First Friday

Welcome to the very first Cybersecurity First Friday Community Day!

This event is a dedicated one-day showcase of essential resources for citizens, local businesses, and organizations. Join us to explore key cybersecurity topics, discover career and professional development opportunities, and gain the community awareness needed to navigate the cyber threats impacting our daily lives.

Check out the special event schedule, content, and the scheduled speakers!
Vincent "Vinnie" Persichetti
Jon-Michael Horst
Blake Schwank
Dr. Shawn P. Murray
Gretchen Bliss

Who you will hear from

Event Speakers

Vincent "Vinnie" Persichetti

Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC

Dr. Shawn P. Murray

Murray Security Services

Blake Schwank

CEO, CCS IT Pros

Jon-Michael Horst

Director of Marketing and Outreach

Gretchen Bliss

Director of Cybersecurity Programs, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs

Beth Ann Taylor

Director, Colorado APEX Accelerator

Douglas DePeppe

Special Counsel, Buchalter

Deborah Parsram

President, ISSA - Colorado Springs Chapter

Russ White

President, ISC2 Pikes Peak Chapter

Jordan Scott

Student, UCCS

Amy Abbot

Executive Director at Catalyst Campus for Technology & Innovation

Ross Morrell

Director of Innovation and Growth at Catalyst Campus for Technology & Innovation

Tomas A. Pena, D.Sc.

Executive Vice President, ISSA Colorado Springs Chapter

Brandon C. Strubberg, Ph.D.

UCCS Department Chair and Associate Professor

Erica Romero

Business Relations Manager, Pikes Peak Workforce Center

John Freeburg

Founder of C Cubed Training

Aikta Verma

Co-Founder, Cyber Leaders Roundtable

Heather Lawrence, PhD

Alumni, UCCS

Xin Cindy Lee

Assistant Professor at University of Colorado Colorado Springs

Kinzy Pearson

Student, UCCS

Cassandra Eagan

Student, UCCS

Dale Anderson

Senior Vice President of Economic and Defense Development and Government Affairs at the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC

Kora Gwartney

Student, UCCS

Emily Johnson

Student, UCCS

Zainab Olalekan

Student, UCCS

David Hancock

Technical Solutions Architect and Training Lead at Cyberspatial

Sav Szopej

Student, UCCS

Kelli Kocak

Vice President, STAR V Learning Centers

What you need to know

Event Details

About
The Cybersecurity First Friday Community Day event has several components to it!

Registration & Check In begins at 8am.

After check in, join us from 8am to 9am for complimentary breakfast provided by the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Cybersecurity Program! 

Network with others, stop by the various partner tables to learn about their resources and watch the inaugural ribbon cutting sponsored by the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC and Murray Security Services.  

Their will be a mini Job Fair sponsored by the Pikes Peak Workforce Center!

There will be many speakers providing information related to cybersecurity topics.

TRACK 1 - Cyber Intel Track  –  Listen to what our industry professionals are talking about related to cybersecurity threats, strategies to be cyber aware, and strategies to protect yourself, your business and your family.

TRACK 2 - Community Connect –  Learn about our community partners and what resources they are providing our citizens, small businesses, job seekers and our industry professionals. 

TRACK 3 - Academic Edge  –   Listen to what cyber related projects and research our local students and faculty are contributing to the ecosystem, its compelling! 

If you want to learn how to secure your mobile devices, tablets, social media accounts or other online accounts, participants can navigate to the Cyber Hygiene Station to get advice from our industry experts who will be volunteering and providing key tips to consider.

For job seekers that would like to get advice on their resumes or participate in a mock interview with an experienced cyber professional, sign up to access these resources as well!

Call for speakers!

If you have a compelling topic you think would be relevant to our event, please submit a request through our homepage by clicking on the “First Friday” drop down menu and click on “apply to speak”, fill out the details and submit your title and topic and contact information. Each presentation should be no longer than 20-25 minutes. We will let you know if your topic is selected.

Call for Sponsors!

We have two sponsorship levels.

Community Advocate - $500
Community Champion - $1000

If you would like to discuss sponsorship opportunities, please navigate to our homepage by clicking on the “First Friday” drop down menu and click on “become a sponsor”, fill out the details and contact information. We will reach out to discuss the details.

The event wraps up between 2:45pm and 3pm.

Join us right after this event for the regularly scheduled Cybersecurity First Friday July event over on the Exponential Impact side of the campus from 4pm to 6pm!

Watch for updates as we revise the agenda and speaker selections!

Please reach out to our team if you have any questions!

All participants including attendees, speakers, volunteers, community partners and sponsors are required to register for this free community event. This allows us to keep track of the numbers for the catering and allows all participants to download a certificate of attendance for CPEs/CEUs. Registration is open now!

Exponential Impact and the UCCS Cyber Campus
Downloads
  • Cybersecurity First Friday Community Day Handout 4.49 MB
Date
Time
-
Food Vendor

Catering provided by UCCS Cyber Program

About

Catering at UCCS From formal events to casual get-togethers, UCCS Catering delivers the highest quality catering for our campus community. Catering can accommodate small luncheons and faculty groups of as small as ten people to large conferences and student functions for over a thousand people. Catering understands that each group has varying needs, so we offer several service styles, including buffet-style, boxed meals, beverage service, bartending options, and more. We offer a wide selection of menu items that can accommodate most dietary restrictions.

See Menu

Sustaining Sponsors

Thank you to our tiered sponsors for their support!

Community Partners