Vickie Miller
ISE® Central People’s Choice Award Winner 2010
ISE® Central Executive Award Winner 2015
Since my original Success Story was published with T.E.N., my continued participation in their ISE® Programs has made a profound change on my network. The ability to network with other security professionals is vital, because so much of our success depends upon information sharing and learning from the successes of others. T.E.N. provides the avenues to make that possible, and as a result my network has grown to not only include connections on a regional level, but on a national one too. That, I believe, has been the number one most significant impact on my career since I established my relationship with T.E.N.
As I have spent time at these events, I have learned so much to benefit FICO’s information security strategy, as well as help communicate information security needs to those in other areas of our company. So much information security discussion appears in the news as of late in regards to hacking troubles and network attacks, and at T.E.N.’s ISE® Regional Programs and Private Dinners, as well as through discussions with the vendors who attend, I am able to learn more about use cases and solutions. I can then translate all of this information into language that professionals in other areas of the company will understand.
One of the best parts about attending ISE® Regional Programs is the opportunity to view the Nominee Showcases, where they present the programs they have been putting into place, discuss the challenges they have overcome, and provide meaningful metrics that prove their project’s return on investment. I don’t know of any other forum that provides this experience to such a detailed degree. Plenty of other InfoSec “mega conferences” exist, but many times the presentations involve a slideshow overview that does not provide the same in-depth analysis that I find at T.E.N.’s events. Furthermore, ISE® Programs are highly inclusive of team members from these projects—and hearing them discuss the project as well really indicates just how invested these professionals are, both on a personal and professional level.
Attending T.E.N. events is always a low-risk, no regrets commitment with some of the best vendor experiences I have ever had. At other events that provide interaction with vendors, executive professionals may feel as if they are being pressured to buy or invest. But at T.E.N. events—both the ISE® Regional Programs and Private Dinners—interactions are focused on how vendors and executives can support one another in a mutual relationship, rather than simply as supplier and buyer. It is a genuine, collaborative interest in making everyone successful. That is, I think, a hallmark of what the ISE® Programs and T.E.N. accomplish and what I look forward to most.
I thoroughly enjoy what all of T.E.N.’s events have to offer. I think anyone who attends, either as an ISE® Program nominee, a guest at a Private Dinner, or an attendee of any other event they host, will absolutely enjoy what the team can provide. Their reach expands across the country and they work with fierce dedication every day, but they still take the time to provide a welcome feeling that makes all participants at these events feel like family. During my relationship with T.E.N. I have always felt like the team is invested in my personal growth; and I am, in turn, invested in theirs.