Old issues on space/crowding: problems and suggestions

[TheCotMan]

I tracked down an old thread with some old "new ideas" so they could be reborn in a new thread: (Enjoy!) :-)

(The following is very condensed. See originalsif you need context.)

During DC 11, seeing the speakers [in person] was difficult [due to] waiting in line, heat, and [room capacity] limits enforced by Fire Marshal.

Did DC11 have all presentations available for viewing in rooms?

yes, all the speakers were on defcon tv.

if i wanted that, i wouldnt go [to DefCon] at all and just watch the archives in july. even worse, [this] solution only works at the AP, which sells out months in advance, not to mention that it's not the most budget friendly hotel choice for alot of us that plan 5 months in advance

...larger spaces [were converted] into speaking areas, but this means other areas have to suffer, such as the vendor room, which is always crowded as it is. [Space is limited.]

[Previously] If you HAD to see the 4pm room "A" talk, you better get there at 10am, [since prior occupants were not forced to leave.]

Actually last year they cleared some of the rooms between presentations. Lots o' grumpiness.

DC12 seemed to have all rooms cleared between presentations. This lead to fewer lines, less waiting, and fewer people being turned away.

[Many things have been fixed from DC11 in time for DC12.]

]Anyone considered some kind of pre-signup for the lectures? and then a line for people who want to take the no-shows seats? [Implementation omitted here]

"Watching DefCon presentations from Rooms:
Pros: Free beer, Good AC, Not having some huge over wheight thing spilling over on to your seat too.
Cons: You are in your room all dam day, Christ sake your in vegas, You could not really network with the scene, Tv issues, no sound poor zoom in and so on.

[Solution: Implement] some type of reserve system.

verbose++ bulleted list/response

[Scheduling of popular presentations at the same time] is being done, and we are consulting our time-viewing lens to see into the future and make proper selections.

If only [Creation of a 4th track of presentations] were possible. There is not enough space without another tent, and there is no room for a tent except for on the roof. Roof has bad mojo with the LVFD.

...we are always interested in finding a space that meets our requirements. Finding a place that is DEF CON friendly and non-gambling is tough. We could go back to the casino days, but really, who will let us take over their network, phone, and video systems?

Adding telephone-based questions from rooms and zoom/better video increases costs.

[DC12] we are added an extra camera to cover the contests area, and to make sure we get coverage of the games

Dynamic speaker allocation [(users voting for speakers they wish to see to better estimate popularity and plan accordingly)] makes sense only if you are sure the people who are voting are also going to attend a talk, not just vote and go to the pool

...move some of the items outside by the pool, [to] the roof, into the lobby, into that room [used] by the snack venders, into the hallways. [Move] "Capture the Flag" and the venders moved out of the two rooms they were in you could have one more big-ass room to replace one of the smaller track rooms.

[Pooll:]
You really don't want to take these area's away, you need to remember that if you don't have overflow/relax area's you are in some definite trouble. Also, who wants to get their stuff wet by being near a pool?
[Roof:]
LVFP has issues with a roof tent..
[Lobby:]
[Bad idea to take away another overflow area and is used for hotel business.] ... It'swhere people come and go from the hotel. It's also a good relax/meet/overflow area.
[Hallways:]
Hallways are a manner of egress, you cannot block a manner of egress.

We us[ed] the three largest areas for speaking. We moved the vendors to a smaller area. We are using an additional room that was not used well last year, next to the lobby, for contests and events. We have done all we can to maximize speaking space, and not have the other events suffer. The only other way to increase speaking space is to rent another tent, but there are cost and space issues on where to put it. The roof, like last year, is off limits to us.

The only thing that made sense to put outdoors is the hacker / fed dunk tank.

Many people said they liked the vendor room of DC12 compared the the vendor room of DC11.

Maybe if there could be projectors and chairs sitting round. I know it would be hot, but it could help with the mingle factor. Hardcore people waited in the sun last year w/o seeing anything. I could see a projector shooting onto the tent for people in line...? Or an outdoor theater by the pool?

For DC12, watching presentations from the rooms was a really nice way to see presentations. Attending presentations meant waiting in line and this was a drag. Popular presentations (DNS talk, for example) had very long lines requiring people to skip presentations held the hour before to get "good seats."

With more time for planning, and a possible change to the AP, or maybe changing to a different venue, I figured these might be more at place in this section.

Added content:
Perhaps a pre-DefCon event can be added: "Best logistical and planning enhancements to improve the overal DefCon experience."

Even more added content:
... And allow Goons to win too.

[Stainless_Steal]

Monkey Butlers? Pah, nonsense. If you were going to have any animal as a butler, it would no doubt be a dolphin, as they are very intelligent and I love Flipper.

[TheCotMan]

Monkey Butlers? Pah, nonsense. If you were going to have any animal as a butler, it would no doubt be a dolphin, as they are very intelligent and I love Flipper.

(This one is for you High Wiz)

We have a monkey lover, and dolphin lover? You two should hook-up.

Only a bad monkey would post to old threads like this about dolphin love.. And what do you do to bad monkeys? You spank them.
(heh-heh, heh-heh, hrm. Oh yeah!)

So, you spank your monkey that has been bad for posting to a 6-month-old thread with nothing useful to add other than your love for flipper.

Bad monkey! Bad!