Getting Plugged into your Local Security Community

While I moved to Charlotte NC just over two years ago, I'm finally at a point in my life where I have the capacity to participate and give back to the local security community here. I used to be incredibly connected to the local community when I lived in Austin, TX and I was starting to miss it. 

Initially I didn't see a lot of activity, but a few months later I checked back in, and suddenly events were being added to the calendar! Chapter leadership can wax and wane, so keep that in mind as you look for opportunities in your own city.  

I find that getting your foot in the door and then asking folks where they go is the best way to discover events, but if you're absolutely new to an area or just want to survey the options, here are some of the platforms you can check out for events: 

Discord

Charlotte has two very active communities (Queen City Security and Phish Club) that have vast servers on the discord platform. They have spaces for everything from vulnerability notifications, to shop chat about cars, to listings of sponsored and local security events. Oftentimes these require an invite to participate fully. 

Meetup

Many smaller communities that don't have dedicated websites post their events on Meetup. I found out about a joint ISC2/ISACA speaker event on Meetup, and also got plugged into the CLT IT Professionals network. Even though the IT professionals community isn't always security-specific, they host a ton of events that are security focused, and it's a great venue to potentially speak to security topics. 

LinkedIn

Many organizations have a LinkedIn special interest group. They foster conversations as well as promote internal-facing events. 

If you don't see many or any communities in the area, consider starting something yourself! You may be able to find an IT group to piggyback off of, or you could send an email in to see if you could start a local chapter of a larger organization. The security community relies on the time and experience of folks in the area to spread knowledge, awareness, and build connections.