RSAC 2023: Conference Round-Up & Winners Of The Expo Floor

Last month, our team flew out to RSAC in San Francisco to get the lowdown on all things cyber straight from the horse’s mouth – the horse, of course, being cybersecurity experts representing some of the biggest names in the industry, including Palo Alto Networks, IBM Security, ZScaler, if you find out what we heard, check out our “Live From RSAC” podcast series. 

At the show, our team picked up on three main trends that are currently sweeping the cybersecurity industry:

We can expect AI to be used as “co-pilots” in cybersecurity-both on the defensive and adversarial sides. White hats will use it for improved threat detection and to save SOC resources, and black hats will likely use it to generate malicious code at speed and scrape the internet more efficiently for information on potential targets for spear phishing attacks. 

Organizations are looking to consolidate their cybersecurity tools to reduce costs and improve management.

In the US, many businesses are struggling with the increased number and rigidity of data privacy regulations, and are looking to their cybersecurity providers to help them achieve compliance. 

But while RSAC is a great chance to connect with other experts and keep up with what’s happening in the cyber space, it’s also the home of some of the craziest, next-level marketing techniques we’ve seen. From booths decorated with everything from F1 cars to larger-than-life whales; to swag bags stuffed with freebies – we were truly blown away by some of the displays this year. 

But some really stood out from the crowd. 

To honor these valiant marketing efforts, we’re awarding a select few vendors an Expert Insights Best-Of RSAC Marketing Award. These coveted awards span four categories: Best-Of Booth Decoration, Best-Of Cyber Swag, Best-Of Vendor Mascots, and Best-Of Games & Entertainment. We’ve chosen our award winners based on creativity, and – well, that’s about it, actually. 

*drum roll please* 

So without further ado, here are our Best-Of RSAC Marketing Awards for 2023! 

Best-Of Booth Decoration

There were some great efforts this year when it came to creating a stand-out booth, but there was one in particular that we couldn’t get enough of: SentinelOne. You could spot their booth from across the expo floor and boy, was it worth spotting. It reminded us of the “Eywa” tree from Avatar, with purple cords of energy branching out from a single, central trunk. And whether or not that’s what they were going for, we thought it perfectly fit the themes of consolidation and unification that were so present at RSAC this year. Oh, and they also had an F1 car. 

Honorable mention in this category goes to Wiz, with their “Wizard of Oz” themed booth – featuring a hot air balloon and a yellow brick road, and with custom sneakers up for grabs. 

Best-Of Cyber Swag 

This category was perhaps the trickiest to judge – or so we thought, until we stumbled upon a clear winner: Keeper Security’s scrunchies. They’re practical, they’re small enough to fit in your carry-on, and, let’s face it, they’re super cute. 

Honorable mention in this category goes to both Google and SecureAuth for their fanny packs – we were all about practicality this year, and what’s more practical than a no-hands way to hold the rest of your cyber swag? 

Best-Of Vendor Mascots 

One vendor mascot rose above all the rest – quite literally – as we were exploring the expo floor. Orca Security’s “Orkie” towered at their booth, but was also present in plushie form for anyone savvy enough with arcade games to win one from their claw machine. Imagine the cheer we gave when our Head of Business Development, Antoine, secured one on his second go. With his big eyes and little blue t-shirt, Orkie whale-y pulled on our heartstrings. 

Best-Of Games & Entertainment

We noticed a definitive theme amongst the games on the expo floor this year: the classic arcade game, reminiscent of a walk along the pier on a family holiday. But there’s one thing that our winner in this category did to place themselves above the rest and secure the title: they made their game a competition. Abnormal Security’s “Whack-a-Nomaly”, a spin on the classic Whack-a-Mole, had a high score to beat, which brought out our competitive spirit. We also gave them a bonus point for the pun. 

Honorable mentions in this category go to Orca Security and Harness for their retro claw machines full of plushies.

Congratulations to all of the award winners named in this list – you win year-long bragging rights, until the next RSAC comes around. 

We hope to see you there! 

Get Started With Expert Insights

Now that we’ve identified the top marketeers for 2023, it’s time to look at your own techniques and start strategizing your campaigns to maximize engagement and lead generation. At Expert Insights, we specialize in helping B2B IT cloud software buyers by connecting them with the industry’s best providers through our research platform.

To drive more site visits, product demos, trials, and closed sales, contact our team today.