First time to Defcon. Have a question.

[tellurian]

New to the con. So kind of lost already. Planned on spending most my time listening to talks. Do I need to sign up somewhere for talks I am interested in attending? Or do I just keep track of the schedule and find a seat where ever I can?

[number6]

New to the con. So kind of lost already. Planned on spending most my time listening to talks. Do I need to sign up somewhere for talks I am interested in attending? Or do I just keep track of the schedule and find a seat where ever I can?

"Talks" are only a small part of DEF CON. Many are available a few months after DEF CON is over, online, for download. Some talks are NOT recorded like SkyTalks, so if you want to see one of those, you need to see those in-person.

Some village, contest, event talks may also not be recorded or put online, so if you want to see them, you might have to see them in-person.

All of the "main track talks" should be recorded with very rare exception.

Whether talks happen in the main tracks, or villages, contest spaces, SkyTalks or elsewhere, the process is mostly the same...

If the talk is popular, there will probably be more people looking to see the talk than there are seats in the room. This had lead to one or more lines outside of several main-tracks/rooms, and places like SkyTalks and elsewhere. People get into these lines to get in to see specific talks. You will need to ask in-person to find out which line to get into for which talk. For these questions, your best sources is in your program (which should be available for download soon, as a pdf) , and https://info.defcon.org/ (which will be populated with a schedule as we get closer to con.) If none of these help, then find an in-person "InfoBooth" run by goons with the most up-to-date information of all things DEF CON. They may direct you to the general area of the door to enter the room with the talk you want see, where you would find a DEF CON Goon at the front of a line. That goon can tell you which talk the line is for.

As for lines, if you find yourself in a line, try out your "linecon" skills: socialize with people around you inline, strike up a conversation. Engage with people. You may be standing next to someone who knows a great deal about a topic that interests you, or maybe next to someone who wants to know about a topic you know a great deal about.

There are some things like "Workshops" which have their own limited sign-up list for reservations, but those seats are limited and I think have all been claimed within minutes of becoming available on July 5, 2022: https://forum.defcon.org/node/239773 and

There is no seat reservation system for the open talks. You may see some people bypassing the line... they tend to be Goons working during DEF CON, or hotel employees, or people giving talks. If you think there is a problem, you can report it to a goon.

If you happen to get a hotel room in one of the DEF CON hotels, there is a very good chance for you to be able to watch main-track talks from your room, on your hotel room TV. For that, I would assume the same resource from the past might tell you which channels will have which main tracks on video:
https://dctv.defcon.org/

That should cover your basic questions on talks.

Now, for advice on how to best enjoy your first DEF CON.
Please check:
https://forum.defcon.org/node/239768

Look at the wall of stuff. Look over the Contests, Events, Villages, Parties, Social events, Workshops, etc which interest you. Find out what they have to offer, and when. Visit their own twitter feeds, and websites. Look over their schedules. Start to assemble your own schedule of "things I want to do at DEF CON" and have a backup plan for cases where your primary plans fall through.

When https://info.defcon.org/ is updated, review and revise your plans.

At some point details of selected talk and their schedule will appear online. Maps of the site and what will happen in each location should be published. Revise your plans to account for locations, or you may spend a lot of time walking between your planned fun.

Once you have a schedule of all the stuff, so at any point in time you have something to do, once at DEF CON allow yourself to ignore your schedule if the thing you are doing is really enjoyable. Maintaining a strict schedule can cause you to miss out on unexpected opportunities which will never happen again.

Why make a schedule at all? Too many people don't have a schedule of what they would like to do, and can waste their convention stuck in their hotel room trying to decide what to do. Don't be them. Have a plan so you always have something to do, but be willing to drop the schedule when you find something you really love. Avoid your hotel room except for dropping off swag, completing the 3-2-1 rule, or you are doing something con related. (Like playing a contest.) Rooms can be places to socialize, but if this is your first con, don't invite strangers into your room.

Sample as much as you can, as you won't necessarily know what parts of con you will like and what parts you won't.

Last, follow the 3-2-1 rule: at least 3 hours of sleep per 24 hours, at least 2 meals each day, at least 1 shower. Also, stay hydrated.

Good luck!

[number6]

And now some floor plans have been published ion the main site:
https://defcon.org/html/defcon-30/dc-30-venue.html

This page also mention when DEF CON Badge sales will start, and where. (Your first data-point in making your schedule)

Use google maps or other maps to look at the distance between these, and get some idea how long it will take you to walk between these, when a thing you want to see is in a different location. In some cases, it may not be possible to get from one thing to another in the often 10 minute window between things.

Be on the lookout for a program/schedule, and then around that time updates to https://info.defcon.org/ to try to come up with a plan of things you can do during any point at DEF CON.

[tellurian]

Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.

[Cybergeek27]

Thank you. I really needed this information

[3ponymous]

I had been searching around this weekend for precisely the info that I just found in this post. Thank you, appreciated.

[drinkwater]

Awesome information in the post. I'm hoping to go to Defcon next year and whilst it's almost a year away, never too late to get some preparation in.

[Cyberseal777]

Hello where do I go to do a presentation at defcon though of me being the first cyberseal on USA soil since I wrote conflicker B++.

[number6]

Hello where do I go to do a presentation at defcon though of me being the first cyberseal on USA soil since I wrote conflicker B++.

For you or others looking to submit a talk for DEF CON main track stages:

Check out the "Call for $everything" pages with dates and details for various calls:
https://defcon.org/html/defcon-32/dc-32-cfi.html

You can see a space for "Call for Papers" which is for people looking to present talks on the main stage. It presently (on Jan 10, 2024) mentioned CFP opens Feb 1, so it would be a good idea to check back on or around Feb 1, 2024 for new details.

Good luck!