2 Hacker Cons, 1 Day

Through some crazy scheduling mishaps, two of the south/southeast hacker conventions are set to happen on the same day. The weekend of March 19^th will begin CarolinaCon and Outerz0ne, both returning for their 6^th year. In recent years the conventions have had talks ranging from embedded malicious javascript, Security Assessment Methodology, learning NMap, Format String Vulnerabilities and even how to travel on the airlines with a firearm.

Local Hacker Cons

For those that have never been to a local hacker convention, it’s completely different than something like DefCon. There are usually only around 80-150 attendees instead of thousands, this allows for anyone to have a 1 on 1 with the speaker if it’s a subject that you’re passionate about and would like further info. This also allows for all the attendees to get to know each other, even though many of us are introverted, after seeing the same people at 2 or 3 cons you end up talking and it’s always easier to talk to strangers when you’re both into technology or Dr. Who. Local Hacker Cons also are done on the cheap, which means the cost is around 20.00 for entry and are set at a cheap hotel, which also helps for the parties (cheaper hotels usually don’t freak out when the beds are pulled out of one room and placed in another to make room for a party).

Call for Speakers

To get ready for the March 19^th cons, both CarolinaCon and Outerz0ne are looking for speakers to volunteer to do an hour talk. These talks can be on a project you’re working on, technology you’ve been studying or working on or just a “how to” on something you think others would be interested in. If you’ll be in North Carolina (Raleigh area) and would like to be a speaker at CarolinaCon, visit http://www.carolinacon.org to register to be a speaker. If you’ll be around Georgia (Atlanta area) and would like to speak at Outerz0ne, watch http://www.outerz0ne.org for more info.

Remember that speaking at a local Hacker Convention will bring you minimal fame, glory, possible notoriety and mad props from all the staff and attendees. Maybe even a free t-shirt!