Lesley Carhart Sep 29, 2023
I had a mentoring session last night with a poc I’ve been working with who went to his first local cybersecurity con, recently. He had such a bad experience with people being cliquey there and ignoring him that he’s ready to stop trying to get into the industry. 😥😰 I knew there are some cultural issues at that con and area but had no idea they were so bad, and encouraged him to maybe look at other cities in the US and their cons. Pitch your city’s infosec community and scene and I’ll share with him?
Show threadPete Wright
@hacks4pancakes tbh - I’m like a stereotypical tech person (some random white guy) and I stopped going to tech and security cons because of how cliquish they are. I can’t imagine how bad it must be for POC and women.

It’s disappointing that we still feel like the best way to get forward and be accepted in tech is via conferences and who you know
Sep 29, 2023 at 2:50pmWeb
Show threadPete WrightSep 29, 2023
@hacks4pancakes and not to be just a hater about this without providing an alternative, I’ve always felt the better way to get more diverse people into tech would be by funding and supporting guilds and proper mentoring programs for young people.
So much of Sysadmin/OPS work is learned via experience and tribal knowledge. If we can offer alternatives to conferences for sharing that knowledge while also helping people get money in their pocket it seems like that would be an improvement.