Conferences and New Directions

Last week I had a genuinely rare experience (for me). I went to a conference (ISACA’s2016 European conference – EuroCACS). I have been to many conferences in the last ten years, some way better than others. This one was right up there but not for the reason I usually would expect.

It started off, for me, quite negatively. The first day (of three), by about 3pm, I wanted to leave. Sometimes you just get unlucky with the sessions you chose when you go to these events and by that time I wanted to go back to work as I was so bored (and that’s saying something).

However, as soon as day two started and for the rest of the event I was genuinely captivated. There were some excellent speakers and content which was relevant to me from an information security perspective (albeit with a heavy dose of ‘audit slant’….but what should I expect at an ISACA conference?).

The difference this time however was that, for the first time ever, I think I consistently understood and appreciated the value of what the speakers were trying to get across. So much so I felt, and again this is rare for me at a conference, ‘motivated’.

But ‘motivated’ to do what? Actually, things which I would not normally want to do. I wanted to present (and I am getting a chance at the upcoming ISC2 conference in October); I wanted to engage with people (I am shockingly bad at networking at these events) and, most interestingly (again for me), I wanted to make a difference. Now this may not seem like a big deal to anybody else but it is a big deal for me.

While these thoughts were fresh in my mind, the closing Keynote address by Mark Stevenson was inspirational – this is not a feeling I get very often.

He spoke about many things but focused on his ‘League of Pragmatic Optimists’ 8 principles’. Some of these were completely obvious but nonetheless eye-opening for me. Sometimes in life you find yourself in a malaise. And when you are there, you can often do with a kick up the ass to think in a different way. Of course, and I suspect this may be the case, it could just be middle-age boredom which has just found something exciting to focus on.

It’s been a week since I was at this conference and the optimism that I felt has still not left me. I have actually done several things I was thinking about for ages – literally initiated some new directions for myself. Some of these were what I would say are 'out of character' - but that is what I am excited about. And as I think about them more I generate even more ideas. I love the idea of ‘generating serendipity’. I am simply tired of being passive. What’s the worst that can happen?