Support Your Local User Groups

We interact online every day here at DevCentral, but it's especially nice to interact in person with all of you whenever we get the chance.  I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at several local user groups over the past two weeks that spanned from California to Ohio...and lots of places in between.  I talked about cool F5 technology like the Advanced Web Application Firewall (AWAF), the SSL Orchestrator (SSLO), iRules, Silverline Security Operations Center (SOC) attack stories, and of course DevCentral. 

But it wasn't just me talking.  Cody Green brought the house down with his amazing presentation on automation and orchestration, and other F5 Engineers like Matt Stoval guided the audience through some amazing labs on SSLO and AWAF.  We had a great time, we learned a lot, and we got to interact with all the amazing DevCentral users who make this place what it is every day.  If you ever get the chance to attend a local user group, you should go!

 

San Luis Obispo (SLO), California

I've never been to the central coast of California, but after this trip, I'm definitely heading back.  This place is "SLO" awesome!  San Luis Obispo is named "the happiest city in America" and they also have "the greatest group of F5 teammates and partners you'll ever find anywhere"!  This was the first user group that The Load Balancer Crew has organized, and they did such an amazing job.  Their experts presented on Credential Stuffing protection and Cloud Services using F5 in AWS.  I got to talk to them about AWAF features and SOC stories.  It was a fantastic time.  Here's a pic of us:

These people are super talented and I loved hanging out with them.  If you are ever in the SLO area, check out the peeps at The Load Balancer Crew!

 

Cincinnati/Columbus Ohio

Ohio knows their stuff when it comes to F5 technology.  I had the pleasure of talking to groups in Cincinnati and Columbus, and we had some great discussions about the SSL Orchestrator and SOC Attack Stories.  They also had F5 Engineers talk about automation, updates in the latest version of BIG-IP, and Advanced WAF.  It's always a great time to meet and hang out with the crazy-smart experts in the fantastic state of Ohio!

 

Minneapolis, Minnesota

I'm not gonna lie...I'm not a huge fan of -21 degree temps.  But even though it was freezing outside in Minneapolis, it was warm inside when we learned all about cool F5 technology.  The group started with SSLO and AWAF labs, then I got to tell some cool Silverline SOC attack stories, and finally Cody Green showed everyone how to accomplish about 3 weeks of work with one declarative API call...automation is seriously amazing stuff. 

Cody Green bringing the heat to the cold with automation...

 

Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines is not only the capital city of Iowa...it also boasts over 4 miles of climate-controlled skywalks.  They should have a downtown 5K run using only the skywalks.  That would be awesome.  Anyway, the Des Moines users had a great time learning about SSLO and AWAF in their hands-on labs, and they learned all about automation and orchestration from Cody Green.  I also had the chance to talk about cool Silverline SOC attack stories and even sprinkle in some fun DevCentral trivia.  We had a great time, Des Moines...keep up the great work!

Users learning SSLO and AWAF in hands-on labs

 

Omaha, Nebraska

The crowd in Omaha was large...and in charge!  Like Minneapolis and Des Moines, they got the pleasure of walking through hands-on SSLO and AWAF labs (see pic below).  They also learned automation and orchestration from Cody Green.  I'm convinced, by the way, that one day Cody will create a declarative API call that automatically gives his presentation for him...that would be awesome.  I'm sure it was no mistake as well that the open bar was opened immediately before I got up to talk.  But I didn't mind.  Everyone seemed very relaxed and happy as I talked!  I'm sure it was the riveting topics of DevCentral and Silverline SOC attack stories.  Nonetheless, we had a great time in Omaha and I look forward to going back (maybe next trip we pick a time of year when 8 inches of snow doesn't fall the night before...just sayin').  

F5 Engineer Matt Stoval talking Advanced WAF and SSLO...all the people learning

 

 

Well, that was it!  The trip was a great one, and I'm thankful that I got to go.  Until next time...keep up the great work, and we will see you out there in the community (and in real life!).