Maria & Gianna Dish: CyberMarketingCon 2026, Chompers the Sloth, and a Secret Discount Code

SPEAKER_1 (0:02)

You're listening to the CyberWire Network, powered by N2K.

Gianna Whitver (0:09)

That's my problem. I feel like my eyes are like in shadow. I'm using a camera, can you tell?

Maria (0:14)

They are a little, but I like it. I think it's giving like a nice like studio vibe.

Gianna Whitver (0:19)

Okay. Not like a demonic possession vibe, like?

Maria (0:22)

No, no, no. Don't look demonic.

Gianna Whitver (0:25)

Okay.

Maria (0:27)

It's still too early to get demonic, no?

Gianna Whitver (0:30)

We'll get demonic at five. That's when I get demonic.

SPEAKER_1 (0:33)

Welcome to the Breaking Through in Cybersecurity Marketing podcast, where we explore the hottest topics in cyber marketing, interview experts, and help you become a better cybersecurity marketer.

Gianna Whitver (0:52)

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Breaking Through in Cybersecurity Marketing. I'm your host, Gianna Whitver, here with the beautiful and magnanimous.

Maria (1:03)

Back, baby, Maria.

Gianna Whitver (1:07)

That was very beautiful and magnanimous. We know her, we love her. She's co-founder of the Cybersecurity Marketing Society, co-founder of this amazing drink called Purple Drop. Also, by the way, everyone visit, what's the website, Maria, for Purple Drop?

Maria (1:24)

thepurpledrop.com.

Gianna Whitver (1:27)

thepurpledrop.com. Get a case, get a four-pack or a six-pack or a keg.

It's not an alcoholic drink, I'm just kidding. And head of growth marketing over at Brinca, Maria, the multi-talented, the amazing. And thank you for being on.

Maria (1:42)

Hola, hola on this fabulous Saturday morning.

Gianna Whitver (1:45)

That's right, folks. We're doing a Saturday morning episode. We are so excited. We can't wait till Monday to start. Today's convo is all about Cyber Marketing Con.

It is, I got to say, probably the best, the biggest, the most fun, the most exciting event for cybersecurity marketing and go-to-market of the year. And it's happening in just a few months in November, November 15th through 18th in Austin, Texas, this year as well as live streamed globally around the world. What are you excited about for Cyber Marketing Con?

Maria (2:16)

I am really excited about the theme this year, Create Your Own Adventure, because really the reality of the day-to-day in cyber marketing is you do have to create and build your own adventure.

Not every playbook works for everyone, and everybody's product is different, budget is different, and so should your strategy. So it'll be really, really cool to see what people do with that adventure at CybermarketingCon across the three days.

Gianna Whitver (2:42)

I love it so much. Obviously, we internally put together the theme, but I think it really captures this point in time where us as marketers, we cannot rely on old playbooks. There are no playbooks, like you said, and also we have this point in time right now where everything is very AI enabled. You have tools at your disposal as a marketer that you maybe didn't have even just four or five years ago.

You can go ahead and you can create things. I know Maria, the marketing team at Brinca created an awesome ROI calculator yourself. You didn't have to buy it, you didn't have to ask Dev to build it, right?

Maria (3:19)

That's right. It's different times and we talk about this all the time, my colleagues and I, my CMO and I, we talk about how just two or three years ago, we didn't have everything we have today. It really truly feels like a completely different decade or even century.

Looking back at pre-AI and post-AI type Cybersecurity Marketing, it's a different world. Of course, a lot of pros and cons and a lot of noise and you have to do the extra work to be selective about what to pick and what actually is going to work and not everything that Claude and ChatGPT comes up with for you in terms of campaign ideas or even video ideas or content ideas do you need to actually do. You have to now take the time to really fine-tune it and understand what's actually going to work and what's actually going to build your pipeline at the end of the day.

Gianna Whitver (4:10)

Yeah. Marketers are incredibly empowered, but with all of this power comes great responsibility, where sometimes Claude has a great idea or a great start to something that you take forward. Sometimes he should just be fired straight, fired.

Maria (4:28)

One of my colleagues called Claude her boyfriend. My boyfriend Claude said, we think it's hilarious.

Gianna Whitver (4:39)

So what makes the Cyber Innovation Conference different? Well, it's who's actually in the room. CISOs, founders, active investors. These are the people writing checks and shaping where this industry goes next. And it's all happening in Washington, DC, October 26th and 27th this year. Sponsor slots are capped on purpose, so you're not sharing the room with 300 other logos. The Cyber Innovation Conference is where the cybersecurity community is actually together. It's the builders, the buyers, and the people funding what's next, having real conversations instead of trading business cards on an expo floor. As a Cybersecurity Marketing Society member, you get 10% off your sponsorship when you sign up before the conference kicks off October 26th. Put your remaining 2026 budget where the real conversations are happening. Visit cyberinnovationconference.com/sponsors and mention Cybersecurity Marketing Society or shortened CMS to lock in your discount.