Sponsorship Opportunities
Five ways to sponsor CISO.POKER — from anchoring the prize pool to owning the room, the production, the hospitality, or the community that fills the seats.
How Sponsorship Works
Anchor, production, hospitality, prize, or community. Each has its own contribution model and benefits. Some are exclusive; most allow one sponsor per slot.
On the felt, in the chip stack, on the card decks, on the prize envelope, at the bar — wherever it makes sense for your category. No banner stands. Physical items are custom manufactured at CISO Gear.
Prize contributors get 60 seconds at the ceremony. Production and hospitality sponsors are credited when the thing they funded is introduced. One honest sentence, in front of a room that's paying attention.
We don't badge-scan attendees. We don't build lead lists for sponsors. The room trusts the environment because of this — which is why the conversations you have here are worth more than a list of emails you'd never get responses from anyway.
Every sponsor gets a dedicated NFC poker chip — locked URL, your destination, live tap analytics. Someone who picks it up and taps it in a room full of CISOs is a warm signal no badge scan can replicate. Chip is yours after the event.
How the chip system works →Each sponsor gets a unique referral code that appears on the seat application form. Every CISO who applies using your code is attributed to your company — from the first outreach to confirmed seat. Pre-event pipeline visibility, not just night-of presence.
Together: full-funnel view from outreach to room. Who you brought, who tapped, who sat down.
◆ FeltIQ — Sponsor Intelligence Benefit
FeltIQ debuts at HSC 2026 — our anonymous, real-time intelligence
platform, designed to run at every CISO.POKER event going forward. Tablet kiosks at
check-in, poker tables, food stations, and breaks capture fast, adaptive responses
from attendees throughout the night. No surveys. No forms. No badge scans.
Sponsors receive a post-event FeltIQ Intelligence Report — anonymized
aggregate analysis of what the room actually thinks. What AI risk concerns are driving
budgets. Which vendor categories are trusted vs. oversold. Where security leaders see
gaps in their stack. What they're worried about heading into next year.
127 questions across 16 categories. 80+ security decision-makers. Zero personally
identifiable data. The kind of signal that takes months and five figures to replicate
through traditional market research — delivered the week after the event.
♣ Coalition Giving — Every Event Writes a Check
5% of every CyberAdX sponsor contribution flows post-event to a small coalition of
cybersecurity 501(c)(3) nonprofits chosen for that event's audience.
No extra effort on your side — the check gets written automatically.
Receipts published within 30 days of the event.
For CISO.poker Hacker Summer Camp 2026, the coalition is:
Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS),
Shadowserver Foundation,
ISRG / Let's Encrypt, and the
Information Security Leadership Foundation (ISLF) — across workforce,
infrastructure, and future leadership.
Anchor Sponsor
One open slot for a top-tier sponsor wanting top billing on the contributor list. VC firm, platform vendor, or industry leader.
The anchor position is exclusive and non-recurring. Once contracted, the anchor sponsor holds first right of refusal on the next CISO.POKER flagship event — first crack at renewal before any new solicitation opens publicly.
Anchor name leads all event communications, signage, and post-event coverage as the presenting sponsor of The Stack.
If a VC firm anchors, the umbrella covers participating portfolio companies. Each contributing company gets their own Stack contributor slot and 60-second ceremony moment.
Anchor automatically claims one of the five Stack contributor slots — donate enterprise product access, get the 60-second ceremony moment, logo on all prize materials.
A reserved seat at the tournament for an anchor representative — playing alongside CISOs, not pitching to them.
Firms that bring 15–20 verified CISOs qualify for a community anchor credit — your name on the room you helped fill.
Production Sponsor
Your brand is physically present at every table, in every hand, for the entire night.
Physical items (card guards, trophy, chips) are manufactured in-house at CISO Gear — our 3D print farm. Custom geometry and branding available. View gear page →
Branded playing cards at every table. Not available for HSC 2026 — the venue (casino card room) supplies cards per Nevada gaming regulations. Available for non-casino future events.
One denomination of the chip stack carries your logo. Not available for HSC 2026 — venue supplies tournament chips. Available for non-casino future events.
Custom 3D-printed sponsor signage at every table — produced in-house at CISO Gear, branded for any sponsor, present in every video clip and table photo throughout the night. Reliable fallback for venues that supply their own cards/chips.
Per-player card guards custom printed by CISO Gear with your logo. Players use them all night — and most take them home.
The championship piece. Produced in-house at CISO Gear (CISO Marketplace ecosystem) for HSC 2026 — on-time delivery and consistent quality guaranteed. Custom 3D-printed, presented at the winner moment. Open for non-CISO-Gear-led future events.
Logo placement on the felt at designated tables. Not available for HSC 2026 — venue uses house-supplied felt per gaming regulations. Available for non-casino future events. (3D-Printed Sponsor Table Signs above are the alternative — same visibility, different format.)
Fund the event documentation — highlight reel, final table coverage, winner moment. Sponsored by CyberAdX Network for HSC 2026 — the marketing engine behind every CISO.POKER event handles videography in-house. Open for non-CyberAdX-led future events.
Hospitality Sponsor
Own the room. Own the night. The venue and everything in it can carry your name.
Buy out the event space. 'The Stack at [Your Brand] — presented by CISO.POKER.' The room is yours.
Private VIP suite adjacent to the tournament floor for executive conversations, media, and final-table watching.
Negotiate and fund a block of rooms at the venue hotel for attendees. Your name on every room key envelope.
Sponsor the open bar, the break food, or both. The night runs on what you provide. Every attendee notices.
Prize Sponsor
The prize is the whole point. Every category of it can carry a sponsor.
Contribute donated enterprise product access to The Stack — 1-year access, PoC, trial, policy pack, or offensive security review all qualify. Five contributor slots total. 60-second ceremony moment, logo on all prize materials, sponsor seat at the tables. Specifics discussed privately.
Mid-tournament format: players who get knocked out draw a mystery envelope. Sponsor the bounty pool with product credits, hardware, or experiences.
Every player receives a bag at registration. Sponsor the bag itself, or contribute an item. Branded apparel sourced through Security By Design (securitybydesign.shop) — our print-on-demand arm for t-shirts, hats, and community swag.
Sponsor the 2nd and 3rd place prizes independently of the main Stack contribution. Smaller commitment, still named at the ceremony.
Community Partner
The most valuable thing you can contribute isn't money. It's the right people.
If you place CISOs and can bring 10–20 verified security executives to the event, we want to talk. Your name goes on the cohort you help fill.
BSides organizers, DEF CON villages, security community groups — if your community overlaps with ours, co-hosting an underground tier makes sense.
Security podcasts, newsletters, and media properties that can amplify the event to the right audience. Coverage traded for access.
ISACA, ISC², ISSA, or similar — if your membership includes working CISOs, a formal partnership gets your members into the room.
HSC 2026 — Sponsorship Status
The anchor sponsor slot is open — VC firm, platform vendor, or industry leader can
claim top billing. All five Stack contributor slots are open. All other categories
are open for the inaugural event.
The event is Wednesday August 5, 2026, Las Vegas Strip, during DEF CON / Black Hat week.
75–100 CISOs. Three hours. The Stack as the grand prize, plus mystery bounties at
every elimination and a runner-up package. First-time sponsorships establish first
right of refusal on the next CISO.POKER flagship event.
Sponsorship Availability — HSC 2026
Want to host your own event?
Hosting a CISO.POKER event in your city or at your conference is a separate track from sponsoring an existing one. We handle production, you bring the room.
Sponsor Application
Select your category and describe what you'd contribute. We respond within two business days. If you're a VC applying on behalf of a portfolio, or an executive search firm with CISOs to bring — note that in the form.
Prefer email? [email protected]
First right of refusal
Companies that sponsor any category at HSC 2026 receive first right of refusal for the same category at the next CISO.POKER event before solicitation opens publicly.
Future event interest
Not ready to commit to HSC 2026 but want to be in the loop for future events? Select "Future Events" or "Open" as your scope — we'll reach out when the next event is announced.
Invite-only Texas Hold'em for 75–100 CISOs and senior security leaders. Free entry. No badge scans. No pitches. Real conversations across the table.
75–100 seats · Applications reviewed manually
Host a CISO.POKER Event
Tell us the basics — we respond within 3 business days. Full details on the host page →
Inquiry received.
We'll follow up within 3 business days. Check your email for a confirmation.
View full host page →