Report from SC World Congress

Haven't had a chance to blog about the SC Mag World Congress.  Not any fault of the SC Magazine folks though.  This was the most blog friendly conference I have ever been at.  Ilena Armstrong, Tony Keefe, Gil Toren and the rest of the gang at SC Magazine have really gone out of the way and rolled out a red carpet for members of the SBN.  All SBN members were eligible for free press passes for a full conference admission. In each speaker track there was a cordoned off section of seats for "official bloggers". Free wireless access for bloggers was provided.   Bloggers on request were given access to the keynote and featured speakers at the conference as well.  The bloggers who attended were very appreciative.  Other conferences should take note on embracing bloggers this way.

In spite of all of this pampered treatment, I was only able to twitter from the show.  We had a StillSecure booth in the expo and I was helping out speaking to live people.  Not that there were people lined up at the booth.  You can definitely tell the economy has taken a hard bite out here. I have never seen NYC so empty this close to Christmas.  The show itself had over 1000 people pre-registered, but I bet maybe half or so were here today.  You can tell the economy is bad too by how many are handing out resumes or asking about work. There were just not the usual amount of people with projects or budget.  The attendees were decision makers, but many were not in a position to green light any projects. Also speaking to other vendors  I heard stories of skipping RSA and other drastic reductions in spend.

The line up of speakers and topics were very impressive.  The last session today featured the two congressmen who were on President-elect Obama's cybersecurity panel.  As well as two other members of the panel.  I would think that great lineup on this important a topic would draw a standing room only crowed.  Though the room was fairly full, it was not overcrowded by any means.

This years SC Congress was their first and that may account for some lack of awareness of the show.  Also the cost of coming to and staying in NYC might keep some away.  However, I think this show has a bright future ahead of it.  NYC needs a show like this.  When the economy picks up and with more marketing from the SC Magazine team, SC World Congress will become a must attend show in the future.