Welcome to fwd:cloudsec 2024!

Overview: fwd:cloudsec organizers deliver the 2024 North America welcome address, declaring independence from co-location with re:Invent to preserve the conference's practitioner-focused community identity.

Key Topics: fwd:cloudsec's fifth year and first intentional scheduling separation from AWS re:Invent; the value of independent cloud security dialogue; commitment to open knowledge sharing; and building community for the next five years.

Technical Details: Organizers frame the scheduling change as deliberate independence, allowing open dialogue between researchers, developers, and practitioners without vendor conference dynamics influencing content or attendance.

Takeaways: Independent security conferences serve distinct community needs that vendor-adjacent events cannot fulfill. Practitioners should support communities prioritizing open dialogue over marketing.