There was plenty of semi-live blogging of the RSA conference in San Jose last week, but I thought I'd do something a little different: a post-mortem from a vendor.

I "attended" RSA, but not in the role of a full conference attendee or an 'expo-only' pass, but as a vendor. Maybe the perspective isn't really that different, but the vendor is somehow an in-between role. As a vendor I'm aware of things like booth size and placement, I am paying attention to what types of people are walking the floor (vendors, customers, partners, analysts), and I'm not shopping for products or for give-aways.

Far and away, the biggest benefit of the conference was connecting with existing customers and partners. One of the highlights for me was our nCircle customer breakout session. We did a roadmap presentation and got some excellent feedback from the participants. I actually had some very productive meetings on the conference floor. Another highlight was the event we hosted at Gordon Biersch. In an industry with folks spread around the country/world, it's a treat to spend some time in a social atmosphere.

There was definitely entertainment on the floor as well. I have to give some props to Arbor Networks for the fine presentation they provided. Their booth was directly behind ours and the guy delivering their presentation was an entertainer. I can't say I caught all of it, but there was a Lost theme involved. Mazu Networks gets the credit for creative advertising from me. They hired a few people to walk around the floor behaving strangely and wearing t-shirts that said "I know my behavior is not normal. Do you?" See, they provide "behavior-based network security solutions." And I should thank PGP, Tumbleweed, and GeoTrust for the beer they provided.

From my perspective, the people walking the floor tended to be more partners/vendors than customers. It's hard to say if that impression is accurate. It would be interesting for RSA to provide that sort of demographic material. I have a feeling that if you were there for the actual sessions, you didn't spend too much time on the expo floor. I can't help wondering what customers get out of these shows, outside of the actual seminars. The expo floor is pretty overwhelming. It's not just the variety of vendors, but the simplicity of the language. Vendors are forced to boil product functionality down to a sign on a booth. Shows like RSA provide a window into the evolving market terminology. This year I saw a ton of 'Network Access Control' language. Regulation and compliance are hot too. 'Vulnerability and Risk Management' is still present as well. The simplification of technology into market language makes it hard to understand what a product actually does. Customers are left to decode what each product can do for them.

The show is also, definitely, a chance to suss out the competition. This year, it was most interesting to see who was there and who wasn't. Some of our significant competitors simply didn't attend.

All in all, it was a productive week, I think. If you're a non-vendor and attended, post some feedback and let us know how it went.