Full Report
The ITWeb Security Summit is creeping up on us again and will be happening on the 10-11th of May. This year ITWeb went with something slightly different, and are asking for people to suggest who they’d like to see on day 2. These suggestions will then be voted on. So, if there’s someone you’re dying to see present or a topic you really want someone to spend some time researching, head over to their community portal and write it down.
Analysis Summary
# Industry News: Attendee-Driven Content Curation for ITWeb Security Summit 2011
## Summary
The upcoming ITWeb Security Summit, scheduled for May 10-11, 2011, is implementing an innovative content strategy by soliciting public suggestions for speakers and topics specifically for Day 2, which will then be subject to community voting. This move represents a shift towards more dynamically curated event programming driven by direct industry interest.
## Key Details
- Date: May 10-11, 2011 (Announcement Date: March 17, 2011)
- Companies Involved: ITWeb (Organizer), SensePost (Reporter/Relevant Industry Entity)
- Category: Industry Event Format Change / Community Engagement
## The Story
ITWeb has announced that for their forthcoming Security Summit, they are engaging the community to influence the content schedule for the second day of the event. Attendees and interested parties are encouraged to visit ITWeb's community portal to nominate specific presenters or subject matter areas they wish to see covered. These submissions will then be put to a vote, determining the final agenda for Day 2. The article implies this is a deviation from traditional, top-down conference scheduling.
## Business Impact
### For the Companies Involved
- **ITWeb:** This strategy aims to boost registration, engagement, and attendee satisfaction by ensuring the delivered content strongly resonates with immediate industry concerns, potentially commanding higher sponsorship fees in future events due to proven attendee relevance.
### For Competitors
- **Other Conference Organizers:** This attendee-centric content model presents a competitive challenge. Other event organizers may need to adopt similar mechanisms to prove their relevance against an agenda dictated by community demand.
### For Customers
- **Attendees/Subscribers:** Customers benefit directly from a highly relevant agenda, ensuring they spend time and money focusing on the most pressing security topics and sought-after experts pertinent to their current business needs.
### For the Market
- **Event Industry Trend:** This suggests a market shift toward democratization of conference content, prioritizing actionable, community-validated insights over pre-selected topics, potentially becoming a new best practice for niche technology summits.
## Technical Implications
*None directly applicable, as this is an event format announcement.*
## Strategic Analysis
- **Market Positioning:** ITWeb is positioning the Security Summit as a highly agile and responsive industry forum, contrasting with potentially more static competitor events.
- **Competitive Advantage:** The advantage lies in maximizing perceived value; when attendees largely influence the agenda, the perceived ROI for attendance significantly increases.
- **Challenges:** The main challenge will be managing the execution of the voting and ensuring that the quality control of submissions maintains a high professional standard suitable for a major summit.
## Industry Reactions
- **Analyst Opinions:** Analysts would likely view this positively, seeing it as recognizing the rapid pace of the security industry where topics can shift quickly, requiring adaptable conference planning.
- **Expert Commentary:** Security experts may appreciate the opportunity to steer the conversation towards deep technical issues or emerging threats often overlooked in standard marketing-driven agendas.
- **Market Response:** Early audience response, as indicated by the call to action, is expected to be high given the direct control offered to potential attendees.
## Future Outlook
- **Predictions and Expectations:** We can expect higher attendance numbers than previous years, driven by the personal investment attendees have made in the content.
- **What to watch for:** The success metrics of this engagement (e.g., submission volume, vote turnout, and post-event feedback on Day 2 content satisfaction) will be crucial indicators for the industry.
## For Security Professionals
This presents a key opportunity for security professionals to directly influence the educational and networking content. Practitioners should actively participate by nominating subjects that address their real-world pain points or emerging threat landscapes, ensuring the summit directly serves their professional development needs.