The show actually kicks off tomorrow with keynotes from RSA chief, Art Coviello, John Thompson, Symantec CEO and Craig Mundie, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer. But I came in San Francisco this afternoon for a Microsoft meeting in advance of their "vision" announcements on enabling "End-to-End Trust" (post and video coming soon) and to check out the opening reception with a quick visit of the busy show floor.

The 17th annual event is expected to draw more than 17,000 attendees of the security IT industry, both techies and "suits". This year more than 400 of the industry’s top companies will exhibit at RSA and according to the organisers 550 speakers in more than 240 educational sessions will discuss the latest IT security trends and technologies.

In comparison, there was
- more than 14,000 attendees in 2006, and more than 17,000 in 2007;
-441 speakers in 2006 and 459 in 2007;
- more than 300 vendors in 2006, and more than 340 in 2007;
- 17 tracks and more than 200 sessions in 2006, and 19 tracks and more than 220 sessions in 2007.