I used to be younger and needed to journey ✈️ If somebody had informed me again then that call would flip into 10 years at SANS (over the weekend, however who’s counting), I in all probability would not have believed them… | Tristan Web page

I used to be younger and needed to journey ✈️

If somebody had informed me again then that call would flip into 10 years at SANS (over the weekend, however who’s counting), I in all probability would not have believed them. Yet right here we’re, a decade later, sharing it with the world on LinkedIn.

The previous ten years have formed me in additional methods than I might listing. From the uncertain 23-year-old who confirmed up clueless to his first occasion, to now working occasions internationally, working alongside unimaginable individuals and being a part of a group I genuinely couldn’t think about being with out.

A number of moments stand out.

🗣️ My first interview. Spending days getting ready as a result of I actually needed this job, then assembly Gareth Dance in a café in Mumbles and someway convincing him I used to be the appropriate individual for it.

🇬🇧 SANS London Autumn 2016 (bear in mind when London occasions have been seasonal?) – my first SANS occasion. Walking into the Grand Connaught Rooms and feeling extremely grown up as a result of I used to be travelling to London for work, identical to my dad used to once I was a child.

🇨🇿 SANS DFIR Prague 2016 – my first worldwide work journey and the primary occasion the place I actually understood the facility of the neighborhood SANS had constructed throughout borders, industries and continents. And, after all, the primary time I went to Hell’s Bells. IYKYK.

🇳🇱 SANS Secure Europe 2017 – the convention I realised I used to be truly fairly good at this occasion administration factor.

🦠 2020 to at any time when COVID formally ended (is anybody’s timeline clear?). My first actual publicity to our international group and a time that examined all of us. I found a resilience in myself that I did not know I had – and realized that even once you’re technically a group of 1, you are by no means actually alone should you’re a part of SANS.

👓 2025 – the primary time I used to be trusted to handle a group, and found I wasn’t dangerous on the individuals administration stuff both.

The journey I needed definitely occurred.

Over the final decade I’ve labored in 24 international locations throughout 4 continents, amassing experiences I by no means might have deliberate for – sandboarding in Qatar, beignets in New Orleans, koalas in Sydney, ice bars in Stockholm, whisky tasting in Dublin, and numerous recollections all over the place in between.

But once I look again, it truthfully is the individuals I’m most grateful for.

The instructors on the prime of their recreation. Countless facilitators whose enthusiasm and dedication nonetheless rub off on me at occasions. A particular thanks to Gareth Dance for taking an opportunity on me in 2016 and to your fixed and persevering with steerage and mentorship. Another to Rhiannon Woolford, Kirsty Morgan and Richard Drage for serving to construct my confidence throughout these early years as a part of the ‘OG’ Ops group. All the unimaginable Event Managers and colleagues I get to work with daily. The wider SANS group. Thank you for making the final ten years what they have been.

10 years down.
Let’s see what’s subsequent! 🚀