It's the most wonderful time, of the year. Yes, that's right, Infosec is upon us again; or it has been for the last fortnight if you've been fielding call after call from firms eager to show you their latest version .1.1.2 upgrade. My plan this time is simple. Get to Olympia, find a seat in the keynote theatre, cover up my name badge, take some notes and get the hell out. Think it'll work?

Depending on who you talk to, the show is either a massive waste of time and money, or a great place to meet potential customers and partners and generally promote your company. For the IT security chief, there's a strong case for saying that shows like these are a dying breed, dinosaurs which have grown too big and broad to get around and gain any real value from. Trend Micro are notable exceptions this year and to be honest from a vendor point of view any news announcements you make at the event are likely to be lost in the noise. The thing is though, other big names have gone missing before but they always seem to come back, so maybe you do have to have a presence here, less because the show offers value and more because of the message you're sending out if you’re missing.