ShmooCon 2012
January 27 - 29, 2012
Washington, DC

Different - ShmooCon is an annual east coast hacker convention hell-bent on offering three days of an interesting atmosphere for demonstrating technology exploitation, inventive software and hardware solutions, and open discussions of critical infosec issues.  The first day is a single track of speed talks called One Track Mind.  The next two days bring three tracks:  Build It, Break It and Bring It On.Affordable - ShmooCon is about high quality without the high price.  Keep in mind that space is limited and we've sold out quickly every year.  Accessible - ShmooCon is held in Washington, DC at the Washington Hilton Hotel, just a few short blocks from the DC metro.  Fly into DCA, IAD or BWI or take a train to Union Station and you're just a short cab ride away from the con.Entertaining - Brain melting from all the cool tech you're learning?  Be sure to check out the other events running during ShmooCon, including the Hacker Arcade, ShmooCon Labs, Hack-or-Halo and more.  Saturday night is party night, where typically we throw an off site bash just to shake things up a bit.

For more info:
http://www.shmoocon.org

Don

I'll be going I'm pretty sure. Submitted a talk this year but I think CFP response almost guarantees you a shot at a ticket. At least it has in years past.

I'll post later after there are some more details, but there appears to be a CTF event (ghost in the shellcode).  There might be some pre-assessment required to get a spot, but at the very least I want to put together a team.  Keep it in mind if that's an activity you're interested in, and look for my post!

Today was also my first time trying to get ShmooCon tickets, and I didn't have any problem. I was prepared, though. I had it in my calendar to alert me 10 minutes before they went on sale, and F5 hammered their website until the magic link appeared. I was fortunate enough to get one, I'm really excited. This will be my first con ever.

For those getting attempting to get tickets and have never gone, you can chance it and try to get some tickets from scalpers when you get down there.  Also keep an eye out for Tweets and posts of people that have purchased a ticket but circumstances arise and they can no longer go.  The community is really good about selling off unused tickets.  Me personally, I have little patience for hammering F5 for tickets.  I will probably shoot for DerbyCon 2012 next year though.  And of course Bsides is always a good choice for a free con.  There is also something going on in NYC soon (NYCsides).  Keep an eye out for that.

Congrats rance! I'll make a point of trying to meet up with you while we're there!

If there are any other EH Net people at the conference, I'd love to have a little meetup and get to know some of you in person. If you can't make ShmooCon, I'm also planning on being at Def Con in July.