The funny little things I picked up on at RSA 2008

If RSA is any indication, the security market abounds with vendors, products and plenty of people to promote their wares. I'm struck by the plethora of vendors this year, both those who have moved from the low rent district on the tradeshow floor to larger 20x20 and up booth sizes, and by the vendors who've moved into to take up the slack. Vendors talking shots at Cisco, create buzz or just looking to tell someone their story. Everyone has touted the consolidation of the security vendor market and while there have been some visible flameouts and makeovers, there doesn't seem to be any shortage of vendors joining the fray. RSA is bigger than ever and that's good to see.

The funny little things I picked up on at RSA

1. I wish I had the USB patent. Sheez... secure UBS devices ands solutions seem to be everywhere. Previous years at RSA were thematic for NAC, I'd say this year is about USBs if quantity is the measure. Not so much for the product announcements, but more that as you walk down any isle you are gonna see some picture or pitch about USBs - either protecting data loss from unauthorized data transfer, or protecting data on the USB. Like the fax machine, I wish I held the patent for USBs.

2. Small booths know how to drag 'em in. Since this year I'm not at RSA as a vendor with a booth, I see things a bit differently than previous years. One thing I immediately noticed: big booths expect you to step in to talk to them, small ones come out in the isles to pitch you. Honestly? I like the small booth approach. I admire the tenacity and passion of smaller vendors who want to talk to you and make the effort to start a connection and tell you their story. Some know what they are doing, others appear like they just stepped out of their cubes and aren't quite sure of what they are doing. Either way, I always admire the entrepreneurs and their interest to talk with you.

3. Don't be scared of me because my badge says "Press". Now that I'm attending RSA as a blogger (for my Converging On Microsoft Network World blog and The Converging Network blog ), I sport a conference badge that says PRESS in bright green at the bottom. Now when I step into the booth, especially at the bigger booths like Microsoft, Intel and Cisco, your everyday booth worker looks up and get this stark expression on their face. It's that look of oh.... crap, this guy's press. DON'T say anything that will get me fired. When I start asking them any kind of question, I frequently get the "um, let me see if {media spokesperson] is here. You should really talk to them." I even told a few, "It's okay. You don't have to be scared of me." I felt like it was Dr. Phil time. Get real! Seriously, if you don't talk to me then I'm going to write about that. Now, how's that workin for ya! It's an unfamiliar situation for me.

4. Learn how to actually give a tradeshow pitch. Much like my blog posts about giving demos, booth duty has it's own does and don'ts. I'll have to write a blog post on The Converging Network about booth pitching but it's easy to say that most people don't really know how to do anything but give you a functional product demo. Don't you want to know if I'm a buyer, competitor, partner or just a trick-or-treater before you start spilling the beans? Maybe I'm already a customer. Anyway, if you ever want to know how not to work a booth, stop by any tradeshow and watch how most booth workers do it. I'll back up my words when I blog about my views on how to do it properly. Stay tuned.

5. Pens and breath mints. Want to hand out something useful at your booth? Have pens and breath mints handy -- they're still the staples everyone needs. The other cool do-dads are great too, but I've carried away more pens and breath mints and left behind the flashing logo button more often than not. Back at the office, your branding will still be present because I'll be reaching for a handy pen and it could be yours.

6. Edgy t-shirts win the day. You've seen the black t's with some catchy or dumb slogan in white print. They still bring them in if you're willing to take some risk and put something edgy on them. One of my t-shirt ideas still lives on today at my old company StillSecure, with the ever popular "Cisco hates my network" t-shirt. They're still giving away hundreds in just 10 minutes or so. Everybody wants them, including other vendors who compete with Cisco. I'm still trying to talk my current company into using "Checking out my SaaS?" on a t-shirt without avail. The best shirt of RSA has to be "I want to find a girlfriend who's name doesn't end in .jpg" Now that's edgy!

There's more to RSA than these obscure observations and I'll be blogging more about Microsoft announcements and other security announcements today and the rest of the week on both my blogs.

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