We've had a couple of very interesting presentations on the OWASP London Chapter December 6th meeting. They are now available for download from the Chapter page or directly from here:
Getting good turnout at OWASP London meetings is traditionally difficult. There were 13 people attending the meeting in September (the first meeting I organised) with 18 people showing up in December. (Is this a positive trend? Probably too early to tell.) Some other Chapters don't seem to have problems with low attendance (for example those in Belgium, Israel, New York, to name a few) but having 18 people turn up -- in spite of the horrible weather we've had on the day -- is a success in London.
I am sure there is no shortage of people in London interested in computer security but finding a way to get them to attend OWASP meetings still eludes us. Adrian, one of the speakers at the most recent meeting, shares the sentiment in his blog post. So does Daniel, who had started the Chapter and organised many of its meetings:
Having started the OWASP London chapter and sorted a few London meetings, I can tell you it's a damn hard job. The problem with London is that everyone is busy, and after a long day you often feel like going home and relaxing with the family/wife/girlfriend/boyfriend etc. It sucks, I wish it was more like the US side of things, but it's a price you pay for being in such an aggressive market.
I am sure of a few things, though: hard work and persistence are the essential ingredients. Our biggest problem, however, may be with the lack of proper marketing. I am guessing most of the people who would be interested in attending have no idea about the meetings at all. Oh, well. One more thing to add to my to-do list!