Contest Leaders and Organizers: Call for your info!

[TheCotMan]

I just spoke to Russ by email, and said to go ahead and post this for him in the public space:

If you are planning to run a contest or event at Defcon this year, please get your information to Russ. He has created a Word doc for you to read, review and follow for what is expected of you in registering your contest and getting resources that you need (like space on the contest floor.)

Here is the the word doc he asked several of us to post anywhere appropriate.

Around the start of June, if contests/events at the Riv listed in the forums have not made arrangements as required, I'll be disabling those forums, and/or moving their threads into a space to show it looks like they aren't going to happen, and additionally communicate with Neil about contests or events that haven't been cleared. Forums are only a convenience for leaders/organizers and participants, but leaving them up when the event isn't allocated/approved would be misleading.

Don't be surprised if I post a reply here once a month as a reminder.

Thanks!

[[Syntax]]

Re: Contest Leaders and Organizers: Call for your info!

Ive been waiting to submit my event info because I had some questions but have not heard back from anyone.
This being the first year Im hosting an event myself.

Russ mentioned being short 32 contest badges last year... what are those?
Also a previous email said to submit photos of the POC's so security would allow them into the contest area pre-con. (where do I submit the pictures & names)
Or will this be done at the pre-con meeting?
The question sheet asks for a description of the event & logo, how large should that be? should it be formatted? is this what will appear in the conference schedule? (attache a word doc?)

[shrdlu]

Re: Contest Leaders and Organizers: Call for your info!

Ive been waiting to submit my event info because I had some questions but have not heard back from anyone.
This being the first year Im hosting an event myself.

Russ mentioned being short 32 contest badges last year... what are those?
Also a previous email said to submit photos of the POC's so security would allow them into the contest area pre-con. (where do I submit the pictures & names)
Or will this be done at the pre-con meeting?
The question sheet asks for a description of the event & logo, how large should that be? should it be formatted? is this what will appear in the conference schedule? (attache a word doc?)

Having run a contest for the past ten years, let me step in and answer some of your questions. Cot may step in and add to them, but at least I can increase your comfort level.

Contest badges were a new thing last year. The POCs for the contest received them. You still pay the price of a regular badge, but you then have this enormously rare memento instead. They ran short of all sorts of badges; contest badges just shared the pain (as you'll recall).

Describe the event. Remember that this description will appear in the program, so SPELL CHECK it. Have someone grammar check it. Heck, post it here, and I'll check it for grammar personally. The logo is the same. Don't make it huge; no point in it it. Note the little coffee cup emblem at the top of the page here? (http://www.coffeewars.org/) That's pretty much what we use. Formatted? hahahaha! Um, jpeg, gif, one of those kind of things?

Yes, appears in the conference schedule, and should be reasonably brief, and yet descriptive and catchy. I went over to look at the announcement on your forum.

https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=10134

I don't think I'd use that, unless you want to rewrite it a bit. That describes what the rules are, but not what the heck a "Geo Challenge" is.

Yes, it could be the word doc you were originally emailed (yes you were, Russ is just that good), and which you should be sending back, edited (and change the name so it'll be easy for them to find), making sure that you use a reply-all so that each and every person on that CC list gets your spam.

This is the first year that they're asking for POC photos, and I'm not sure where they should be sent, or to whom, but I'm quite sure that we'll become enlightened in that matter soon enough.

HTH. HAND. TTFN.

[TheCotMan]

Re: Contest Leaders and Organizers: Call for your info!

Ive been waiting to submit my event info because I had some questions but have not heard back from anyone.
This being the first year Im hosting an event myself.

Russ mentioned being short 32 contest badges last year... what are those?
Also a previous email said to submit photos of the POC's so security would allow them into the contest area pre-con. (where do I submit the pictures & names)
Or will this be done at the pre-con meeting?
The question sheet asks for a description of the event & logo, how large should that be? should it be formatted? is this what will appear in the conference schedule? (attache a word doc?)

Even though I think I know the answers to 2 of these, instead of trying to answer these poorly, I'll pass on a message t request clarification. forwarding.

[Edit: added]
Shrdlu has the answers better than I would have provided, and it looks like we submitted within minutes of each other. I'm still passing this to Russ and his #2 for contests/events on the contest floor.

[russ]

Re: Contest Leaders and Organizers: Call for your info!

Thanks to everyone who has already given input on this. We had major issues with badge shortages in every area last year, not just the contest area. But I don't expect that we'll have those same issues this year. Each contest organizer gets a contest area badge. It looks similar to the other badges at the con, but is a different color and says "CONTEST" on it. Pretty cool. Initially, until I know how many badges I have, I only give the contest badges to the primary POCs. If I have enough, I'll sell them to the other contest POCs. A good example is the 949 group that runs the oCTF. They must bring everyone from their local community center to "help out" because there is NO WAY I can give all of them contest badges. :-)

The picture thing may actually be a moot point. I've asked for them in the past and it never seems to actually materialize. One of the contest folks always ends up walking down the hallway to escort the contest POCs into the area.

We need a clean, clear description of what your contest is, along with an image (if you want one) to go into the program. I agree with shrdlu that you're better off keeping it simple.

Don't wait to submit your info. I need that as soon as possible, or you risk not getting into the program or getting tablespace in the contest area.

I hope that helps,
-Russ

Ive been waiting to submit my event info because I had some questions but have not heard back from anyone.
This being the first year Im hosting an event myself.

Russ mentioned being short 32 contest badges last year... what are those?
Also a previous email said to submit photos of the POC's so security would allow them into the contest area pre-con. (where do I submit the pictures & names)
Or will this be done at the pre-con meeting?
The question sheet asks for a description of the event & logo, how large should that be? should it be formatted? is this what will appear in the conference schedule? (attache a word doc?)

[TheCotMan]

Re: Contest Leaders and Organizers: Call for your info!

Thanks to everyone who has already given input on this...[chop]

Thanks for the super-quick response Russ.

[Dallas]

Re: Contest Leaders and Organizers: Call for your info!

Does this apply to unofficial events?

I just spoke to Russ by email, and said to go ahead and post this for him in the public space:

If you are planning to run a contest or event at Defcon this year, please get your information to Russ. He has created a Word doc for you to read, review and follow for what is expected of you in registering your contest and getting resources that you need (like space on the contest floor.)

Here is the the word doc he asked several of us to post anywhere appropriate.

Around the start of June, if contests/events at the Riv listed in the forums have not made arrangements as required, I'll be disabling those forums, and/or moving their threads into a space to show it looks like they aren't going to happen, and additionally communicate with Neil about contests or events that haven't been cleared. Forums are only a convenience for leaders/organizers and participants, but leaving them up when the event isn't allocated/approved would be misleading.

Don't be surprised if I post a reply here once a month as a reminder.

Thanks!

[TheCotMan]

Re: Contest Leaders and Organizers: Call for your info!

Does this apply to unofficial events?

It applies for all contests or events that will need resources from Defcon like space on the contest floor.

Skyboxes might be assigned by now, but if they were needed also, then maybe Grifter would be the one to contact.

If your unofficial contest is really, really unofficial, like a drinking-related thing at the Toxic BBQ (?) and you don't need any space from Russ, or Grifter then you probably don't need to fill out the above, but you would probably want to contact the Toxic BBQ people and let them know what you are planning. They probably won't care, but it would be courteous to let them know it is happening again, and I think you may have already done that.

Additionally, appearance in the program and website, and its own forum would required DT to say it is unofficial or official and then would probably be Neil or maybe Nikita, and the web site changes on the main defcon.org site.

[TheCotMan]

Re: Contest Leaders and Organizers: Call for your info!

Welcome to June! Get your info to Russ if you are using Defcon Contest area resources!

This weekend I will submit a list to Russ of contests/events in the forums that would claim to run in the contest space, and see if he has received information as requested. If any such contest/event doesn't have the information that he needed, then will be moving the forums associated with those contests/event to a "disabled" space or some similar space so it is understood they may not be at Defcon this year.

For events outside the contest space, I will send a list to DT (and maybe Grifter, or other people if the contest/event is going to be in a Skybox or in a speaking room) to confirm they have permission and supplied information as requested. Again,anything that comes back as unauthorized or missing information will lead to the forum associated with those events moved to a "disabled" space or something similar.

Sorry to play the role of the anal-retentive bean counter and i-dotting, t-crossing, enforcement gestapo, (I was the Hall Monitor! -- AUSWEIS!) but the forums that are created here are created with the thought that contest leaders/organizers will follow the processes required by the other people that control resources. Those people that authorize use of resources (Grifter, Russ, DT, etc.) are the ones that are responsible for authorization and resource allocation. If I were to continue to keep a forum "up" for something that wasn't authorized, that would be bad for everyone interested in it.

Thanks, and don't kill the messenger. :-)

[TheCotMan]

Re: Contest Leaders and Organizers: Call for your info!

Welcome to July!

Defcon is happening at the end of this month. Some Defcon people will be in Las Vegas in 3 eeks from today. Did you get your information to Russ? Have you provided your information as requested? It is too late for any of your content to get into the CD, and might be too late to get your information into the program. (I think those deadlines have come and gone.) However, if you are running a contest/event at Defcon in a Skybox, on the contest floor, or similar places, and you don't yet have your information with Russ and Pyr0 by now, there is probably little if any hope for you now.

This late in the game, if you wanted to get approval for your contest/event, and you have not provided everyone that needs the information the right information, you might be able to bribe them into going out of their way to help you get approval, but you better be providing things like gold plated hot-air balloons that actually work, or you might have to wait until next year.