For those of you who live in the Miami, Fla., or Orange County, Calif., areas, you have an excuse to stay out late this evening. Drop by the WITI panel discussion on security and PCI compliance in Miami or the OCEAN User Group monthly meeting in Costa Mesa, Calif.

Our friend Gary Palgon from nuBridges will join Silka Gonzalez, a risk management expert, and Michael Freer, the Tyco Safety Products director of enabling technologies, in the Miami panel discusion focusing on the costs and benefits of PCI and DSS security standards. The security and compliance sector is slated to become a $10 billion industry by 2013, so this event could be a good opportunity to network and become better acquainted with the issues. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. at Assurant Solutions, 11222 Qual Roost Drive (see the MC Press Events Calendar for more information and to register).

Bob Langieri and Carole Comeau, both of whom have their fingers on the pulse of the IT job market in Southern California, will give a presentation at the OCEAN User Group meeting tonight and will share their views on today's job market, what employers are looking for, and what's happening with outsourcing. A special presentation by Jorge Sanguinetti of Perot Systems-at-Apria on Web services concepts for beginners will preceed their talk. The nice thing about OCEAN meetings is you always get to eat, and tonight it's free. Dinner and networking begin at 6:00 p.m. at the IBM-FileNet building, 3545 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa. See the listing in the MC Press Events Calendar or register online at www.ocean400.org.