Gary Hayslip
ISE® West Executive Award Winner 2015
ISE® North America People's Choice Award Winner 2015
Returning ISE® Key Player
I first heard about the ISE® Programs when I was nominated by a colleague of mine, the former CISO for the City of San Diego, a few years ago. The nomination was quite the surprise, and because my colleague—a professional of such high caliber—knew of the ISE® Programs, I decided it was certainly an event to look forward to. What I discovered at the ISE® Programs was a significantly wide array of notable executives and professionals in attendance that truly impressed me. It is no easy task to draw security executives out of their office for an event, so their remarkable guest list proved to me that the ISE® Programs were something special.
Overall I really enjoy the discussion opportunities presented in all of the ISE® Programs and ISE® Private Dinners. Everyone who participates is highly engaged; and topics are always incredibly relevant to the industry, covering hardware, software, cloud use, and more. Across all verticals, no matter what company you work for, security teams are still experiencing many of the same issues. Collaborating with these CISOs and other security executives on these topics gives us a variety of new perspectives on the same problems. Nobody leaves an ISE® Program without a decent set of new information and tactics in mind to improve their security back home.
I also believe the networking opportunities at ISE® Programs are limitless and highly beneficial. I have become close friends with many of the CISOs that attend the ISE® Programs, which is not an easy feat at many other events for those of us in security. These new relationships carry on past the ISE® Programs as well, and we are able to connect with one another through our everyday career work—but it takes attending the ISE® Programs to establish connections and benefit from that interaction.
That networking doesn’t just occur for guests or nominees, either. It benefits those of us who play a part in orchestrating the events as well. I have participated in these ISE® Programs on the judging panel for nominations, which allows me to see what all of our innovative nominees are doing with new projects and technology. I can even contact them to see how their projects and strategies work in order to apply them to my own team. Networking and risk reduction go hand-in-hand at ISE® Programs, and can truly aid a security team’s positive growth and success.
At ISE® events, guests are also able to meet and interact with vendors in a very unique, private setting. Having recently published an article regarding vendors that went viral across many social media spaces, I am quite familiar with solutions provider interactions. As such, in my experience, I believe cold calls and pitches are often not beneficial to establishing a working relationship. They often do not tailor the pitch to your company specifically because they know so little about who you are. However, at ISE® Programs, you can initiate discussions with these providers more warmly and intimately. The environment allows for relaxed, personalized, and private discussion—it is not an array of sales pitches so much as an occasion for discussions that can connect attendees with multiple providers in one space. It is hard to find that kind of sociable interaction with vendors at events other than the ISE® Programs.
Because I continue to enjoy the ISE® Programs that T.E.N. provides, I have told many of my peers to submit nominations for the ISE® Awards. Being rewarded for your and your team’s hard work at their Awards Gala amongst your industry peers is indescribably satisfying and motivating. The T.E.N. team always puts together solid, remarkable programs that provide those of us in security with the opportunities to make connections and share valuable information in a way we otherwise could not.