Normally finding a vendor match is time consuming. Researching candidates, sitting through introductory meetings, gathering the team – it takes so much time! With Express Connect, you’ll be able to bounce from vendor to vendor in 30-minute sessions and more likely you’ll know what feels right, and what does not. When you get home from CEIC West your vendor selection process will have truly hit the Express button.

Attendees will designate an interest in participating in the Express Connect program when registering for the conference.  Interested attendees are contacted April 24^th with an invitation from Forum Makers to build their Attendee Company Profile.

Step 1: Building the Attendee Company Profile: Attendees are invited to build their Attendee profile on the Express Connect app and must have this complete by April 30^th.

Step 2: Booking Meetings Once the Attendee Company profile is built, the next step is to set the Attendee schedule by accepting invitations from the Hosts or booking directly on the app. This must be done by April 30^th to ensure the best chance at getting the meetings and times you prefer.

• By Host Invitation: If a host reviews your profile and has interest, they may invite you to meet with them.  You’ll be notified in the app and by email. 
• Browse Available Sessions: Hosts may make some of their sessions available on a first-come, first-served basis. Once you book an available session both you and the host will be notified.  Please respect the hosts limited time and only book sessions that you fully intend to attend.

Step 3: Inviting Peers Once you have a reservation for a session, you may invite your peers to attend with you.  When they accept your invitation, everyone will be notified.

All Attendee Companies will be able to book meetings with Hosts throughout the duration of the conference for any remaining spots marked as “Available.”

Interested organizations that are Registered Provider Organizations (RPOs), Certified Third-Party Assessor Organizations (C3PAOs), MSPs, MSSPs, and companies with Product Offerings (Cybersecurity Tools, Cyber-GRC tools) sign up to be an Express Connect Host on the CEIC website between January 1- May 1, 2025.

Step 1: Building your Host Profile: Hosts are invited to build their company profile on the Express Connect Portal (app) on April 24^th.

• Categorize your services so that attendees understand your offer. 
• Indicate the roles and types of companies/individuals you would like to meet.
• Optional: Add an exclusive offer to entice Attendees.

Step 2: Set Availability: Once your Host profile is built you will then set up your schedule indicating the available dates and times at the CEIC West conference that you would like to have meetings.

Wednesday, May 21^st from 9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Thursday, May 22^nd from 9:00 am – 4:30 pm

Each Host will have the opportunity to have up to 16 meetings each day (30-minute max. per meeting).

• Identify each timeslot as either “Reserved” or “Available” for both days on the Host schedule. Do not miss this step.  Failure to allocate your sessions will result in no meetings.  
  • Identify a meeting slot as “Reserved” if you would like to invite a particular Attendee to meet with you, or if you’d like to attend the main conference during that time.
  • Identify a meeting slot as “Available” to enable attendees to book with you at their discretion rather than yours.
• You may reclassify session times as either “Reserved” or “Available” at any time, until it is booked

Step 3: Invite Attendees to Reserved Sessions

• Hosts will be provided with a list of all attendees interested in Express Connect weekly beginning on May 1^st, and you may send invitations to your “Reserved” sessions to anyone on the list.
• The Express Connect app will notify the Host and the Attendee when someone accepts an invitation to a meeting or books an “Available” slot with you.