Newbie Track: surviving defcon and other related items

[valkyrie]

Shit, has the Toxic BBQ really been going on for five years?

Yes, and they have served more than shite burgers. :-)

Okie. I am an adverse creature and don't really like you people (Lie number 1). It has been posited by people I actually like and respect to do some kind of noobish thing to acquaint said noobs with the vagaries of that which is DefCon. Ok, so, if anyone is interested, I will pony up and attempt to speed school folks who are interested (Why, WHYWHYWHY do I do this to myself, why?). The speed topics would include: Why you shouldn't annoy Priest; how NOT to attend a party; "That guy is Roamer and don't poke the beast"; "I am not here for your personal benefit, gee, why don't you shower?" and the ever popular, "Guess what? It's not all about you!" For some of the ladies? "Computers really are cool" and, "Vegas: It's really NOT all about shopping."

Seriously, for anyone who desires a clue? We (that is the pontifical "we") are putting together a forum for the noobs and the nervous. Oldsters who have behavior issues are also welcome to attend. It's the least that can be done for a group of people I don't care a rats butt about (Lie number 2).

We will convene in the parking garage prior to the TBBQ. Or perhaps the powers that be will give us actual meeting space. Stay tuned.

Regards,

Valkyrie
__________________________________________________ _____________
sapere aude

[HighWiz]

Re: Defcon 17 suggestions

I can only verify the last three years. Did not know about it my first year at Defcon but I am pretty sure five years is the correct number.

It wasn't an actual question, but thanks for the thought.

Okie. I am an adverse creature and don't really like you people (Lie number 1). It has been posited by people I actually like and respect to do some kind of noobish thing to acquaint said noobs with the vagaries of that which is DefCon. Ok, so, if anyone is interested, I will pony up and attempt to speed school folks who are interested (Why, WHYWHYWHY do I do this to myself, why?). The speed topics would include: Why you shouldn't annoy Priest; how NOT to attend a party; "That guy is Roamer and don't poke the beast"; "I am not here for your personal benefit, gee, why don't you shower?" and the ever popular, "Guess what? It's not all about you!" For some of the ladies? "Computers really are cool" and, "Vegas: It's really NOT all about shopping."

Seriously, for anyone who desires a clue? We (that is the pontifical "we") are putting together a forum for the noobs and the nervous. Oldsters who have behavior issues are also welcome to attend. It's the least that can be done for a group of people I don't care a rats butt about (Lie number 2).

We will convene in the parking garage prior to the TBBQ. Or perhaps the powers that be will give us actual meeting space. Stay tuned.

At first when I read this thread, I didn't really give much credence to the concept of a n00b track/break out session/'forum' on Thursday. But the more I let it rattle around in my head, the more I start to believe it's not a horrible idea.

Granted there are logistical issues that may arise both from a conference as well as an attendee perspective, but it doesn't diminish the veracity of the original concept.

Perhaps TheCotMan can break this specific discussion off into another thread?

[valkyrie]

Re: Defcon 17 suggestions

It wasn't an actual question, but thanks for the thought.



At first when I read this thread, I didn't really give much credence to the concept of a n00b track/break out session/'forum' on Thursday. But the more I let it rattle around in my head, the more I start to believe it's not a horrible idea.

Granted there are logistical issues that may arise both from a conference as well as an attendee perspective, but it doesn't diminish the veracity of the original concept.

Perhaps TheCotMan can break this specific discussion off into another thread?

Charmed to know you are on board. And leave my horse out of this.

Regards,

valkyrie
__________________________________________________ ___________________
sapere aude

[HighWiz]

Re: Defcon 17 suggestions

Charmed to know you are on board. And leave my horse out of this.

Regards,

valkyrie
__________________________________________________ ___________________
sapere aude

So who else is on board?

I saw Astcell say:

Count me in. We were all n00bs one and how son we forget. We are only where we are because we found a good role model to latch onto for our first dive into the community.

.

I'm sure there must be other people who want to throw in? What are yours/everyone elses ideas on logistics? How bout ideas on talks that can be given? Thoughts on how it will be run so as to not negatively impact the other events already on Thursday (ie: ToxicBBQ).

I talked to TheCotMan about creating a category under "Projects" as this is may be a perfect/ideal use for that forum function. Though I suppose it could also be slaved under Contest/Events as well in the Projects area.

[Thorn]

Re: Newbie Track: surviving defcon

Suggestion: This is probably stating the obvious, but HighWiz's FAQ would be my choice for a starting point for what to tell newbies. It's wonderful, and covers about 99% of what they need to know. Use that for a handout.

[HighWiz]

Re: Newbie Track: surviving defcon

Suggestion: This is probably stating the obvious, but HighWiz's FAQ would be my choice for a starting point for what to tell newbies. It's wonderful, and covers about 99% of what they need to know. Use that for a handout.

Over the past month, I've been working on version 2.0 . And looking at it/taking it from a New Attendees perspective there definitely are a lot of things at the con that remain unknown... Even in my own research the forums hold a lot of good questions and answers, but sometimes the threads have so much useless crap in them that getting to the actual meat is a harrowing prospect.

There is also a lot of information and ground to cover, all of the major sections of the FAQ itself have expanded in the number of questions. With the Con being larger both in attendance and contest/events there's a helluva lot going on.

There were even a few questions that I had that I couldn't even find an answer to on the forums. Luckily I knew who I could go to and ask, whereas someone who is new may not know or may be too intimidated to. Even the jargon that the forums members themselves throw around leaves some gaps. Take HHV for example... Everyone here probably knows it refers to Hardware Hacking Village, but it fails the search criteria since it's only three characters.

In relation to the Newbie track, I wish/would hope that some of the media would attend since it would probably help them as much the "newbies".


My point is that an intro to defcon or something along those lines isn't a bad idea. Though the format and best way to convey that information is still something I'm split on. I'll post more on that matter after I give it some more thought.


I believe that the newbie track (or whatever it's called) should cover much more than that though. I think you (Thorn) would be a good presenter in relation to some wireless info. Dealing with the "newbies" will/would take a certain type of presenter that I think you would be ideal for...

[TheCotMan]

Re: Defcon 17 suggestions

I talked to TheCotMan about creating a category under "Projects" as this is may be a perfect/ideal use for that forum function. Though I suppose it could also be slaved under Contest/Events as well in the Projects area.

The way I was looking to accomplish this was to have a single, shared project space for all contests and events that desired them.
Refinement and selection is done by using the "Version" pull down menu to choose the contest or event, and the other pull down menus to specify what the task is related to:

https://forum.defcon.org/project.php...st&projectid=3

New labels, versions, and the items in many of the pull-down menus can be altered or expanded with new items.

To see this, choose to create a new task.

We could add back bugs and feature requests to the project space, but those didn't make sense in contest/event planning.

The thought was to move the same project space to each contest/even each year.

Yesterday, I added "Defcon Thursday Event Planning" which can be expanded to specific thursday events having their own version if that is desired.

[valkyrie]

Re: Defcon 17 suggestions

So who else is on board?

I saw Astcell say: .

I'm sure there must be other people who want to throw in? What are yours/everyone elses ideas on logistics? How bout ideas on talks that can be given? Thoughts on how it will be run so as to not negatively impact the other events already on Thursday (ie: ToxicBBQ).

I talked to TheCotMan about creating a category under "Projects" as this is may be a perfect/ideal use for that forum function. Though I suppose it could also be slaved under Contest/Events as well in the Projects area.

Thorn's idea is a good place to start. Your FAQ is indeed most awesome and would work as a handout. I suggested doing speed talks because some people can't/don't like to read and I am sure the level of comfort and confidence would be increased by actually having warm bodies talk to one. AstCell had some interesting suggestions regarding this.

Regards,

valkyrie
__________________________________________________ _____________
sapere aude

[Dallas]

Re: Defcon 17 suggestions

Count me in, this would help a lot. I think the newbies could benefit. I think your topics are all valid, maybe include a copy of the FAQ on CD for everyone to take with them from the session. But as always, plan it before the TBBQ so we can give them the opportunity to come...

Thorn's idea is a good place to start. Your FAQ is indeed most awesome and would work as a handout. I suggested doing speed talks because some people can't/don't like to read and I am sure the level of comfort and confidence would be increased by actually having warm bodies talk to one. AstCell had some interesting suggestions regarding this.

Regards,

valkyrie
__________________________________________________ _____________
sapere aude

[Sereyna]

Re: Newbie Track: surviving defcon

As a computer-con-newbie, I second all the comments that this is an awesome idea, and vouch for the fact that I, for one, would be attending. My younger sister as well, since we're flying in together Wednesday. As a other-convention attendee of over a decade, and a co-chair of events for half that time, I'd love to help out in any capacity that I might be able to fill.

[renderman]

Re: Newbie Track: surviving defcon

I am more than willing to throw my fedora into this as well to share insights on surviving as I have for the last 10 year of DC.

I think that it would be a good sign if someone showed up to this, it would show that the newb has an interest in learning which bodes well all around. I think that press should also be asked nicely or even forced to attend such an event to get them some background (aside from the ground rules established by the press wranglers).

Think of it like orientation at a University rather than a list of things that will get you kicked out.

In particular, I would suggest that photo's of key people (DT, Priest, Russ, Roamer, etc) be shown along with the human equivalent of Material Safety Data Sheets of not pissing them off, or what is worth bugging them about (i.e. this is the Goon shirt, they are here for fun enforcement, if someone preventing you from having fun by being a dick, bring this to their attention)

[Thorn]

Re: Newbie Track: surviving defcon

...

In particular, I would suggest that photo's of key people (DT, Priest, Russ, Roamer, etc) be shown along with the human equivalent of Material Safety Data Sheets of not pissing them off, or what is worth bugging them about (i.e. this is the Goon shirt, they are here for fun enforcement, if someone preventing you from having fun by being a dick, bring this to their attention)

Funny, I had almost the same idea of some slides/photos:

You approaching a big guy in a red shirt for help: Good.
Big guy in a red shirt quickly approaching you: Bad
Several big guys in red shirts approaching you at a high rate of speed: Don't bother running, you'll just die tired.

[afterburn188]

Re: Newbie Track: surviving defcon

Well I exactly don't know what I could bring to the table but I plan to be around as early as Wednesday and would be willing to help. I think this is a great idea. For DC16 my group was hanging around Wed and Thursday not knowing what to do until Friday. Found out about Sushicon and the Toxic BBQ by searching the forums once we got to Vegas. This would have been perfect in that instance. So yeah, I'll be there. I will have almost all our equipment by Thursday so if there's any need for a hardware related mini-talk, I think we can assist with that.

[HighWiz]

Re: Newbie Track: surviving defcon

Thorn's idea is a good place to start. Your FAQ is indeed most awesome and would work as a handout. I suggested doing speed talks because some people can't/don't like to read and I am sure the level of comfort and confidence would be increased by actually having warm bodies talk to one. AstCell had some interesting suggestions regarding this.

I'll cover this in a seperate posting, but needless to say, I wouldn't just give out the FAQ as a handout... I'll cover my thoughts when I have the time to write a detailed posting.

Funny, I had almost the same idea of some slides/photos:

You approaching a big guy in a red shirt for help: Good.
Big guy in a red shirt quickly approaching you: Bad
Several big guys in red shirts approaching you at a high rate of speed: Don't bother running, you'll just die tired.

I am more than willing to throw my fedora into this as well to share insights on surviving as I have for the last 10 year of DC.

I think that it would be a good sign if someone showed up to this, it would show that the newb has an interest in learning which bodes well all around. I think that press should also be asked nicely or even forced to attend such an event to get them some background (aside from the ground rules established by the press wranglers).

Think of it like orientation at a University rather than a list of things that will get you kicked out.

Let's move on from the singular idea of "Intro to new people at Defcon or DefCon Survival". It's a good idea, but what else is there? Wireless, Lock picking, etc... What other idea's are there? These are intro tracks for newbies, I'm sure some people have some good ones even if they themselves don't wish to give the talk. Idea's?

[Thorn]

Re: Newbie Track: surviving defcon

I'll cover this in a seperate posting, but needless to say, I wouldn't just give out the FAQ as a handout... I'll cover my thoughts when I have the time to write a detailed posting.







Let's move on from the singular idea of "Intro to new people at Defcon or DefCon Survival". It's a good idea, but what else is there? Wireless, Lock picking, etc... What other idea's are there? These are intro tracks for newbies, I'm sure some people have some good ones even if they themselves don't wish to give the talk. Idea's?

Well, the questions I'd ask is 'how long would this be? Are we talking just and hour or two, or longer?' A bunch of 5 to 10 minute long "Quick Intro to ____" could be fit in to an hour in addition to a "Basic Survival Guide".

Lessee, suitable topics...

Contests, Why You Should Take Part
The Black & White Balls
The Villages: Lockpick, Wireless, Hardware
Socialize! There Are 7000 People Here. Meet Some!
The Press: Why Some Think You're the Evil HaX0rz 1337 (And Why The Press Is Wrong)
Why There Are So Many Feds
Why Pool 3 Is Purple (Uh, strike that one...)