Thread by @beauwoods

Inspired by a @hacks4pancakes thread.

I end up spending ~$10K/yr out of pocket to speak at and help run conferences. Not for biz-dev, just for fun and to make a difference. Many, many others in the infosec community do too.

Some thoughts from 5+ years of my expensive hobby.

Speakers: it’s alright to ask for some help with travel or outright cover it if you’re not telling your company. Worst case the con says no.

I usually ask events to cover travel (except small nonprofits), sometimes an honorarium from _blatantly_ commercial ones.

Speakers: If you ARE repping your company, they ought to cover those costs. This is true for big companies and solo entrepreneurs alike.

Tip: Ask Sales, Marketing, or Operations about taking meetings while there. Often they’re happy to have you out there on their behalf!

Speakers: Smaller regional events rarely cover the full cost of travel. Maybe they can put you up in a hotel (they get big discounts) or give you some money toward travel. If it’s a cool city, maybe just go ahead and go out of pocket. Small local events can be really cool!

Speakers: Commercial events monetize you and your work. You’re the star and they’re trading off your brand. They often have a travel budget you just have to ask!

Tip: If they’re reaching out to you, you’re in the drivers seat.

Speakers: Exercise caution if you’re asked to pay for admission to an event you’re speaking at, especially if invited. It’s usually a sign it’s a commercial event, and often not a very good one.

Events: Ask if speakers’ companies are covering costs and if not, see what you can do to help out. You can make a lifelong fan by looking out for your speakers.

Events: If a speaker is representing a company, it’s totally legit to ask them to cover travel. They’re using your platform to reach your audience. Save budget for independent speakers with a non-commercial message.

Events: Some talks take tens of hours to build. What you’re giving them (fee, platform, opportunity) is worth enough they’ll sacrifice their time for it. Learning the soeaker’s specific motivation helps you give them the most to them and get the best from them.

Audience: Most infosec speakers aren’t there to get paid for their time. Their payment is constructive (positive and negative) feedback and engaging others on ideas they’re passionate about. Being swarmed after a talk is cool!

Audience: Other speakers monetize their time in different ways, and that’s alright. Not every brand/product mention is a sales pitch, and often in our community, the speaker really believes their work does something really important.

Audience: On the other hand, when talks are just blatant sales pitches, give organizers constructive feedback about it afterward. They are usually running around doing other things to make the event come off, and aren’t able to see what talks are better or worse.

Audience: Organizing events is often a thankless job. Especially when volunteer-led. When you’re there, a smile, a kind word, a hi-5, an (appropriate) hug can go a long way to making that work pay off. Feedback for next year is usually easier to digest post-event.