Making Friends & Vanquishing Enemies: The Story of the Cybersecurity Marketing Society

Gianna Whitver, our fearless co-host, finds herself on the opposite side of the microphone this week as she talks about community— specifically the community of the Cybersecurity Marketing Society. From the founder’s story to present-day, Maria interviews Gianna about the journey of the Cybersecurity Marketing Society, including how it was formed, who was in mind when it was created, and what’s next for our ever-expanding community. Have you joined the Society yet? You will after this episode! 

Timecoded Guide:

[00:00] Carving out our own community for in-house cybersecurity marketers

[07:29] Aligning our community with the aspects of identity, participation, and rewards

[12:36] Encouraging participation & knowing the limits of the high-stress cyber industry

[16:22] Introducing our upcoming events at RSA and Cyber Marketing Con 2022

[24:45] Connecting our community with marketing job boards, networking opportunities, and a place that they can call their own

Can you walk through the founder’s journey of the Cybersecurity Marketing Society?

After connecting during a job interview, Gianna and Maria developed both a strong friendship and a mutually beneficial relationship as cybersecurity marketers at smaller companies. As many of our Society members know, there are very limited resources for cyber marketing specifically, and even less of those resources provide mentorship or intel. Right before the pandemic hit, an idea was born: What if there could be an entire group of cyber marketers helping each other online? 

“Being cybersecurity marketers at smaller companies, we didn't have a lot of internal resources or people to bounce ideas off of, or people to ask, ‘What are you seeing in the market? What's the best practice in this area? What do you think about this event?’”

 

Community needs to align with identity, encourage participation, and provide reward. In your opinion, how did the Cybersecurity Marketing Society achieve these three?

The Cybersecurity Marketing Society is run by cyber marketers for cyber marketers, and we aren’t afraid to admit that we vet all of our applications for potential new members. While this helps with the identity of our group, it also encourages participation from our members, who know that the CMS is a safe space to inquire and seek more information without just being advertised to or manipulated. Not only is this safe space a reward, we also offer exclusive events, virtual and in-person, and produce assets like the 2021 State of Cybersecurity Marketing report.

“There are some groups I know of that require that you post once a day or once a week, and we actually don't require that. One of the reasons we don't is because we know that cybersecurity marketing can be a really, really intense industry.” 

 

What does the Cyber Marketing Society have planned for Cyber Marketing Con 2022? What about at RSA?

Considering the Cybersecurity Marketing Society was born in 2020, we haven’t been able to execute in-person event opportunities for our members. However, Gianna has incredible news: in-person meetups and events are coming— twice! Join us at RSA on June 7th from 3:30 to 5:30 at the Press Club for a cyber marketing meet-up, and mark your calendars for Cyber Marketing Con 2022, happening virtually AND in-person in November.

“Beyond the internal core, the heart of this, which is the Cybersecurity Marketing Slack community, there's so many ways to get involved. There's so many ways to be rewarded and to feel the connection of the group beyond that, including our Cyber Marketing Con.”

 

What does the Cybersecurity Marketing Society mean to you personally, in your career and in your personal life? 

For Gianna, the community of the Cyber Marketing Society isn’t just about the posts, the events, or the data shared; it’s also about the lives changed and the people helped by everything the Society does. Hearing feedback from cybersecurity marketers who have gotten a job from our job board, improved their budget with the insight they’ve received, and learned something new from what we have to offer has been invaluable.

“My ethos is that I treat everybody who joins the Society as if they're my best friend, and I have made some amazing friendships with some wonderful people, just based off of us congregating in a digital room together every day for the past 600 days.”

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Links:

Get tickets for our upcoming Cyber Marketing Con 2022, and check out what we did during Cyber Marketing Con 2021.

Join the Cybersecurity Marketing Society on our website, and keep up with us on Twitter. 

Read the 2021 State of Cybersecurity Marketing report.

Follow Gianna on LinkedIn.

Catch up with Maria on LinkedIn.

Keep up with Hacker Valley on our website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.