Another convention? Vendor showcase? Presentations? Are you serious?
Yes, yes we are serious but before you wonder why there is a need for “another conference” I want to explain how this one came to be.
Since the inception of the West Michigan Chapter of the CSA in 2018 we have worked diligently to bring usable, relevant and important presentations to our events. We’ve worked with our presenters to keep their discussions vendor-neutral, non-salesly and educational. While nothing is perfect, we believe that after a dozen or more events, we have done a reasonably good job of doing that. We’ve supported local breweries and restaurants and solidified the WMCAT as the best place to have events.
There are no egos allowed at the CSA and we keep each other in check. We are firm believers in “community” and we live by a “content is king” motto. Our goal is to bring security professionals, management, executives, vendors and SSI/VARs together so that we can share, support and learn from each other. We are more secure together than we are apart and West Michigan can and will become a prominent security hub in the greater security landscape. We have that ability.
That brings us to CloudCon. Unique in that it is one of the few cloud-centric events in the entire world, but we hope that it is more than that. We hope that after spending two days with your fellow security professionals you will be better equipped to make an immediate impact on the security of your company or organization. Whether that’s having a better understanding of how to talk to your board or about how to deal with identities and endpoints being everywhere, we will discuss it here.
I want every organization to be in a better place from a security standpoint on May 22nd than they were on May 19th. More importantly, I want everyone to get to know each other better, share stories, share successes and failures and create community. To me, this is West Michigan.
So that’s why CloudCon was created. That’s why we’ve picked the sponsors and speakers that we have painstakingly selected. That’s why we have so many people busy working on their presentations months in advance. That’s why so many are investing so much time and energy into making sure that this conference is something special, unique and valuable.
So, I hope that you join us this May. We’ve got a lot planned and a few surprises in store. Personally I think we are going to have a great time!
And of course, in true West Michigan fashion…the forecast for May 20th and 21st will be cloudy…with a chance of security.
Thanks,
Matt Nelson
President
CSA West Michigan