Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

[HighWiz]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

I have now read many of the past Forum Meet posts and have obtained lots of information. Just to summarize some of the things that came through loud and clear in "MY" interpretation. (not in any particular order of importance)

Don't be a Douche.

Have Rolling Rock beer available.

Both very true.

Attendees best to have laminated Avatar badges (maybe have stick-on generic name badges for those who forget or the losers who do not care enough to put effort into the forum experience)

It's not a bad idea having a "name tag". But having the Avatar badge is nice in being able to pick people out of a crowd.

An option might be some form of a "Split Event". Since so many of the active forum posters are also active in key Defcon positions or events at Defcon making their time very limited and some people not showing because they feel bad because they would have to leave quickly maybe we can have the first 45 min to an hour geared towards those who actively participate (or at least lurk enough to read this) to show up say hi introduce themselves (share a drink if they so desire) and then feel free to leave or hang around. The next hour or 2 can be the published advertised Forum Meet time that would allow potential new people to become "active" forum members. Some of us could stay the entire time, talk with anyone who shows and maybe get more people to understand that the Defcon experience does not end after the Con, it lives year round online at the Forum.

So I read that as your volunteering to commit the time to stay the entire evening? If so, more power to you. If your interested in Volunteering to organize it, you should drop Nikita a line. If you don't know Nikita (IRL) I'd also recommend having some people who can vouch for you. I don't believe I know you in person. But if there are people on here or on staff or whatnot, who can say you're reliable - that would go a long way.

I think I have been to every Defcon 101 talk and I have always taken great info away from it, but I do not remember hearing much about the forums. Maybe at the Defcon 101 event this year someone can talk about the YEAR-ROUND Defcon Forum and encourage first time attendees to sign up and join us at the Forum Meet.

We have talked about the forums at 101.

Last year there was even a Slide Dedicated to the Avatar Badge & during that time, I talked about the forums a bit.

However, the person who I think would be the best advocate for the forums, routinely rejects the invitation to speak.

Pyr0 (and Russr at the first one) talked about the forum meet during 101 as well.

The problem is, there's a lot going on and a finite amount of time at 101 so talking about the forums gets about 30 seconds to a minute (tops). And that's a lot of time for anything at 101. If you have a specific idea for promoting the forums at 101, hit me up.

[Chris]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

We have talked about the forums at 101.

Last year there was even a Slide Dedicated to the Avatar Badge & during that time, I talked about the forums a bit.

However, the person who I think would be the best advocate for the forums, routinely rejects the invitation to speak.

hit me up.

I intend to address both the Forums and the Forum meet during my DC101 talk. HighWiz, if that was something you intended to do then I'll leave it to you but I figured since the person that would be the best won't talk...the other admin will suck it up and pimp out the forums and the meet

[HighWiz]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

I intend to address both the Forums and the Forum meet during my DC101 talk. HighWiz, if that was something you intended to do then I'll leave it to you but I figured since the person that would be the best won't talk...the other admin will suck it up and pimp out the forums and the meet

If you really have your heart set on doing it, let me know. Otherwise, I'll probably say something at the beginning of 101 while asking the Audience who knows there's a DefCon Forum, Who are Registered members.. Show of Hands.. And then telling them to join up and come to the forum meet @ X time on Y Date.

[Chris]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

If you really have your heart set on doing it, let me know. Otherwise, I'll probably say something at the beginning of 101 while asking the Audience who knows there's a DefCon Forum, Who are Registered members.. Show of Hands.. And then telling them to join up and come to the forum meet @ X time on Y Date.

I don't have my heart set on it at all. It sounds like you have a plan, I defer to you my good man. I'll talk about something I actually know something about...like drinking.

[Bbox]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

So I read that as your volunteering to commit the time to stay the entire evening?

Absolutely. I would be more than happy to invest a bit of time in an attempt to get more people interested in the forums year round, making new Defcon attendees feel welcome to Defcon and the forums and making new acquaintances and friends.

If your interested in Volunteering to organize it, you should drop Nikita a line.

Thanks, I will send message as directed.

We have talked about the forums at 101.

Sorry, I must of just been overwhelmed with all the great info I was taking in and forgot about the forum discussion.

[HighWiz]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

Do you have ideas on how to run a forum meet? Have you thought the forum meet could be even better if only [...]? Are you a semi-regular member of the forums or a recent member but active in the forums with an interest in organizing this event at Defcon?

As long as Nikita is cool with it, I think you have found your new forum meet organizer in Bbox.

[Nikita]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

If anyone has questions for me please DON'T PM me in the forums. Please email me directly at Nikita at Defcon dot Org. Thanks much, I'll try to catch up on this later but I;m so glad to see people talking about this.

[HighWiz]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

If anyone has questions for me please DON'T PM me in the forums. Please email me directly at Nikita at Defcon dot Org. Thanks much, I'll try to catch up on this later but I;m so glad to see people talking about this.

You know, the really makes me want start saying stuff to you in PM on the forum instead of twitter.

[Bbox]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

I know Nikita is really busy, (especially with a new baby), so I figure it might be a while until she gets a chance to figure out what will be done about the Forum Meet leadership.

I am hoping (and believe) that regardless of who ends up facilitating the Forum Meet (Maybe Lil_Freak comes back and continues her winning ways or maybe someone else) that we will have some form of Forum Meet. So maybe in the meantime we can get a topic for the Forum Meet under the DC19 Official and unofficial social gatherings section of the forum. That will make it clear to anyone perusing the Events and gatherings section that we plan to have a get together. (officially or unofficially)

Thanks

[TheCotMan]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

I know Nikita is really busy, (especially with a new baby), so I figure it might be a while until she gets a chance to figure out what will be done about the Forum Meet leadership.

I am hoping (and believe) that regardless of who ends up facilitating the Forum Meet (Maybe Lil_Freak comes back and continues her winning ways or maybe someone else) that we will have some form of Forum Meet. So maybe in the meantime we can get a topic for the Forum Meet under the DC19 Official and unofficial social gatherings section of the forum. That will make it clear to anyone perusing the Events and gatherings section that we plan to have a get together. (officially or unofficially)

Thanks

No forum for this event until there is a clear organizer and it has been registered. Right now, the only people that have expressed interest in running it are you (BBox) and HighWiz, but HighWiz expressed interest conditionally on the forum meet being short, and nobody else stepping forward. I think it would be good to leave this open for one more week. After 1 week, if nobody else has stepped forward with an interest to organize or help organizer, then the mods will talk it over, and if none of the mods complain, and Nikita likes the idea, then the person selected will need to submit information to Pyr0 or Nikita necessary to get the event registered, and once verified, then a forum can be made.

Once it has a leader, then they will work to make the decisions on which day to run it, how long to run it and what to do when running it. I will likely provide input if not previously provided (like on historical issues on days to run it, what conflicts are present, etc.) but I plan to stay out of the forum meet leader's decisions -- not under my control, and not my responsibility. Control should always be linked with responsibility and never be decoupled.

Thanks!

[converge]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

Cot probably has quicklinks to them all, but HighWiz is correct .. everyone always found Friday night inconvenient since inception of the event and suggested moving it to ) the toxicbbq ) quarks ) thursday ) etc

Friday evening is solid, allows for people to stop by in between other ongoings, etc. Not saying it can't move per whoever takes it on .. but that the decision has systematically been to keep it where it was. (successfully so)

[Nikita]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

I gave Bee Box the go ahead to be the leader this year. I'll help him get what he needs. If Highwiz would like to donate some time to helping I'm sure it wouldn't be rejected by him either.

I do want to make one thing clear, It's been suggested many many time to hold this offsite. The forum meet has merged into "official" DEF CON event, the forums are a part of DEF CON, and the event needs to be held in the convention space. For example last year we had a raffle and gave away prizes and we are aggressively advertising this because we want all attendees to have a chance to become active on the forums and to meet the people that are active. Last year was successful but it doesn't have to be done the same way every year either. Interest in the meet up is waning and participation is off and on with the regulars, Time is always an issue and it seems this is low priority, so it does need to get a little UMPH in it's butt, this event right now is Sink or Swim. I know it's come a long way from how it first started tho..

Hope that Helps.

[Bbox]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

So, we now can say for certain we will have a Forum Meet at Defcon19!

There are many things that need to be determined but here are some things I believe we know:

It will be onsite in the convention space.

We will gladly except help from anyone not acting like a Douche.

We want the "feel" of the Forum Meet to be inviting and welcoming to all.

We want all attendees to have a chance to become active on the forums and to meet people that are active on the forums.

We want to have existing members wear Avatar badges at the meet and throughout the entire Con.

I know many of you have been attending the Forum Meet for years and have ideas of what works and what does not, so please post thoughts and ideas or PM me with any info you feel will help make this a great event. All input will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[HighWiz]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

We will gladly except help from anyone not acting like a Douche.

Ah well, that rules me out...

[Chris]

Re: Defcon Forum Meet needs leadership, or the forum meet won't happen...

So, we now can say for certain we will have a Forum Meet at Defcon19!

There are many things that need to be determined but here are some things I believe we know:

It will be onsite in the convention space.

We will gladly except help from anyone not acting like a Douche.

We want the "feel" of the Forum Meet to be inviting and welcoming to all.

We want all attendees to have a chance to become active on the forums and to meet people that are active on the forums.

We want to have existing members wear Avatar badges at the meet and throughout the entire Con.

I know many of you have been attending the Forum Meet for years and have ideas of what works and what does not, so please post thoughts and ideas or PM me with any info you feel will help make this a great event. All input will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I liked the trivia contests that Nikita did at the meet last year.
I wouldn't over plan it. An hour, 2 max, quiet place where people can talk. I will try to get as many of the Admins and Mods as possible to at least make an appearance so anyone that doesn't now us has an opportunity to meet us IRL.