For all those who attended The Portcullis Arms in April, I thank you very much for helping us to build on last year and break all records for the number of people through the door. The weather was better than expected, the tube strike was threatening for the week after our event and all was set fair for a busy three days when we opened our doors for breakfast on Tuesday. This quieter time of day was ideal for client meetings to discuss particular forthcoming jobs or work that had already been done before the onslaught of people for the lunchtime rush hour which started at noon each day and didn’t let up until half past three.

Having now organized this event for five years on the trot, you do get used to how things work and they should run more smoothly year on year which thankfully they have. Also, the reputation of The Portcullis Arms has grown enormously over that time and filling the room with the right people is now an easy task as thankfully they all want to come and meet each other in a bar where they can get served and be heard above the din!

This year, in addition to our usual discussions about the latest issues for the industry and ourselves, we added an extra ingredient to the mix; namely a new offering from Portcullis in the field of Forensics. This is an area of expertise which is much in demand by the industry’s clients, whilst that demand is increasing by the day, the number of companies who provide a professional and reliable Forensics service are very few. Having been asked if we offer a forensic service so many times by our clients we decided to make a carefully planned strategic move and put together an offering that would be attractive to the market place. Under the stewardship of Andy Henry a former computer forensics Lab Team Leader from CESG, our Forensic service is now open for business and operates out of a SOC in Cheltenham. This new departure for Portcullis fits hand in glove with the Security Testing Services we have offered for more than a decade and marks a very exciting fresh chapter in our future growth.

The food this year was better than ever with a wide selection of different hot and cold dishes each day and as we washed it all down with a beer the conversation turned to next year’s show and the move to Earl’s Court. Many presumed that this relocation would mark an end to the Portcullis Arms at Olympia and so it does but oh ye of little faith. The phoenix will rise from the ashes and be reborn twice the size at Earls Court. That’s right; we are going to have two pubs at Earls Court instead of the usual one. That means twice the fun, twice the number of pies and twice the opportunity to network with the great and the good of our industry. As if people thought that The Portcullis Arms would just call last orders an close its doors for good. To quote Mark Twain “rumours of my death are greatly exaggerated” and I am shocked that anyone would make such an assumption, after all, don’t you know what assumption did? It made a sump out of tion and ass!

So the games a foot for 2009 and next year’s guest list is being drawn up as from today. So get your request in and make sure that you are where the people that matter hang out next year at Infosec 2009. See you at Earl’s Court at the all new Portcullis Arms.