What does it take to hold a large event in 2022?

In the summer of 2021, we as a team felt that holding in-person events in 2022 seemed possible.?If we’re going to do this though, we need to really think holistically about protecting our attendees.

FS-ISAC, given the nature of its work, was always and still is very security conscious.?At prior summits, there’s plenty that summit attendees saw, and more importantly did not see, that went into protecting our events.?But returning after a two year hiatus was not business as usual.?

Where to even start?! The most logical choice was pandemic/virus protections.?Starting this analysis six months prior to the event left us in a quandary; what will the pandemic look like then??Will it be over??Will there be another variant??Will employers let their staff travel then??What protections (vaccines, masks, etc.) will people want to feel comfortable then??It was a constant moving target requiring copious debate.?Tough at the time, and meandered a bit, but all of that is fairly standard these days – vaccine or test, masks, etc.?We codified those rules and shared.

That didn’t feel like enough.?We needed to think about the layout and flow at the event.?Having everyone auditorium style might make some people uncomfortable.?How can we use the space effectively??Can we move some aspects (e.g., meals) to be more outdoors, minimizing time indoors? ?And so on. ?We got answers to those questions, helping take things to the next level.?(Answers, if you’re interested: We’ll use round tables mixed with auditorium seating, and yes, we will have some outdoor dining options.)

Then, a teammate had the question: what if you’re caring for someone immunocompromised and don’t want to shake anyone’s hand??It led us to something that, quite frankly, we should have done pre-pandemic.?Every badge will have a color coded sticker on it.?(Akin to the Traffic Light Protocol scheme.)?Red = Please no contact, Amber = fist bump or elbow allowed, Green = contact as before.?This way someone who may still be uncomfortable being around people does not need the constant awkward conversation of no handshakes – it’s clear for all and allows them to network and mingle safely.

We went even further.?It has been two years since we have all met up.?We don’t want an unpleasant experience to ruin the event for an attendee.?It’d be easy to say “whelp, I wasn’t here for two years, I can go without this again.”?We want to knock it out of the park for all!?We want people to have fun, responsibly and professionally.?We want to set expectations right from the start and updated the Code of Conduct, that everyone will have to agree to at registration.?We want everyone to feel comfortable attending.?Elucidate the rules about what we expect; be respectful of all, no harassment of any kind (sexual, political, ..., you name it), and more.

All of this to say, for those attending the FS-ISAC Americas Spring Summit, we’ve considered most every aspect we could to make people feel comfortable.?From physical security, pandemic awareness, and even interactions amongst colleagues, we want you to come and have an amazing experience.?We want you to say at the end, I’ve missed this so much, I can’t wait for the next summit!

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