ISC2 volunteer opportunity

azjag

Has anybody participated in any of the volunteer opportunities with ISC2. I received an email last week asking if I would be interested in helping create Education study material for the SSCP. I replied that I would be interested and will hopefully make it through the random selection process. I should be hearing back in the coming week or so.

I am curious if anybody else on TE has done this before and what your experiences were. Please don't violate any NDA's.

Thanks,

JDMurray

Oh good, you can take my place in the SSCP Item Writing Workshop down in San Diego the first weekend of February 2011. I have a class starting that weekend and can't attend. They also have them in Las Vegas, New Orleans, and Tampa. Free hotel, food, and airfare, and they entertain you in the evenings. The (ISC)2 takes good care of the people on the education side of the house (and I assume the people on the exam side as well).

erpadmin

JDMurray wrote: »

Free hotel, food, and airfare, and they entertain you in the evenings. The (ISC)2 takes good care of the people on the education side of the house (and I assume the people on the exam side as well).

That alone has got me sold on taking the CISSP! That would make up for the materials, study time and exam fees.

What qualifications (aside from having an (ISC)2 cert) does one need to get in on such a sweet volunteer gig? No way I could do that this year, but I'd be willing to take the CISSP after WGU, for sure. But a chance to "volunteer" on their dime....that would be a nice enticement for prepping for this exam (instead of the PMP, but I could always do that later.)

JDMurray

You need to already have the cert for the study materials you will be writing (SSCP, CISSP, CAP, CSSLP, etc). To pass the vetting, you should be a verified Subject Matter Expert in one or more of the domains, or an instructor of (ISC)2 materials, and an (ISC)2 member in good standing. If there are more volunteers than there are slots in a particular workshop, there will be a random drawing for who gets in.

Over the course of the three-day workshop you will meet a lot of very smart people from all over the world who will seriously challenge your intellectual competency with regards to information security and your communications and writing skills. The entire process may leave your brain--and ego--severely melted.

It's also important to understand that you will be writing exam items for the (ISC)2 study preparation materials and not the exam itself. The exam maintenance and education sides of the business are kept strictly fire-walled from each other (per ISO requirements), so any person is allowed to work on one side only.

azjag

erpadmin wrote: »

What qualifications (aside from having an (ISC)2 cert) does one need to get in on such a sweet volunteer gig?

All you have to do is volunteer for it. It is a weekend adventure and is worth up to 22cpe's. That is for the SSCP. I have no idea what they offer the CISSP's. After you volunteer and an event comes up they contact you to see if you are interested. If you are they add your name to a drawing and if you are picked, you go. I'm still waiting to see if I have been picked.

And of course JD beats me to it. With better info as well.

JDMurray

azjag wrote: »

It is a weekend adventure and is worth up to 22cpe's. That is for the SSCP. I have no idea what they offer the CISSP's.

It's the same amount of time, so it's likely the same 22 CPEs. These workshops are one reason why I never hurt for CPEs.

erpadmin

No seriously, I would never purport to be something I'm not or anything like that. The only thing I've ever personally done with regards to InfoSec is generate certs for servers and enforcing TLS on our web servers that handle CC payments for PCI compliance. That does sound like fun though and a tremendous opportunity for someone in the InfoSec field (which no doubt is why JD hunts for such opportunities.)

Free flights and hotels though...that sounds awesome though. Ego-bruising or no, if I'm having fun at the tables in Vegas, that would be a tiny price to pay...lmao.

hustlin_moe20

This sounds pretty cool. I hope I get an email like that once I'm fully endorsed. Does everyone get the email or is it based on your exam score that you'll never get to see? lol.

Moe.

azjag

hustlin_moe20 wrote: »

This sounds pretty cool. I hope I get an email like that once I'm fully endorsed. Does everyone get the email or is it based on your exam score that you'll never get to see? lol.

Moe.

You have to opt-in for this opportunity. Along with the other volunteer opportunities like exam proctoring and article writing.

azjag

azjag

I recieved notification this morning that I was 1 of 12 volunteers selected to attend the event. Woo Hoo.

erpadmin

azjag wrote: »

I recieved notification this morning that I was 1 of 12 volunteers selected to attend the event. Woo Hoo.

Awesome!!

When you start with whatever you have to do, can you speak generally about what you did, or will it be top-secret? I wouldn't want you to violate whatever NDA you're gonna get...but just general stuff (if you can get into it) would be nice to hear about.

Congratulations!

azjag

erpadmin wrote: »

Awesome!!

When you start with whatever you have to do, can you speak generally about what you did, or will it be top-secret? I wouldn't want you to violate whatever NDA you're gonna get...but just general stuff (if you can get into it) would be nice to hear about.

Congratulations!

This is about the best I can do to describe my function at the event.

"You have been selected (with 11 other volunteers) to attend the SSCP Education Item Writing event as a Subject Matter Expert to create, review and approve education material."

I'm sure I'll learn more when I get there and will be happy share my experiences in an appropriate manner that doesn't violate the terms of the NDA I signed.

veritas_libertas

This makes me want to do the SSCP sooner than next year

erpadmin

azjag wrote: »

This is about the best I can do to describe my function at the event.

"You have been selected (with 11 other volunteers) to attend the SSCP Education Item Writing event as a Subject Matter Expert to create, review and approve education material."

I'm sure I'll learn more when I get there and will be happy share my experiences in an appropriate manner that doesn't violate the terms of the NDA I signed.

I think you'll have more people wanting to do the SSCP now (myself included). You've done more to help ISC2 in getting exam fees than anyone there, I think...

azjag

The only downfall to the event. I will miss the superbowl party my friends are throwing. Oh well, only watch it for the commercials nowadays.

JDMurray

The Superbowl kickoff is at 3:25PM Pacific, and the Sunday workshop session will break up between 3 and 4PM (some people leave earlier to catch their flight). You won't make it to your friend's party, but you can watch the game in a near by sports bar (check if your hotel has one; the one we stayed at in Tampa did).

azjag

My flight leaves at 7pm so I will catch whatever I can at the terminal bar. Worst case I will tivo it and watch it when I get home. Just have to turn everything off so nothing spoils the outcome.

azjag

The Item Writing event was quite an experience. I did a writeup on the event and submitted it to ISC2 to make sure they don't have any issues with it(NDA). If all goes well I will post it here shortly.

JDMurray

What was Sunday like? Was everybody full of energy and ready to finish up the items review? Or were people dragging a bit, staring at their email like zombies, and talking about when their flight leaves?

And where did Pam take you all Friday and Saturday night?

azjag

JDMurray wrote: »

What was Sunday like? Was everybody full of energy and ready to finish up the items review? Or were people dragging a bit, staring at their email like zombies, and talking about when their flight leaves?

And where did Pam take you all Friday and Saturday night?

Saturday was by far the most productive. Most likely due to the 2 cases of red bull that showed up during the 1pm break time. Sunday was dragging, possibly due to the night before. Our goal was to get another test written, so the day was focused on the 6-7 questions that were needed to accomplish that.

Thursday night we went to a Mexican restaurant. Friday night was a dinner cruise. Saturday night was Italian. (hence the hangovers Sunday)

JDMurray

A dinner cruise in San Diego? Nice! Pam knows how to find nice venues.

I really hope they have a June workshop in New Orleans again. I won't miss it this year!

azjag

I have posted a write up about my experience at this event.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/isc-sscp-cissp/63785-isc-sscp-education-item-writing-event.html