The Chat Heard ‘Round the World

16. January 2008 by Revelator.

Fellow OPSECers - it is time.

According to my counter hundreds of you are coming to this blog on a regular basis and The Godfather and I thank you.  But while many of us come to this blog and many others of us go to the OSPA, OPS or IOSS web sites rarely are we together as one.   At any given time tens of us may actually be on one of these sites at exactly the same time but so what?  Does that mean we are united as a community?  I think not.  But you’re thinking; what about the National Conference?  Or the Western or Eastern Forums?  We’re united as a community then aren’t we?  Absolutely.  But add these events together and the reality is that, at best, we spend less than two weeks together all year.  And that is only true for the 12 of you who actually attend all three events!  And that is truly sad.  I’m not kidding here folks.

Though we are doing what we can the OPSEC Community remains a very small community indeed.  When we actually do come together one of the many complaints I hear is that we need to get together more - not literally necessarily, but figuratively and even virtually.  I’ve heard many varied suggestions about how this can be accomplished but to me the simplest (and most often recommended) way for us to come together is electronically.   And while I’m sure some of you have mad Halo and Gears Of War skillz I think we would be better off coming together during an OSPA hosted chat session.

So; you asked for it - you got it.  Now the big question is: Will anyone show up?  I gotta be honest with ya - the over/under for chat participants is currently hovering around 12 on Las Vegas betting lines.  Some members have suggested that the number of participants should determine if we host further sessions.  Let me be a voice of disagreement on this point.  I believe that OSPA leadership needs to remain immediately responsive to the needs of our members even if those in need number in the single digits.  Just as a heads up - if a member contacts anyone in the OSPA leadership we virtually guarantee to personally call or meet you in our chat room on that very day.  We have a perfect record so far and aim to keep it that way.

And finally - just what is this chat going to be about?  While many OPSEC-related topics desperately need deep discussion we are going to start with a simple question: What can OSPA do for you?  No further prompting or specific topic pimping.

What can OSPA do for you?  Think about it.  I’ll see you in our chat room on Wednesday, 23 January from 7pm till (at least) 9pm right coast time.  More details to follow.  If you have any questions feel free to contact any of your OSPA leadership of leave your question here on this blog.

Keep the Faith!

Revelator

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