[ale] PhreakNIC 18! (pt02/02)

Wed Aug 20 09:21:49 EDT 2014

~~~continued

Talk topics:

We're keeping hacking/infosec as the core of the convention, and roughly 50% of the content, but we're also expanding to include DIY hardware hacking/making, IT-related classes & workshops, circuit bending & electronic/experimental music, NASA & space programming, general science & engineering, miscellaneous interesting geeky topics, etc. 

Since the convention has been around long enough for a lot of the original attendees to have gotten married & reproduced, we're also including some kid's programming & family-friendly events. Your suggestions, submissions & requests are welcome.

For those of you familiar with DragonCon, if it would be appropriate for the EFF Track, the Science Track, the Space Track, the Skeptics Track, the Robotics and Maker Track, or the Podcasting track, it would be appropriate for PhreakNIC.

Special talks - Workshops and Performances:

+ Workshops are talks that run longer than 50min, and may in fact involve projects lasting the entire weekend, but should probably be limited to groups of ~20-25 people if they are of a hands-on nature & close instruction is required.
+ Performances would be live music, djs, film screenings, etc.

Contact me for further details if you are interested in submitting a Workshop or Performance.

Vendors:

The hotel charges between $35 & $80 per day plus taxes for vendor space (basic 6' table & chairs at the low end, fancy shmancy booth with electricity & signage at the high end), half price on Sunday. Normally, conventions add their fees on top of that and pocket the difference. PhreakNIC 18 will not charge vendors any additional fees on top of the hotel rates; it's our way of thanking vendors for helping us with our reboot & supplying the con with additional content. Also, PhreakNIC 18 vendors will get the same "hotel charges only, no additional fees" rate as long as they continue attending future PhreakNICs. Call it a loyalty program. Contact me if you're interested in being a vendor.

Sponsors:

We have a number of packages available, from $500 to $5000+. The larger the package you purchase, the more you get (ie - your organization's logo in various prominent places on the website, in printed materials, banners hanging in the con rooms, profuse thank yous, beer (the good stuff), etc.). Contact me for sponsorship details.

Sponsor bonus: We'd love to have ArcAttack (the musical Tesla coil guys) at PhreakNIC, but their rates have gone up since their appearance on "America's Got Talent." Anyone or any organization with deep pockets picking up the ArcAttack tab will get a lot in return. A *LOT*. Just putting that out there.

Classes?

At the moment, the International and Forum rooms are available Monday, Oct 27th, through Wednesday, Oct 29th. One of our sponsors is looking into picking up one of those rooms M-W, coordinating with PhreakNIC & the Maxwell House, and running a M-F certification class (which dovetails nicely with PhreakNIC). If any other ALErs are interested in doing something similar, let me know and we'll work with you to make it happen.

Gear:

We've got most of our needs covered, but our main A/V guy had to back out (10 year family reunion somewhere out west, the organizers unexpectedly put it on the same weekend as PhreakNIC, darn relatives). An extra video projector or two & some PA gear suitable for one of the smaller conference rooms would be greatly appreciated, even if we don't wind up using it (better to have it & not need it than need it & not have it, right?). Contact me if you can help & I'll attempt to make it worth your while.

Charity:

Nashville2600, the parent organization that puts on PhreakNIC each year, is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt science & education non-profit and public charity. We're interested in doing more than just providing free educational-ish videos. Suggestions welcome. This year, we're also working to have the Red Cross onsite (blood drive), Habitat for Humanity, Food not Bombs, and/or food & clothing drives.

CPEs, PDHs, CEUs, EIEIO, ETC:

The (ISC)² wants their CISSPs and other cert holders to obtain Continuing Professional Education credits (CPEs) on an annual basis. Other techie & professional organizations require CPEs as well, or Continuing Education Units (CEUs), or Professional Development Units (PDUs), etc. Rates for obtaining the various units seem to range from as little as one unit per 50 min of instruction, to as much as one per 10 hours of instruction. The google searches I've done have turned up a zillion related acronyms (LU, CPC, CPD, CEP, PE, LS, PLS, AIA, RA) and just as many places willing to sell services to earn units, but not a whole lot of (free) info on requirements, paperwork, etc. I'd really like to get some help (offlist) on how attendees can get these sorts of credits at PhreakNIC, especially if it can be done at no cost beyond that of admission (guests & speakers get in free, hint, hint). That would be a nice selling point - "Hey boss, send me to this convention so I can get my CPEs! It's really cheap!". I understand there's something similar for academics & students with (or working on) advanced degrees? Point me in the right direction & I can at least make sure all of the official TN paperwork is onhand for whoever needs it. Think of it as a large scale collaborative social engineering project.

Some currently accepted speakers & guests to whet your appetite, lots more pending:

Elonka Dunin
Video game designer (Simutronics) and crypto queen
http://www.simutronics.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elonka_Dunin
(One of her talks will be how to survive & thrive as a video game designer.)

Les Johnson
Deputy Manager, Advanced Concepts Office
George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (NASA), Huntsville AL
http://www.lesjohnsonauthor.com/
http://les-johnson.blogspot.com/
http://tviw.us/
(He wrote the book on solar sails. Literally wrote the book. Check his publications.)

Morgan Phillips
linux developer, kernel hacker, astrophysicist
https://github.com/mrrrgn
http://www.linux-poetry.com/
http://goo.gl/SbcYN5  (linux.com article)

Keith Watson
Information Security Manager, College of Computing
Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~krwatson
(DC-404 list admin Keith will organize & run our Capture the Flag events as well as do talks and demos on wireless intercepts; check his webpage for other topics he can discuss & let us know what you want to see.)

Tony Youngblood
http://www.circuitbendersball.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Circuit-Benders-Ball/380393552039780
http://goo.gl/3xpBxQ  (Nashville Scene review, very positive)
(Cross a musician with a hacker, toss in a dash of maker as well, and you get a circuit bender. Tony runs Nashville's Circuit Benders' Ball, which though only three years old, is already growing like kudzu.)

Share and Enjoy:

Feel free to forward this where ever it might be of interest: other individuals, tech groups, potential speakers, potential sponsors, etc. Help us spread the love!

That's all I got for today. Comments, criticisms, questions, requests, death threats - send 'em all to me via my ALE subscriber address.

Alternate email address to use, for non-ALE members/readers, in case this actually does get forwarded far and wide:
phreaknic.org at gmail.com

Or hit the google group:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/phreaknic

Thanks for reading this, and thanks to Jim for letting me post it.

~~Dru Myers/jonnyX, PhreakNIC founder, guy in charge again, & glutton for punishment

PS for anyone attending DragonCon: I've been asked to bring back "Hacking 101" and "Hacking 201" on the EFF track. Hacking 101 is Saturday, August 30th, 7:00pm-8:00pm in the Hilton Crystal Ballroom. Hacking 201 is Sunday, August 31st, 10:00pm 'til sunrise in Hilton Room 201. More info:

http://eff.dragoncon.org/2014-schedule/

We'll be handing out special DragonCon-only promo cards with crypto challenges on them during both panels. Redeem the cards at PhreakNIC (whether or not you solve the crypto challenges) for special discounts & swag.

PPS: We're about to snailmail our PhreakNIC 18 "reminder" postcards. They're similar to the DragonCon promo cards, but have a different crypto challenge. They're redeemable at the con for special stuff as well. Shoot me your snailmail address if you want one. No, we don't share or sell your info with anyone else, though we might mail you other random (safe for work/family/kids/spouse) weirdness a few times a year.

~~~end pt02/02