss us at the booth, find us at the Rockin’ Mocktails networking event or our customer meet-ups.
Want to schedule a meeting, demo, dinner, or reserve a t-shirt (they run out fast) in advance? Just fill out this form. We’ll see you soon!