How would you make Defcon 21 better?

[arclight]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

This year, I asked the Ethiopian cab drivers where they go to eat. Two different people recommended the Merkato restaurant near Swenson:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/merkato-ethi...cafe-las-vegas

Arclight

the food situation is a hack... the Chillout area is stocked with food that no one is supposed to actually eat because it's part of the contract with the hotel.


for now, i'll mention TOOOL's new absolute favorite place in town... KoMex. It's awesome Mexican food, but all the meats in the food are Korean Barbecue. It's out of this goddamn world and super cheap. We fed the TOOOL staff often from there. The first time, Babak was out on the road, found them via Yelp, and just called and said "i have 10 hungry people and i can't think right now... can you just put food together?" and they did. For like $25 or something.

best food i had on this trip, i swear.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

Better and less expensive food! I would love to see the Defcon community taking control of the food vending area. I'm sure we can come up with some good alternatives.

the food situation is a hack... the Chillout area is stocked with food that no one is supposed to actually eat because it's part of the contract with the hotel.

the hotel gets to charge ridiculous prices for bad food and the hackers do not eat the food. that's how the system works.

if you want better food, go off site (even on foot) for a little bit (or send a runner or whatnot) and your options are limitless. we could have a whole separate discussion of a "cheap, good food in Vegas" thread.

for now, i'll mention TOOOL's new absolute favorite place in town... KoMex. It's awesome Mexican food, but all the meats in the food are Korean Barbecue. It's out of this goddamn world and super cheap. We fed the TOOOL staff often from there. The first time, Babak was out on the road, found them via Yelp, and just called and said "i have 10 hungry people and i can't think right now... can you just put food together?" and they did. For like $25 or something.

best food i had on this trip, i swear.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

Some sort of split screen on DEFCON tv where we can see the slides/demo along with the presenter would be awesome.

frankly, i haven't understood for AGES why the speaker/presenter is EVER the focus of videos. it should be a HUGE image showing just their slides... either a tiny P-in-P with the speaker or no speaker at all.

i HATE when i am watching a video of a talk and it cuts to the speaker. i don't give a damn about seeing them. i want to see their content.

[Legion303]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

- LOCKPICK VILLAGE: Sadly was WAY too small.

You should have seen it last year. I wandered in and out this year, and there was at least space to move around.

The security goons (red shirts) were a lot more sarcastic and mean this year. I know this is defcon and we tend to get away with a lot of curse words and other odd behavior, but unless these clowns are ON STAGE, they should be acting at a minimum level of "professional" regardless of their volunteer status. The people put in charge of keeping order and safety in line do not need to be making constant cracks and jokes at others' personal expense. We all have shitty jobs (at least at some point in our lives), but you are the asshole that volunteered for it, so STFU.

I experienced the exact opposite. In fact, I fucked with them all weekend (grabbing my badge to hide it and doing kamikaze runs at the checkpoint, etc.) and they were never less than professional.

I would have preferred a few long tables to increase the # of seats and allow the TOOOL crew to walk between ends to assist as needed.

Agreed. I was surprised at the sub-optimal space usage with those round tables.

[b0n3z]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

Don't feed the trolls kids.

^^^All of that

[Chris]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

and yes, the comment was over the line, which was its only purpose. i threw it in there because I knew you all would be focusing on that instead of all the other legitimate suggestions made by others. ie, this is not a decent method to collect suggestions and feedback, it's just a place to make your clique feel special. yes methods like surveymonkey or other digital methods may get hacked, but if it doesnt cost a crap load then it's worth a try. all I hear in this thread from your end is rejection and refusal. but don't worry, all of YOUR suggestions are being taken into account so we'll just see how things play out next year.

So basically you admit you're a troll? And your argument makes no sense. If there are legitimate posts/concerns/comments in this thread why in the world would you want to draw attention away from them?

Don't feed the trolls kids.

[syrel]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

Nobody in a red shirt is wasted for starters. You will see red shirts having a beer while on shift because 1. We fucking love beer and 2. The attendees GIVE them to us cause WE FUCKING LOVE BEER. The meer fact that you probably 1 didn't talk to the "wasted blonde" proves that you didn't know she was 100% sober, as I do because I was with her, and 2 that she was letting derby girls skate, getting the crowds to dance as they walked through the halls, etc. All in all, that comment was completely unnecessary.

actually, I did talk to her. and you must be the big dude to her right. the fact that she didnt say anything after asking her a legitimate question....twice...and continued to dance more than anyone else in the two crossing hallways proved to me she had a little too much buzz going. but hey, i'm sure you can just spin that into a rejection or something else that makes me the bad guy as I am sure you are obliged to defend her honor.

I know very much you folks love beer. I gave 4 to the goons that assisted me and a couple goons that were just plain amusing (not unlike yourself). The other 2 beers from the 6 pack I bought went to Sugetoma2 simply because I like Japanese people. But I am sure you are lovely just the same.

and yes, the comment was over the line, which was its only purpose. i threw it in there because I knew you all would be focusing on that instead of all the other legitimate suggestions made by others. ie, this is not a decent method to collect suggestions and feedback, it's just a place to make your clique feel special. yes methods like surveymonkey or other digital methods may get hacked, but if it doesnt cost a crap load then it's worth a try. all I hear in this thread from your end is rejection and refusal. but don't worry, all of YOUR suggestions are being taken into account so we'll just see how things play out next year.

[b0n3z]

Rollercon 2102 attendee checking in. I'm the guy who had the derby girls present the award at closing ceremonies for our contest:

Thank you for that!

A prime example of this was the Meet the Fed: Policy panel with 10 panelists. However, by the time the copious introductions were done, there was little time for actual questions.

I was the ginger red shirt in the background at the panel and the Q&A. I agree that there was probably more questions and things that needed to be answered, but limited time. Priest did mention that if you have any other questions to get with them AFTER the Q&A panel and discuss things with them 1 on 1. Hell I even have questions for them that I didn't get answered due to working, but they were able to be found relatively easy.

4. Disrespectful goons: While I understand that the goons have to deal with a lot of D1cks, and drunks... they choose to be a goon after all. If you can't take the heat get out of the kitchen. Personally I did nothing wrong, and was minding my own business in line, and here comes a goon yelling and screaming for no apparent reason other than he saw a camera from someone. Instead of trying to find who it was, he decides to come after the whole group, and I looked at him like WTF are you talking about dude?

If someone is taking pictures, why aren't YOU telling them to stop being a fuck bag? A ton of the attendees do not want their pictures taken because it could affect jobs and other things. Also, if a goon comes up "being disrespectful" you can pull them aside and talk to them about them being harsh, will you get an apology? Maybe. The reason it's done that way is if you say HEY WHO THE HELL to a group, someone will normally dime out the person being a fuck bag in my experience.

ps....for the wasted blonde red shirt goon playing dubstep in the hallway on sunday using nothing but pandora.... were you TRYING to be like paris hilton or just seeing how many beers it took before you could no longer use an apple computer? cuz until I saw that... I actually thought you were cute.

Nobody in a red shirt is wasted for starters. You will see red shirts having a beer while on shift because 1. We fucking love beer and 2. The attendees GIVE them to us cause WE FUCKING LOVE BEER. The meer fact that you probably 1 didn't talk to the "wasted blonde" proves that you didn't know she was 100% sober, as I do because I was with her, and 2 that she was letting derby girls skate, getting the crowds to dance as they walked through the halls, etc. All in all, that comment was completely unnecessary.

Want to know who they are, then tell us who we go to complain to during the con and you might see a few more complaints than those willing to post them here.

As stated above, talk directly to the goon or ask to speak to their boss. If they refuse, find another goon and take the issue up higher.

Edit: TheCotMan, can you consolidate all of these posts please? Thanks.

[Salem]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

If your feelings got hurt because you were in a group of people who was yelled at, bummer. Toughen up a bit, the world is a harsh place.

Goons are staff, if one tells you to stop taking pictures, you stop taking pictures. Lines and crowds are loud. If a goon is yelling, it's likely needed so as to be heard by all in question. The photography debate has gone on for a long time, and on more than one occasion I've seen someone taking a picture get physically confronted by the person he took a picture of.

If there was a real issue, you would have left the line and dealt with it. Instead, you choose to vent afterwards with vague details.

since goons don't have name badges or any kind of identification

Nearly everyone has an avatar badge or nametag of some sort, and I highly doubt that if you asked that goon for his name he would lie about it.

then tell us who we go to complain to during the con and you might see a few more complaints than those willing to post them here

As was stated; find an on duty red shirt, have him/her radio their lead. Your complaint will be listened to and acted upon appropriately.

[syrel]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

If anyone witnesses problems with security goons please find any other red shirt goon and ask to speak to their team lead. We have a direct power structure and we take serious complaints very seriously. If there's any incidents then please report them IMMEDIATELY. Waiting until con is over and then posting vague complaints on the internet doesn't help anyone.

couldn't we have a "suggestion box" or even just an old school pen and paper feedback form or survey? Previous talk of surveymonkey was dismissed due to potential tampering like anything else available on the web. it might be nice to have a detachable paper form inside the program so we can write down things as they occur, maybe even rate the speakers, and get whatever feedback you require.

I am sorry your feelings got hurt. Find me next year - I am sure I will be alot less sarcastic after having to deal with humans making wisecracks like your last comment against my sister goon. No seriously. We should chat.

-blak

I will try to find you next year if nothing more than to bring to your attention these major issues (should they reoccur) and to have an official witness of such incidents. It's almost required since goons don't have name badges or any kind of identification (at least not that I noticed...did't see any last year either and everyone seems to cling to the shield on anonymity), so reporting goons could be difficult. If I were to report the really angry dude that yelledat people in line, I would only be able to describe him as a skinny white guy in a black goon shirt with crazy elvis hair and a backpack moving towards the P&T theater. Do you know whom I speak of? Mighta been easier if he was wearing a goon jersey with a number on the back.

But I'd be happy to chat more with a goon such as yourself and hear your perspective and for you to hear mine as well. And in regard to the sister goon comment, she technically deserved it as it was very accurate given the circumstances. Perhaps it wasn't fair as you may have viewed it as an attack against all goons, but in the same light so was the goon's attack against all of us in line....we just tolerated it because we didn't want to get OUT of line. Perhaps next year I will yell back and maybe take some forbidden pictures.

[astcell]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

The badge line went great this year. The only year I have seen better was Defcon 8. That says a lot!

[Salem]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

6. Stagger the release of the tracks so the halls are not so crowded. Not sure how feasible this is, but thought I would toss it out for thought.

This is a good idea, and has been discussed. With the way the tracks and talks are set up, it may not be easy though.

I am sorry your feelings got hurt. Find me next year - I am sure I will be alot less sarcastic after having to deal with humans making wisecracks like your last comment against my sister goon. No seriously. We should chat.

Hey blak, can I be part of the conversation too?! I love chatting.

[b0n3z]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

THIS. I will try to start a discussion on this for next year's planning.

Don't worry about it. People already have things being worked on since the day after con!

[blakdayz]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

The security goons (red shirts) were a lot more sarcastic and mean this year. I know this is defcon and we tend to get away with a lot of curse words and other odd behavior, but unless these clowns are ON STAGE, they should be acting at a minimum level of "professional" regardless of their volunteer status. The people put in charge of keeping order and safety in line do not need to be making constant cracks and jokes at others' personal expense. We all have shitty jobs (at least at some point in our lives), but you are the asshole that volunteered for it, so STFU.

.....

ps....for the wasted blonde red shirt goon playing dubstep in the hallway on sunday using nothing but pandora.... were you TRYING to be like paris hilton or just seeing how many beers it took before you could no longer use an apple computer? cuz until I saw that... I actually thought you were cute.

I am sorry your feelings got hurt. Find me next year - I am sure I will be alot less sarcastic after having to deal with humans making wisecracks like your last comment against my sister goon. No seriously. We should chat.

-blak

[kallahar]

Re: How would you make Defcon 21 better?

If anyone witnesses problems with security goons please find any other red shirt goon and ask to speak to their team lead. We have a direct power structure and we take serious complaints very seriously. If there's any incidents then please report them IMMEDIATELY. Waiting until con is over and then posting vague complaints on the internet doesn't help anyone.

Also let's keep these complaints in perspective. At the AP the lines were outdoors in 100 degree heat, sometimes during thunder storms, one year a sewer overflowed right outside the entrance to a talk. One of the talk "rooms" was actually a tent either on the roof or in the parking lot, which never cooled off. The talks also used to be cleared between every talk pissing off hundreds of people at a time.

Kids these days get full air conditioning, rooms that hold 2000 people, a proper hotel to handle problems, and a volunteer security staff that has an average of 10 years of defcon experience EACH.