All roads lead to RSA Conference 2023! Also known as RSAC, RSA Conference is a series of conferences that promotes cybersecurity practitioners and hosts educational sessions. Founded in 1991, the organization holds conferences annually throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and the United Arab Emirates. The big one in North America is the namesake RSA Conference.
So, excited about your first RSAC and unsure of what to expect? If you’re in the planning stages, check out our 2022 RSAC ROI Debrief report. And sign up for our 2023 RSAC ROI Debrief session to share with other marketers after the event this year!
We also asked members of the Cybersecurity Marketing Society private Slack community who have all the experience and the answers to help their fellow marketers navigate their first RSAC, from popcorn to shoe preparations to party and booth advice!
But, before you scroll down, check out what we’ve got cooking for marketers at RSAC! Register and add these to your calendar!
- Sunday, April 23rd 5:30-8pm: (Ticketed) Party at RSAC for Marketers!
- Monday, April 24th 9am-3pm: Relax & Network at the Marketers’ Reception Space!
Dressing for Versatility & Comfort!
Yes, we are putting the shoe advice first, because as a marketer, you are going to be putting miles on those soles! Don’t underestimate how much your feet will hurt after 4+ days of running around to meetings, sessions, and parties, or even just standing at the booth.
“Wear comfortable shoes!!! One year, I clocked 30K+ steps. Try not to bring too much in a backpack or bag…or just be aware that you’ll be lugging it around all day. The security teams are strict, you won’t get onto the show floors without the right badge saying you’re a sponsor. It is OK to take a break by finding a quiet place and not talking to anyone for a while.”
– Mary Yang (Chief Marketing Officer, SyxSense)
“Regardless of how comfy your shoes are, you should plan to change them if you can once every four hours. This reduces leg fatigue significantly as different shoes cradle your feet differently and allows for your leg muscles to be switched up.”
– Susanne Gurman ( VP, Revenue Marketing, Beyond Identity)
“Comfy shoes are a must, also dress for multiple purposes if possible (ex: booth, happy hour, dinner, after party, etc.) San Fransisco can be colder than you think, this isn’t South California. Pace yourself, it’s a long week but it’s also important to get a good taste of not just the show floor but also the events, coffee shops, and bars that will be bustling throughout the week.”
– Tom Kish (Director of Growth Marketing, CardinalOps)
Networking!
Along with building pipeline, RSAC is a great event for building relationships. Don’t neglect the opportunity to strengthen relationships with your partners, vendors, and – heck – even other marketers!
“RSAC is a lot about what’s going on off the floor. Being such a huge conference means all players are in town, and there are great networking events, parties, and meetings to be had outside the conference itself. Make sure to book your meetings ahead of the event.”
– Ben Herzberg (Chief Scientist & VP Marketing, Satori)
“DO SOME NETWORKING. You will get so much more out of standing around chatting with people than you will be playing with stuff in the expo hall.”
– Lisa Saurs (VP of Marketing, EcoMavenLabs)
Importance of lunch planning!
“Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. For lunch, the places around Moscone get packed up from 11:30 to 1:30. If you eat lunch after 2 PM, it’ll be much calmer. All the Starbucks near the convention center will be insane. Expect to wait at least 10-15 mins for your coffee, even if you order ahead. You’ll be able to find coffee throughout the day on the show floor, etc., but I like to find the sponsor that’s serving up espressos in-booth.”
– Mary Yang (Chief Marketing Officer, SyxSense)
“Take snacks in your bag. The food places are packed and super expensive.”
– Lisa Saurs (VP of Marketing, EcoMavenLabs)
Housing & Hotels! (Oh Boy!)
RSAC season is the season of the $500+ nightly hotel. There’s LOTS of value in being close to the Moscone, so plan to jump on that OnPeak link as soon as it’s announced to grab your discounted (but still pricey) hotel rooms. $300 is a good deal in our books! But don’t worry, if you miss it, there’s usually a timeslot a few months out before the event where people dump their extra rooms. Also, you can always ask in the Cybersecurity Marketing Society to grab rooms that other marketers are getting rid of.
“Secure. your. housing. it’s expensive, and it’s a mess. Plan your commute! getting to the site is a madhouse and the only transport you can count on is your chev-ro-legs. Brush up on your LinkedIn info, people will look you up.”
– Lisa Saurs (VP of Marketing, EcoMavenLabs)
Inspiration & Competitive Intelligence!
Nevermind the actual sessions, the expo hall itself will have an overwhelming amount of information for you to absorb: from booth inspiration, great swag ideas, insight into your competition, customer analysis, market intelligence, and new people to connect with. Take lots of photos – or it may all just be a blur in your memory afterwards!
“If you’re booth staff and can get in the hall before it opens, it’s a great time to do a little quiet competitive intel. Take a few minutes to introduce yourself to people staffing booths around you. It’s good to have friends! Take pictures of marketing done right during the show so you can leverage that info. You’ll never remember without the pictures. Also good to grab pictures of marketing gone bad too. All good for post-show debrief with the team.”
– Kristen Cooper (Product Marketing Leader, Google Chronicle)
“Walk the floor. Sessions are great but the expo halls are where you get a sense of the major security players (plus new upstarts) and see how the latest trends in security have made their way into company messaging and positioning. Plus, free swag, duh!”
– Rachel Ratchford (Head of Marketing Communications, Cobalt)
“Take pictures and notes of things you liked, things that stood out, etc. It’s going to be crowded, loud, hectic, and crazy. There aren’t any “winners” of RSAC, just survivors. May the marketing gods be in our favor!”
– Tom Kish (Director of Growth Marketing, CardinalOps)
On Meetings & Meeting Spaces!
Whether or not you need a dedicated meeting space depends a lot on your company specifics. For some help level-setting and benchmarking your company’s needs, ask in the Cybersecurity Marketing Society or take a look at that RSAC 2022 ROI Debrief document linked in the top of this article.
“For those of you working with sales folks, the bars are where the enterprise deals are born and solidified. You don’t necessarily need an expensive, dedicated meeting space to make a strong connection.”
– Elliot Volkman (Director of Brand, Content, and Community at Drata)
“Book a very nice restaurant at lunch and offer seats. When the line is out the door to get food, people will be happy to join your sales team for lunch!”
– Gianna Whitver (Co-Founder & CEO, Cybersecurity Marketing Society)
“I have had success in setting my meetings and empowering enterprise account executives, partner managers, and public-facing attendees to set their own. I liked having the Business Development Representatives (BDRs) focus on new cold leads and capturing data from the floor of the event. I don’t pressure them into having full calendars before the event. I provide some guidelines and a couple of venues, typically.”
– Hillary Coover (Chief Marketing Officer, Arctonyx)
Booth Must-Haves!
Don’t forget the ancillary – but vital! – items that you might not think of for your booth. For example, when you ship all your booth materials back, you’re going to need tape to tape up the boxes! There’s a Target a block from the Moscone, but Target will run out of things over the course of the event. Better to pack them, order them, or hit up the stores early in the week to get what you need!
“I always carry the following in my checked luggage or buy before the event for my team:
- box cutter
- packing tape
- pens + sharpies
- hand sanitizer
- mints
- bandaids + painkillers
- assorted computer adapters
- spare charging cables (iPhone and Android)
- a few HDMI cables
- (all of the above fit in an iPad-sized zip case)
- buy a case of bottled water, snacks”
– Valerie Zargarpur (Director of Global Events, JupiterOne)
“Ziplock bags also come in handy for extras to divide among sales or send back or for random needs. Never had a show where one wasn’t needed.”
– Jennifer Leggio (Chief Marketing Officer, Netography)
Media & Analyst Relations!
“If you’re a sponsor, you should have access to the pre-registered press and analyst attendee list — ask your RSAC rep or PR agency to get you a copy of the list, and to get updated lists every few weeks. If you’re wanting to do media/analyst outreach, use that list to know who’s attending and book meetings WAY ahead of time. Press and analysts will be on overload during the show, so best to use meetings to build/reinforce relationships or a recent announcement, not to share big news for the first time. (In fact, any big announcements should happen weeks before the show for any chance of inclusion in RSA week news coverage.)”
– Lisa Croel (Sr. Marketing Manager, Comcast)
Join a Community & Learn from Others!
Watch Rodrigo Leme (Marketing Director, Right-Hand Cybersecurity) share how people from the Cybersecurity Marketing Society were instrumental in helping with planning for his first RSAC:
If you’re new to a massive industry conference like RSAC, it can be intimidating. Joining a community can offer the support you need for a successful event. If reading this article is helpful in your journey attending your first RSAC, join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society to share, learn, and network from and with like-minded people in the world of cybersecurity marketing.
Did we miss anything? Shoot us a note on the chatbot on this site and we’ll add it in!
See you at RSAC! Can’t wait.
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