Call for Communities is Now Closed
Announcing the DEFCON 32 Call For Communities!
DEF CON started as talks and parties that evolved into a community of those who with a hacker’s mindset and an insatiable curiosity of how things work. We are committed to creating a place for all hackers to share, interact and learn from each other. Sometimes though, we have to reassess whether the structure of DEF CON is helping or hindering this vision.
One example of this is how we categorize creators. There are a lot of content departments at DEF CON. If you’re a Vendor, you go here. If you’re a Village, you go over there. If something doesn’t quite fit our categories we do our best to make it fit: The EFF or a University in our vendor room for example.
With “Communities” we intend to work with some of the content creators that don’t fit perfectly into categories like "Village" or "Contest". We want to help them define the best way to showcase what they came to share without a prior template limiting their options. What would the EFF’s space look like if they didn’t have to try to fit in with Vendors? This is a good time to get together and figure it out.
Last year at DEF CON you may have seen this new DEF CON Community format in action with DEF CON Groups (DCG), Women in Information Security Professionals (WISP), DEF CON Hackers with Disabilities (HDA), Lonely Hackers Club, and now hopefully more as groups learn of this new option.
Not all community spaces will be operating the entire con, we will have shared spaces, reserved tables, and rooms to be assigned on a daily basis. This gives new groups, events, and activities the freedom to grow and test out new things without taking on too much, to grow and scale organically.
If you are interested in hosting a community at DEFCON, here are some requirements you should know up front:
- The deadline to submit is February 1, 2024.
- Must abide by the DEFCON official rules and policies. (Code of conduct, Privacy,Press rules, Sponsorships, etc.) Communities should be staffed appropriately with hackers that are vetted by your team.
- Community hours of operation should match con hours: Friday & Sat 10:00 - 18:00, Sunday 10:00 to 14:00, and be open to any DEFCON attendee with a badge.
- Communities can not be "pay to play", and you can't sell items, have vendors, sponsor exhibit tables, or peddle wares. If you want to sell something, you must coordinate sales with [email protected] to be pre-approved. Be aware you will need to comply with Nevada state tax laws.
- Space is limited and highly competitive. You will need to use your space wisely and meet any safety and logistical requirements as requested by the venue.
Please cut & paste the following form into the body of an email and mail to
[email protected]. The deadline to submit is February 1, 2024.
After you submit, someone from DEFCON communities will respond to your application that it's been received within 3 business days. If you don't hear from us something went wrong, please send another message, check your spam filters, reach out, etc. Pro tip: most of the time we’re in your spam box.
Deadlines required for acceptance
DEF CON 32 will be held August 8th-11th, 2024. If accepted I, (insert primary
applicant's name), will meet the following deadlines and understand that if I do not my space could be revoked.
If accepted:
- April 1st, 2024 — Art/Logo, Website & Program data due.
- May 1st, 2024 by 12:00 — Equipment requests due. Unless
approved otherwise DEFCON will provide the following basic setup. I
understand that I am responsible for providing all other necessary equipment to
host my community space.
• 1 to 5 tables based on our assessment of your needs.
• 1 power drop with 1 power strip.
• Wireless Internet. - June 15, 2024 by 12:00 — any bonus content, code, or supplemental material you'd like included for publication on the DEFCON media server, to be released Thursday of the conference.
- Thursday August 8th — Permission granted to communities to set-up, community badges assigned as needed.
- August 8th-11th — DEFCON is on!
- August 16th— Detailed community stats or walkthroughs, for display on the DEFCON website are due. If applicable, I will submit any updated, revised or additional materials to include on the DEFCON media server.
Thanks for helping grow DEFCON with new opportunities to help others come together with other like minded folks. We hope that it was an enjoyable experience for those who have previously participated and we’re looking forward to continuing to grow with you!
Thank you and good luck!
DEFCON 32 Community APPLICATION
Special Note:
We request that applications are in plain text to avoid formatting errors. Please do not submit applications in .pdf, .odf, or any other formats or your review may be delayed. Additional supporting materials that may aid in the selection process can be attached and included in other formats. Do not delete questions that do not apply to you, instead mark them as N/A. Applications with deleted questions will be evaluated as incomplete.
Point of Contact Information
Official Community Name:
Primary Organizers Name:
Handle:
Email address:
Phone:
Social Media account:
Secondary Organizers Name:
Handle:
Email address:
Phone:
Social Media accounts:
If you are accepted, do you consent to inviting the primary & secondary contacts to the official DEF CON planning projects on "Basecamp"? We will use the email addresses you included on your application (unless stated otherwise): Yes/No
Anyone else vital to your team we should CC & add to Basecamp?
Sponsorship
Does your community have Sponsors?
If applicable, who are they?
If applicable, what have you agreed as a concession for their sponsorship?
Community Details
Is this a new or returning Community?
What is your Community’s twitter/X Handle?
Please provide the official web address/URL for your Community if available:
Are you planning to have talks or contests? [1]
WHY YOUR COMMUNITY? [2]
Anything else we should know in consideration of accepting your Community?
What can attendees expect to experience? (Yes, we even want you to state the obvious.)
[1] (This is just FYI for the Community department; it will be used to make sure coordination happens.
[2] Please provide a full description of your community (used for Art, Marketing,
Announcements, et al.). We'd like your description to provide attendees with a sense of why they should check you out. How will you or your community contribute to DEFCON? How does it relate to hacking?
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE IT HAPPEN?
How many defcon Community badges do you *think* you may need?
What, if any, equipment needs do you need to discuss or arrange? [2]
Do you have special signage requests or signage questions?
Do you plan to host an event that will need food & drink, privacy, etc?[3]
Do you have an event coordinator?
If applicable, please provide contact information for your event coordinator to be added to the planning basecamp:
[1] Community badges are granted based on size of your space, scope/depth of content. Community badges should be reserved for those working in your space. Community badges will permit authentication into your reserved area during setup and closing hours when attendees are not permitted entry.
Note: If you will have 6 people working your space or table please request 6 Community badges. Human badges are granted case by case.
[2] Power strips, Tables, mics, speakers, projectors, etc
[3] Food & Beverage, Catering (No outside Food & Drink are allowed)
Floor Plan
DEF CON will make all best efforts to provide your Community with what it needs within reason. Just let us know what you envision and we can start working together to see what is possible, both logistically and economically. Give us a rough sketch/impression of your desired Community layout. It can be included as an attachment with this application or emailed separately to [email protected].
ART & IMAGES:
If any art, images or logos accompany your Community, please include it with your application. (The latest you can submit an updated logo is May 1, 2024. )
The theme for DEFCON 32 will be released on the official DEFCON website, and will include the theme name, fonts, colors palettes, and official logo. Please have them in highest resolution possible (at least 300dpi raster, or vector format), source file is preferred.
Acceptable raster (pixel) formats: .tiff, .jpg, .png, .psd.
Acceptable vector formats: .ai, .eps, .SVG. Images should be clearly named for your Community, example: "communityname.ai".
Please don't send "DefconLogo-v.1".
Our policies, including our privacy policy are located here:
https://www.defcon.org/html/links/dc-policy.html
DEF CON will provide our standard signage coverage, door signs, inclusion on
directional signs. Hung banners are only permitted in select spaces, and may be subject to cost.
Submission Agreements **IMPORTANT**
This section at minimum requires agreements in “Submission Agreement Attestation” and “Press.” The “W8/W9 Terms” section may not be applicable.
Submission Agreement Attestation
If accepted, I (insert primary applicant's name) agree to the full submission agreements in this document, including the notice of copyright use, community commitment, Code of Conduct, deadlines, and remuneration.
PRESS
• I, (insert primary applicant's name), understand that DEF CON's official Press Liaison & Staff may contact me. I consent to be contacted in order to arrange interviews with the media. My contact information will not be given to third parties without my consent. •
< OR >
• No,I, (insert primary applicant's name), don't want to be contacted by DEF CON's press staff for any reason. Our policies, including our privacy policy are located here: https://www.defcon.org/html/links/dc-policy.html
W8/W9 Terms (if applicable)
I, (insert primary applicant's name), In some very rare cases, may be required to complete a W8 (Non-U.S. Citizen) or W9 (U.S. Citizen) before compensated badges are issued. *You would be notified well in advance if this becomes the case and is a very rare occurrence that happens when a person exceeds normal logistical operating Expenditures.
SUBMISSION AGREEMENTS
Failure to read and accept these terms will render your submission incomplete. Please read these carefully.
If your Community is accepted, you consent to inviting the application contacts to the official DEFCON planning project on Basecamp. We will use the email addresses you included on your application (unless stated otherwise).
You agree to the full submission agreements in this document, including the notice of copyright use, community commitment, code of conduct, deadlines, and remuneration.
Grant of Copyright Use
I warrant that the above work has not been previously published elsewhere, or if it has, that I have obtained permission for its publication by DEFCON Communications, Inc. and that I will promptly supply DEFCON Communications, Inc. with wording for crediting the original publication and copyright owner.
Community Commitment
DEF CON is a community event and your applications approval means we are
endorsing you as the type of people we want to include, promote, and whom belong within the DEFCON community. When someone at DEFCON behaves poorly they should be held accountable, otherwise we both look bad.
When DEFCON pays for fines or property damages it harms the community by reducing what DEFCON can contribute in support of new ideas, events and activities. I understand that DEFCON reserves the right to invoice an itemized bill, when costs occur due (but not limited to) the following:
Damage or destruction of property.
Fines and fees billed to DEFCON for any non-compliance to the requests from the venue staff or contracted rules.
Fees for bringing in outside food and drink, damages to the space or property you were assigned, etc.
A logistics document with a general list of what you can't do in the venue will be provided to you by July 1st, 2024 if not sooner.
I understand my Community must be inclusive to all members of the DEFCON community. I have read and agreed to comply with DEF CON's Code of Conduct.