ISE® Success Stories

Tim Callahan
ISE® Southeast People's Choice Award Winner 2006
ISE® Northeast People's Choice Award Winner 2009

I’m fortunate to have been involved with the ISE® Awards from the very beginning. One of our technology partners, who was one of the initial sponsors, told me about the inaugural award. It immediately appealed to me and I decided to nominate my boss. Having a partnership with one of the sponsors made the nomination process easy. Impressed not only with the award but with the entire program, I decided to become more involved.

Over the years I’ve had the honor of receiving two ISE® People’s Choice awards. Receiving such recognition by one’s peers is both exciting and humbling. When you reflect on the reason why you’ve been chosen to receive the award, it all has to do with building and leading a great team. There is no one individual information security executive who can claim they have done it all on their own. They might be the one receiving the award but, in truth, it is the recognition of the team. To me, therefore, the greatest benefit from receiving an ISE® Award is the validation of the team’s effort and the team-building experience. If the nomination package is done well and correctly, it serves to bring the entire team together.

In addition to recognizing a team’s contributions, receiving an ISE® Award adds to one’s credibility and validates the information security program within an organization. I experienced this first-hand when I was with Peoples Bank. By joining me and my team members at the award celebration, my CIO was able to see the importance of information security executives coming together to deliver more effective security programs. The industry recognition also provided validation to the organization that we had a solid information security program.

Above all, the true value of the ISE® Award is Community. The ability to meet and collaborate with information security executives in various industries from across the nation who are facing similar challenges is extremely important. Where else but the Executive Forum can you engage in conversation with both peers and technology solution providers to discuss the top of mind issues? Where else can you expand your network and develop relationships with people who will take your call, give advice and, when necessary, help you fight the battle.

Every day we face the cyber threats, compete for budget and do what’s necessary to keep our users safe. Against this backdrop it’s a fantastic relief to see people who are recognizing the individuals who are on the front lines. The T.E.N. team is passionate about what they do and you can see it in everything that they do. They are accommodating, friendly, open to ideas, and fun to work with.

There is nothing like the T.E.N. ISE® Experience. It’s networking, meeting new people, and coming together as a community. It’s sharing ideas and learning from others. It’s celebrating your and others’ success. I have had the pleasure of winning awards and working with T.E.N. on many occasions in various capacities and have benefitted tremendously. I’m confident that you will too.