RSAC 2026 Conference Recap: Connection During a Crowded Week

RSAC Conference is busy in a way that’s hard to explain if you haven’t been before. 

It's, like, really busy. 

Really, really, really, really busy. 

You go in with a plan, but most of the week ends up being a blur of 2-minute conversations, missed follow-ups, and trying to be in two places at once. Or 3. Or 7.

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So this year, we spread out a little bit. Last year, the Cybersecurity Marketing Society only hosted 2 events: our Party for Marketers at RSAC 2025 Conference and our Marketer Oasis. 

This year, we did 6! 

These were spread across the week so there were more chances to meet, stay in conversations a little longer, and not leave the week feeling like you missed something! (To be fair, I still feel like I missed too many people! At least we can all reconnect at CyberMarketingCon!) 

Starting The Week Right: A Pre-Conference Party on Sunday

The week began on Sunday evening with the Party for Cyber Marketers at Novela.

Set in a literature-themed bar in downtown San Francisco, the event brought together cybersecurity marketers ahead of the conference week. With drinks, dinner, and a relaxed and fun setting, it created an opportunity to connect early before the schedules filled up and feet hurt too much to walk!

We had themed cocktails, mocktails, and even a giveaway this year! 1 Hulken bag (perfect for schlepping across trade show floors or to the grocery store in your home city) and 4 bottles of Olive Hill Estates local Napa Olive Oil!

View all the Party for Cyberseucrity Marketers photos on our Flickr! 

Another new thing we did this year at the party was a Swag Stuffing Station! I had attended another conference where one of the activations was to let all the attendees into a room that was filled with snacks. You could take as much as you wanted!

We know the week at the RSAC 2026 Conference is long, and often you don’t want to pay $28 for a mediocre sandwich in Moscone. (Or $5 for a single banana, which is now memorialized as a meme from our 2026 pre-RSAC prep call webinar - thanks Brittany Cannon!)

So we did it too! Featuring our very cool swag bag design of a local “map” of RSAC Conference and a special, RSAC Conference-themed sticker pack as our swag contribution:

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We let our party attendees stuff their Party Swag Bags with everything one could want to snack on during those rushes where you cannot get away to grab food: beef jerky, protein bars, Lindt chocolate truffles, crackers, cookies, pretzels, candy, organic granola bites, plus trail mix from ActualTech Media, tic tacs and mints from MOBI Solutions, liquid IV from Tofu, and really cute LinkedIn-branded phone holders that stick to glass so you can create great RSAC-content throughout the week!

And it was appreciated throughout the week!

The Sponsors Behind the Night

A huge thank you to our sponsors who helped make the night happen: 

• ActualTech Media supports pipeline growth through digital events and content programs that reach IT decision-makers.
  
  
• PAN is a marketing and PR agency that combines data and storytelling to help cybersecurity brands build visibility and stand out.
  
  
• MOBI Solutions helps teams clean up and scale their marketing systems, with clearer attribution and reporting.
  
  
• LinkedIn is one of the main platforms professionals use to connect, share content, and reach business audience, with robust advertising solutions for cyber companies.
  
  
• Tofu helps teams move faster with AI-driven content that stays aligned with brand and audience.

Together, they cover different parts of how cybersecurity marketing actually gets done, from getting in front of the right people to proving what’s working.

Mornings: Coffee Crawl

Each morning, there was a café crawl.

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People joined at different stops, grabbed coffee, and walked together to the next stop. Some stayed for one stop, others tagged along for longer. The man with the golden voice, Marc Blackmer led the cafe tour! It gave people a way to ease into the mornings before the conference started.

On the Expo Floor

The expo hall was busy throughout the week, with RSAC reporting around 43,000 attendees checked in.

There was a strong overall energy, and San Francisco felt noticeably safer than in previous years. At the same time, even with a full floor, people reported that things felt slightly more muted than before.

Beautiful Booth Awards

Around RSAC, we also collected submissions for the Beautiful Booth Awards, highlighting teams that stood out on the expo floor.

It’s something we put together to recognize booths that go beyond the usual, whether that’s through design, messaging, or how they engage people walking by.

Winners will be announced on April 20.

Monday: CyberCMO Meetup

By the time the week picked up, things started to break into smaller groups.

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The CyberCMO Meetup brought together more than 30 cybersecurity CMOs. It was hosted at the Kana office across from Fogo de Chão, with coffee, snacks, and a charcuterie board.

Thank you so much, Kana, for giving us your office. 

Tuesday: Marketer Lunch with Aikido

The lunch with Aikido was a nice break from the show floor. It was on a rooftop near Moscone, the weather was hot (!!! surprisingly hot) and clear, and people sat, ate, and stayed for a while instead of coming and going. Yours truly may have even gotten a sunburn!

Lunch was catered (Argentinean food, YUM), and most people used it as a proper break in the middle of the day rather than something to rush through.

Thanks to Aikido for sponsoring the lunch and being our partner, we’ll definitely be doing this one again.

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Wednesday: Meetup Space at Moscone

Midweek, there was a meetup space at Moscone South.

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It stayed open during the day, and people dropped in between sessions and when they needed a nice quiet room to sit in to refresh before heading back to the expo hall! 

Thursday: Napa Valley

On Thursday, a group headed out to Napa. We chartered a shuttle from near Moscone in the early afternoon and left the city for the rest of the day.

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The event was held at Olive Hill Estates, about an hour outside San Francisco. Once people arrived, everyone stayed in one place for the evening instead of moving between events like the rest of the week.

The afternoon began with wine, mocktails, and a whiskey-tasting station. Later on, there was an olive oil tasting led by Brian Allard, an olive oil producer at the estate. He walked through how olive oil is made on the property and how the flavor changes over time. People tasted both fresh and slightly aged olive oil and learned how it compares to wine in terms of production and aging.

Dinner followed, along with time to walk the grounds. As the sun went down, people gathered around the olive groves and stayed through sunset before heading back to the city later that evening.

The olive oil came from the same estate and was also shared earlier in the week at the party (it was one of our giveaways), tying the two events together.

The entire experience was put together with Priority Experiences. A big thank you to Jamie and the team for organizing everything! And of course Brian and Olive Hill Estates for the luxurious and exclusive venue!

We’ll be doing more with them again. Check out our joint events:

Margs, Mocktails, & Marketing Mixer on May 20th.
Martini & Mocktail Mingle on August 27

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If You Want to Join Us

By the end of the week, our feet hurt, but our cups were full! Thank you everyone for a wonderful RSAC 2026 Conference!

If you want to join us for what’s coming up next, we’ve got a few things already lined up:

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• ROI of RSAC Roundtable & Survey
  April 10, 11:00-12:00 p.m. ET (Virtual)
  
  
• Partner Up: Co-Marketing @ Black Hat USA Matchmaking
  April 10, 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET (Virtual)
  
  

You can see all upcoming events on our events page.