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I attended DEF CON last year, but I didn’t really plan ahead and couldn’t make the most of it. I’m planning to attend again this year, and this time I want to be well-prepared so I can enjoy it to the fullest. Could anyone with experience attending DEF CON share a list of do’s and don’ts—or just general tips—to help make the most of the experience? Thanks in advance!
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Answer selected by guelo at 4 weeks ago.
Early information:
Use your preferred source of information about things happening at DEF CON.
The most feature-filled is probably "Hacker Tracker" (Apps for Android or iPhone/iPad) which show you details of things planned to happen at DEF CON, but require you to trust an app made for hacker conventions to run code on your device.
Less feature filled, but with requirements for your browser execute JavaScript is https://info.defcon.org/ which can show you a great deal about what is planned to happen at DEF CON.
Fewest features, but most secure: plain-text, or CSV files with details about things planned to happen at DEF CON, and you can make your own tools to extract what is happening at DEF CON: https://defcon.outel.org/
Separate from these items listed above, there is an unofficial attempt to build lists of parties under "DEF CON Parties" : this may include parties at DEF CON and parties outside of the control and support of DEF CON with different risks. https://defcon.outel.org/dcwp/dc32/activities/pge-list/ is one but there has sometimes been a social media "defconparties" on twitter/X or maybe mastodon which gathers information about parties too.
Build a schedule so that every minute of DEF CON has one or more things for you to do. For example, select a primary desire, a secondary desire and a tertiary desire. If the first or second fall-through, you have a backup to your backup.
Next, once you have a schedule, be prepared to *abandon* that schedule if something else better comes along. Maybe you found a great group of people and are having a lot of fun chatting with them. Don't make your "schedule" control you. Make active considerations on whether the thing you have found is better than the things you considered in your schedule. The point of the schedule is to always have something to do, and not spend your time at DEF CON trying to decide what to do.
Are you part of any technical groups that only meet online? Some examples may include Facebook groups, Mailing lists, forums, reddit, stackexchange or other *exchange, github/gitlab? What about in-person meetings such as Linux User Group meetings, BSD User Group meetings, or other technical user group meetings? Are you part of a "Maker Group" or "Hacker Space" ?All of these are places where you may know people that also attend DEF CON. You can try asking those people you associated with online or in-person to see if any are planning to visit DEF CON. If so, maybe you can arrange to meet-up with them at DEF CON, or share ideas online.
This brings us to the best advice you can get from people... Anyone that knows you and your interests, and has attended DEF CON could give you advice tailored to your interests and personality.
If you don't know anyone at DEF CON, you can often find people. In many of the open spaces at DEF CON, where people are having a conversation, people are usually social enough to make space for someone walking by that wants to listen. Spend some time, listening to conversations to hear about topics. If they are topics that interest you, and the content interests you, then maybe sticking around might be good. If something comes up where you know something about the topic, maybe offer ideas. After a while, if you have a question, maybe ask.
If you do not know anyone at DEF CON, consider joining a contest which forces you to join up with a group of other people. Working with people that are strangers gives you an opportunity to get to know them while trying to solve problems in the game.
Villages provide a similar option, but generally for people that have knowledge in the topic of the village. You can spend time teaching other people, or working on various problems with others trying to learn.
Don't pretend to be someone you are not, or claim knowledge you do not have; such ignorance is often discovered quickly, and then their perception or impression of you will be of someone who is not honest. This does not mean you need to provide people with your legal name, and the place you work. It only means to not make claims that are not true. You can always provide a generic answer to question about where you work, like: "am am employed as a programmer" or "I work in IT/Support."
Check out:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ing_enjoyment/
For an attendee with their first year at DEF CON, without knowing anything about them, usually the best suggestion is to try a little bit of everything. Compete in a contest. Visit a village. Visit a village. Attend a party. Try a little bit of everything. These can be easier if you know people that also will be at DEF CON.
Some people like to advise against attending the presentations, but that advice can be short-sighted. It is true that many presentations are recorded, and often available several months after DEF CON (often by December of the same year) there are *some* presentations which are NOT recorded. Two very good reasons to attend a presentation beyond those that are not recorded can be because a topic is of interest to you and contains a time component where failing to act on that information early means losing out on something later, and the second reason is to meet the speaker, and possibly ask questions, in-person.
Avoid bringing and carrying too much at DEF CON. Because DEF CON is a bit of a distance away from hotels, the option to return to your hotel room to drop off what you don't need is more time-consuming, stealing your DEF CON time. Generally pack only what you need at DEF CON, and maybe one or two small items that could help start a conversation.
Bring a water bottle, and see if there are water bottle filling stations to get it topped up. Stay hydrated.
People that have been to DEF CON several times often add an extra day or more before DEF CON and an extra day after DEF CON so they can see more content like the "Toxic BBQ" or visit non-DEF CON entertainment or sites like The Atomic Testing Museum, or other Las Vegas offerings.
Your time *at* DEF CON is precious. Consider joining pre-DEF-CON contests or events. Some examples which have already happened?
* Creative Writing Contest (Was short story contest
* Phish Stories
In addition to the practice they provide, if you won with either of these contests, you could have earned a badge to attend DEF CON.
After attending DEF CON for many years, some people find value in volunteering for some Village or contest or in some other way. If that is some goal in your future, get to know the people in the thing you would like to support with volunteer work so that they can get to know you and your capabilities, and you can get to know them. It can make it easier to get recruited.
Check out other sources like:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ing_enjoyment/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...est_practices/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ime_at_defcon/
Also, there are many "first time at DEF CON" threads which often contain useful information for people that have been to DEF CON before:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ime_at_defcon/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ime_at_defcon/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ition_to_this/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ns_for_defcon/Last edited by number6; July 6, 2025, 08:20. -
Early information:
Use your preferred source of information about things happening at DEF CON.
The most feature-filled is probably "Hacker Tracker" (Apps for Android or iPhone/iPad) which show you details of things planned to happen at DEF CON, but require you to trust an app made for hacker conventions to run code on your device.
Less feature filled, but with requirements for your browser execute JavaScript is https://info.defcon.org/ which can show you a great deal about what is planned to happen at DEF CON.
Fewest features, but most secure: plain-text, or CSV files with details about things planned to happen at DEF CON, and you can make your own tools to extract what is happening at DEF CON: https://defcon.outel.org/
Separate from these items listed above, there is an unofficial attempt to build lists of parties under "DEF CON Parties" : this may include parties at DEF CON and parties outside of the control and support of DEF CON with different risks. https://defcon.outel.org/dcwp/dc32/activities/pge-list/ is one but there has sometimes been a social media "defconparties" on twitter/X or maybe mastodon which gathers information about parties too.
Build a schedule so that every minute of DEF CON has one or more things for you to do. For example, select a primary desire, a secondary desire and a tertiary desire. If the first or second fall-through, you have a backup to your backup.
Next, once you have a schedule, be prepared to *abandon* that schedule if something else better comes along. Maybe you found a great group of people and are having a lot of fun chatting with them. Don't make your "schedule" control you. Make active considerations on whether the thing you have found is better than the things you considered in your schedule. The point of the schedule is to always have something to do, and not spend your time at DEF CON trying to decide what to do.
Are you part of any technical groups that only meet online? Some examples may include Facebook groups, Mailing lists, forums, reddit, stackexchange or other *exchange, github/gitlab? What about in-person meetings such as Linux User Group meetings, BSD User Group meetings, or other technical user group meetings? Are you part of a "Maker Group" or "Hacker Space" ?All of these are places where you may know people that also attend DEF CON. You can try asking those people you associated with online or in-person to see if any are planning to visit DEF CON. If so, maybe you can arrange to meet-up with them at DEF CON, or share ideas online.
This brings us to the best advice you can get from people... Anyone that knows you and your interests, and has attended DEF CON could give you advice tailored to your interests and personality.
If you don't know anyone at DEF CON, you can often find people. In many of the open spaces at DEF CON, where people are having a conversation, people are usually social enough to make space for someone walking by that wants to listen. Spend some time, listening to conversations to hear about topics. If they are topics that interest you, and the content interests you, then maybe sticking around might be good. If something comes up where you know something about the topic, maybe offer ideas. After a while, if you have a question, maybe ask.
If you do not know anyone at DEF CON, consider joining a contest which forces you to join up with a group of other people. Working with people that are strangers gives you an opportunity to get to know them while trying to solve problems in the game.
Villages provide a similar option, but generally for people that have knowledge in the topic of the village. You can spend time teaching other people, or working on various problems with others trying to learn.
Don't pretend to be someone you are not, or claim knowledge you do not have; such ignorance is often discovered quickly, and then their perception or impression of you will be of someone who is not honest. This does not mean you need to provide people with your legal name, and the place you work. It only means to not make claims that are not true. You can always provide a generic answer to question about where you work, like: "am am employed as a programmer" or "I work in IT/Support."
Check out:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ing_enjoyment/
For an attendee with their first year at DEF CON, without knowing anything about them, usually the best suggestion is to try a little bit of everything. Compete in a contest. Visit a village. Visit a village. Attend a party. Try a little bit of everything. These can be easier if you know people that also will be at DEF CON.
Some people like to advise against attending the presentations, but that advice can be short-sighted. It is true that many presentations are recorded, and often available several months after DEF CON (often by December of the same year) there are *some* presentations which are NOT recorded. Two very good reasons to attend a presentation beyond those that are not recorded can be because a topic is of interest to you and contains a time component where failing to act on that information early means losing out on something later, and the second reason is to meet the speaker, and possibly ask questions, in-person.
Avoid bringing and carrying too much at DEF CON. Because DEF CON is a bit of a distance away from hotels, the option to return to your hotel room to drop off what you don't need is more time-consuming, stealing your DEF CON time. Generally pack only what you need at DEF CON, and maybe one or two small items that could help start a conversation.
Bring a water bottle, and see if there are water bottle filling stations to get it topped up. Stay hydrated.
People that have been to DEF CON several times often add an extra day or more before DEF CON and an extra day after DEF CON so they can see more content like the "Toxic BBQ" or visit non-DEF CON entertainment or sites like The Atomic Testing Museum, or other Las Vegas offerings.
Your time *at* DEF CON is precious. Consider joining pre-DEF-CON contests or events. Some examples which have already happened?
* Creative Writing Contest (Was short story contest
* Phish Stories
In addition to the practice they provide, if you won with either of these contests, you could have earned a badge to attend DEF CON.
After attending DEF CON for many years, some people find value in volunteering for some Village or contest or in some other way. If that is some goal in your future, get to know the people in the thing you would like to support with volunteer work so that they can get to know you and your capabilities, and you can get to know them. It can make it easier to get recruited.
Check out other sources like:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ing_enjoyment/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...est_practices/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ime_at_defcon/
Also, there are many "first time at DEF CON" threads which often contain useful information for people that have been to DEF CON before:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ime_at_defcon/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ime_at_defcon/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ition_to_this/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comm...ns_for_defcon/Last edited by number6; July 6, 2025, 08:20.Comment
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