State of the Chapter: 2017 In Review

2017 was a fantastic year for the Fort Worth Chapter of ISSA. In many respects, it has been our best year ever. Let’s take a look back to see where we came from and where we are now.

• We started by taking January off. But that wasn’t to rest up. We were planning a big relaunch.
• In February, we launched Chapter 2.0. That included a name change, new logo, website, meeting format and more.
• Throughout the year, we offered members literally thousands of dollars in savings to events such as Innotech Dallas, Interface Dallas, Data Connectors, Cyber Security Summit: Dallas, the 2017 FAIR Conference and more. We even had a presence at a few of these.
• SANS reached out to offer us a 10% discount on lots of training.
• We established and expanded our social media presence. You can now follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Twitter, in particular, has been a big success, as our followers have grown from around 35 to over 250!
• Our members and friends from the community really stepped forward with content. We had presentations on fleet management security, the history of risk, penetration testing and more. At our Chapter meetings, exactly zero of these were sponsored, ensuring that we stay vendor-neutral.
• Vendor-sponsored social events provided an opportunity for us to explore the products and services we all need, while enjoying some free drinks and appetizers in return.
• In October, we made sure that our presence was felt at the ISSA International Conference with our very own James Adamson and Steve Horstman presenting. I also presented about our Chapter reboot at the Chapter Leader’s Meeting. All were very well received.
• We ended the year with our first annual Holiday Party, where we had the privilege of donating lots of coats to the One Warm Coat charity. It was at this party that I had the privilege of announcing a major milestone. With your help, we reached 100 members for the first time ever!

It is with much gratitude and humility that I reflect back on all of the efforts that went into making this happen. This is your chapter, and I am proud to be a part of it.

-Michael Starks
President, Fort Worth Chapter of ISSA