How will you spend time at DC13?

[TheCotMan]

Last year, I started a similar thread for DefCon 12 and I thought that now is a good time to bring it back.

Help people who have less experience with DefCon to understand how you find the most fun at DefCon.

If what you want to do is not covered, please let us know what it is below.

If you choose "events" or a general item above, tell us the specific event/presentation/contest/* from above.

REMEMBER!: Select all that apply. :-)

[theIG]

I'm going to the TBBQ, and I'm going to try and fit as many presentations as I can into the mix, along with whatever comes my way. This is going to be my first DefCon though, so any plans could (are) going to be changed/forgotten.

[hackajar]

Gambling - I live here, and try to steer clear of the tables, but every time I go to the tables at HardRock during DefCon, I always make out 1000%+ in earnings.

I remember last year I was like "I don't think we have enough money to move on with the ScavHunt!" so I hit up the craps table @ HardRock and turned $100 into $800 in 15min.

[noid]

I will spend Defcon how I always spend Defcon: Working my tail off, with periodic breaks taken to enjoy fine cigars and chat with cool people. The rest of my time will be spent using my dark arts (gooning +3, detect traps +4, summon minor demons Lvl 6, turn undead) to maintain a safe, fun, and constuctive Defcon environment for everyone.

My crew and I work our asses off making sure that the event stays safe and that issues are handled in the best way possible. We do our best to make sure that everyone is having a fun time, those that arent having a fun time get the assistance they need, and those that are making people not have a fun time get some extra special attention. Some folks still dont seem to realize that the Defcon security goons arent the cops, in fact we're a much preferable alternative to Vegas Metro. I do my damnedest to see as few people get into real trouble at Defcon as possible, so if/when you are at the event and you find yourself interacting with my team do them and yourself a favor and cut them some slack, it may come back on you tenfold.

[lil_freak]

I will be working the LPcon again this year, attending the Toxic BBQ, chit-chatting with new and old friends alike, making a mess of Siviaks kitchen and then having to clean up my mess, and maybe I'll even make it to a talk this year.

[renderman]

Contests primarily, drinking in between (and probobly during). LPcon, the WD contests, and anything else I get myself into.

A smaller amount of time will be spent speaking and assisting speakers.

The rest will be spent handing out drinks to goons, The TBBQ, Quarks and all the other pre-defcon goodness. Sneaking into Blackhat (again). Spending way to much money on t-shirts and swag and generally doing everything I can to arrive at the end skidding in sideways etirely used up and spent saying that it was the best con yet

Most of all though I will spend time hanging out with some incrediably cool people having the most fun I do during the year.

[Deviant Ollam]

My crew and I work our asses off making sure that the event stays safe and that issues are handled in the best way possible. ... Some folks still dont seem to realize that the Defcon security goons arent the cops, in fact we're a much preferable alternative to Vegas Metro. I do my damnedest to see as few people get into real trouble at Defcon as possible, so if/when you are at the event and you find yourself interacting with my team do them and yourself a favor and cut them some slack, it may come back on you tenfold.

i'd like to state that i, for one, certainly appreciate the goon squad. at every defcon i've been to, the red shirts are ten times over more polite, straightforward, and good to the attendees than the AP security staff. thanks for all the hard work you do, it doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated.

i have a question, however, about an issue that has sort of made itself known more and more in recent years. in the past when i first came to DefCon (DC8) there was liquor everywhere and everyone was pretty cool with that... including the hotel staff. in recent years attendees have become more wise about the economics of bringing one's own drinks as opposed to buying from the overpriced bars that the AP erects everywhere. i assume that it is in response to this fiscal sensibility on the part of hotel guests that we've seen the AP get in a twist about people bringing their own drinks with them to events, talks, games at night, etc.

what is the defcon staff's official position and feelings on this matter? i have seen the pain and disappointment in the eyes of goons in the past who have been apparently instructed to deny people entry into someone's talk or into hacker jeopardy because they are toting a backpack full of beer cans. this is my chief disappointment and the only real negative thing i've encountered at defcon as far back as i can remember... the hotel is (i would have to think) making considerable money from the presence of a con and the general purchasing of the guests (even those who are trying to avoid overpriced pizza) yet they are still putting the squeeze on everyone trying to force individuals into buying overpriced beer from a limited selection of brands.

thankfully the goons in the past have often looked the other way when these sort of edicts are handed down by hotel management. i hope that continues to be the case. what is your opinion on the whole matter, noid? what instructions are the goons given with respect to alcohol regulation and enforcement?

[noid]

what is the defcon staff's official position and feelings on this matter? i have seen the pain and disappointment in the eyes of goons in the past who have been apparently instructed to deny people entry into someone's talk or into hacker jeopardy because they are toting a backpack full of beer cans. this is my chief disappointment and the only real negative thing i've encountered at defcon as far back as i can remember... the hotel is (i would have to think) making considerable money from the presence of a con and the general purchasing of the guests (even those who are trying to avoid overpriced pizza) yet they are still putting the squeeze on everyone trying to force individuals into buying overpriced beer from a limited selection of brands.

thankfully the goons in the past have often looked the other way when these sort of edicts are handed down by hotel management. i hope that continues to be the case. what is your opinion on the whole matter, noid? what instructions are the goons given with respect to alcohol regulation and enforcement?

Well, the only person that can give Defcon's official position on anything is DT. I will be happy to provide some of my view on the subject, but unless it comes from DTs mouth, its not gospel.

The issue of non-AP-purchaced-boozahol vs. AP-purchaced-boozahol is a policy the AP themselves need to deal with. If they dont want outside liquor on property thats a decision for the hotel to make and enforce with their own security staff. I, nor Defcon that matter, have any real say there. The property owners make their rules.

Where you see the goons getting involved is in issues of safety. Basically, we dont like glass. Glass gets broken, glass cuts people, glass can ruin someones weekend. When we see people drinking out of glass (especially near the pools) we tell them to put the booze in plastic cups. Me and my team arent the state liquor control board nor are we vice cops, we're just trying to make sure that no one gets injured. Remember, that even though we are tucked away in our own world, the rules of Nevada do apply. The drinking age IS 21 and its the responsibility of both those drinking and those serving to abide by that. I'll leave the enforcement of hotel policy and Nevada law to the AP security team and Vegas Metro.

[Deviant Ollam]

thanks for the quick and detailed reply. i totally see where you're coming from with respect to glass containers and agree with you 100% ... i wish everyone else could be so sensible sometimes.

i would like to ask for a little more clarification in one area...

The issue of non-AP-purchaced-boozahol vs. AP-purchaced-boozahol is a policy the AP themselves need to deal with. If they dont want outside liquor on property thats a decision for the hotel to make and enforce with their own security staff. I, nor Defcon that matter, have any real say there. The property owners make their rules.

does this mean that you'd rather not have the goons dealing at all with matters concerning who can/can't drink what liquor in which areas? basically, will people like renderman and i be confronted by goons on our way into hacker jeopardy one evening with demands that our bags be searched to see if we are toting beer before we can enter? (this happened last year, if i recall correctly) if the AP states a position regarding enforcement of any outside beverages policy, will the response from the DC security organizers be "that's your policy? fine... you enforce it." or something to that effect?

just wanna know what i should expect and what the general mood will be. i dream of a world in which the system we've worked with for years is maintained (goons == keep people safe and where they're supposed to be / AP security & staff == all the knucklhead stuff that doesn't matter in the big picture) and management concerns which don't bear directly on people's safety and security fall outside the scope of what they ask you to do.

[TheCotMan]

...
If they dont want outside liquor on property thats a decision for the hotel to make and enforce with their own security staff.
...
Basically, we dont like glass. ...

When checking into the AP last year, they added this to the list of things they told me.
Them: "No glass beverage containers in the hotel rooms or near the pools."
Me: "What about in the can in the hotel room and elsewhere at the AP?"
Them: "There are no rules to prohibit either."

That made it tougher to buy Guiness. I visited 3 grocery stores and cleaned them out of their Guiness supply in the can, and they did not have any in the back either.

I don't know of anyone who encountered problems with glass-bottled beverages in their hotel rooms, but at least one person told me they were asked to remove their bottle from the pool.

[Xodia]

I plan on socializing a whole lot more this year. Last year was my first con and I had a great time with the few people I did talk to. This year should be a heck of alot better considering I know a few more people now.

And I'm making it to the TBBQ this year, not to mention the glory of PieCon I.

[lil_freak]

<snip>not to mention the glory of PieCon I.

Speaking of which I still have to chose which pies I'm going to go with.

Siviak, how big is your oven?

[hackajar]

That made it tougher to buy Guiness. I visited 3 grocery stores and cleaned them out of their Guiness supply in the can, and they did not have any in the back either.

Pre-order a keg!

[Deviant Ollam]

Pre-order a keg!

what is the DefCon and/or Alexis Park policy with respect to kegs? seriously, with the amount of alcohol that my friends and i consume it would make absolute economic sense to just tap one, keep it cold, and have a flock of scenewhores tote it around for us.

anyone wanna enlighten me about what the rules on that would be?

[TheCotMan]

Pre-order a keg!

Kegs are not as portable as cans or bottles. The purchases of cans was so I could easily give many of them away, and have an easy time transporting them around the con as I consumed a few...

Of course, I could copy renderman's idea of his portable gear, but instead of wireless, do something with kegs... something like those "beer hats" but with 2 kegs instead of two cans.

...

Naw. If I did that, I would look like one of those pest control people spraying for bugs.

what is the DefCon and/or Alexis Park policy with respect to kegs?
...
anyone wanna enlighten me about what the rules on that would be?

I never asked, but I do know their rules and policies change every year. The best thing to do would be to call, but like the tech world, that information may be obsolete in a little over a month.