Presidents Letter
2010 President’s Letter
Welcome ISSA Members and Friends to another exciting year as we continue to evolve our chapter and profession!
Join us also in congratulating Mr. Howard Schmidt, ISSA’s International President, as the newly named US Cyber Security Czar.
Year in Review
• Hosted four ½ day education-focused events, two CISSP exam preparation workshops, a members-only event with ISACA, a Power resume forum, and a 10th anniversary year-end networking event. We invited ISC2 members to join us, and many did.
• Partnered for members to attend and staffed booths at the Data Connector’s Security Conference, SANS’ local security conference, Phoenix Technology Summit, and Interface 2009, and brought the IP3 security seminar back again at huge value and low cost.
• Awarded scholarships to four local academic institutions offering security programs, and recognized Member of the Year as Jim Groark, Treasurer.
• Surveyed for what our members desired and incorporated your feedback. Received consistently positive feedback.
2010 Plans
• Host four quarterly events, and at least two special events
• Co-host an ISSA-ISC2 1-day conference
• Partner and staff a booth at the IT Summit, Data Connector’s Security Conference, Phoenix Technology Summit, Interface 2009, and new-the 2010 Security World Conference.
• Elect a new board in October.
• Our web site gained a new face-with greater focus on job postings and chapter business.
Web Site
Our Web Director recently resigned due to competing work priorities, and Scott Davis, who has worked avidly on our new site, has stepped fully into the role. We want to thank Dave Bridgman for all his previous support, as our chapter and the web role grew. Every board member gives of their time and expertise, each one is valuable and we will miss Dave. http://phoenix.issa.org
Job Openings
Along with our new site, you will see advance postings of local security events, consistent job postings, speaker presentations, sponsors, and event announcements. We offer free postings to any recruiter or company with a job opening. Anyone is also free to view the postings, which do not require a login or membership. Send postings directly to Scott with full contact details and a brief job description or title and link. We post only for specific openings, not for generic job sites.
Volunteers
“Finding a place of passion and getting involved is the single biggest career, life and
business builder I know.”
- Debbie Christofferson, CISSP, CISM, ISSA Phoenix President, and ISSA International Board Director
Because so many of you wish to support our chapter as volunteers, we added a new Committee Chair for coordination and follow-up. Ms. Betty Mulcahey is leading volunteer effort. We have many opportunities you can support, for any place you want to step in, large or small. Drew Crook is initially populating and administering our new ISSA Connect Phoenix site at the www.issa.org -please visit and add your feedback or content.
Sponsorship
Sponsorship support has proved pivotal in our success. Vendor funding enables us to present quality meetings at low or no cost to you. Industry leaders have provided exceptional support with funding and door prizes for quarterly events, and for our 2007 and 2008 conferences. This year we recognized Sponsor of the Year, ITT Technical Institute, and four Platinum Sponsors: Executrain, Fishnet Security, NCC Networks, University of Advancing Technology.
There are dozens of other companies and we thank every one for their generosity and support. Security vendors have suffered greatly this year, with the world’s economic woes, and their continued investment in us has meant a lot.
Chapter Health and Leadership
Last year, we celebrated 10 years as a chapter, and we recognize Cindy Donaldson as our founder and original President. Serving on that first board as Secretary was Ed Vasko, as Treasurer, Drew Crook, and as Communications Director, Tom Schults.
We have attracted and built a very strong board, and special thanks are extended to our volunteer leadership team, who have helped make us such a great chapter.
ISSA Phoenix is a top 10 chapter in terms of size within ISSA International membership growth and numbers. Locally, we have enjoyed attendance in the past two years of 70-90, and it’s trending up. Sponsors also comment favorably on our chapter attendance and involvement.
2010 Elections
Board elections are coming up in October, for anyone wanting to run for a position. If you wish to help in a different way, contact Debbie or any current board member.
ISSA International
ISSA Connect: On the global front, ISSA has added a collaboration Forum, ISSA Connect. All members have been notified, and are invited to visit or contribute. Drew Crook is leading this for our chapter.
2010 Conference: Plan also to attend the inaugural ISSA security conference in Atlanta, GA, on Aug 16. It will be bookended across three days with a Congress for chapter leaders, and the Q3 CISO Executive Forum. ISSA will partner with the Atlanta chapter to offer a fantastic event that you won’t want to miss.
25 Years: ISSA celebrated our 25th Anniversary last year as a professional association. Los Angeles was our first chapter, and we hosted our celebration and annual meeting in Anaheim. Members are always welcome to attend the annual meeting, which includes awards and installation of new board officers.
Cheers to a great year ahead! We look forward to serving you and meeting the needs of our members.
Best Regards, Debbie Christofferson, CISSP, CISM
Phoenix ISSA President
http://phoenix.issa.org
480-988-4194
DebbieChristofferson@earthlink.net
