Thank you to everyone who joined us for State of the A this morning. Whether you asked a question, shared an idea, or came to see what the Atlanta chapter of the GRC Engineering Club is all about, I'm glad you were there.
As Director of Membership, I think a lot about what it feels like to walk into a new community. You shouldn't need years of experience, a perfect résumé, or an impressive project to find your people. You should be able to show up curious, find a welcoming conversation, and discover somewhere to contribute.
We have nearly 30 people on the chapter roster, including 15 paid members. We're five paid members away from the 20 needed for official chapter status. That's an exciting milestone to work toward, but it isn't why we're here. We want the chapter to be worth showing up for, whether you're our first member or our fiftieth.
What We Shared
We talked about building relationships rather than chasing reach, making room for participation rather than performance, and keeping the community accessible. Bring questions. Bring the spreadsheet you're trying to improve. Bring an experiment that didn't work. Learning with others is the point.
We also talked about Pittsburgh Yard as a potential home base and a place to connect with one another. That's part of a bigger goal: giving Atlanta practitioners more opportunities to meet, learn, and build together.
One new resource we shared is the GRC Vibe Coder's Playbook. It offers a beginner-friendly path from an idea to a small, understandable project with AI tools, engineering habits, and human judgment throughout. You don't need to be a software engineer to start learning by building.
Someone asked whether chapter events will be mostly virtual or in person. It's a fair question. Our approach right now is to connect members with the many worthwhile technology and security events already happening in and around Atlanta while we develop more programming of our own. We'll mix formats where they serve the community. And we already have an in-person Atlanta gathering on the 2027 calendar, with GRC Engineering Club founder AJ Yawn joining us for the Home Turf Tour.
Our leadership team is growing, too. Please welcome Robin Blake, our new Secretary, and Tranichsha Williamson, our Regional Director for West Georgia. We also want to cheer on the Augusta chapter team as they prepare for their own in-person kickoff following BSides Augusta. They're building their own community, and we're happy to see it grow.
See You at the Next One
Our next Atlanta chapter workshop is Build Your First Compliance Pipeline with Nick McLaren, on Thursday, October 15, at 6 PM ET. We'll look at how practical engineering techniques can help with compliance evidence. You can register on Luma.
If you came to State of the A wondering whether there's a place for you here, I hope you left knowing the answer is yes. And if you couldn't join us, there's plenty of room to get involved. Explore the events calendar, read the Field Guide, and bring someone along next time.
Thank you for helping us start this chapter. Now let's keep building it together.