Announcing ShmooCon 08 and the CFP

[B Potter <gdead () shmoo com>]

Howdy,
It's official.  ShmooCon IV will be February 15-17, 2008 at the  
Wardman Park Marriott, Washington D.C., USA.  We had over 1,000  
people last year, and we're shooting for about the same size again  
this year.  FYI: Most of the videos from last year are online, so if  
you missed the con and want to see the talks, check out the website.

More details on the con will be released in the future (like  
registration prices and dates, ShmooCon Lab info, and more hacker  
arcade goodness).  But for now, enjoy the CFP.

later

bruce

===================
CALL FOR PAPERS (PDF version available at http://www.shmoocon.org/ 
cfp.pdf)
===================
The Shmoo Group is soliciting papers and presentations for the fourth  
annual ShmooCon.

===================
About ShmooCon 2008 and The Shmoo Group
===================
ShmooCon 2008 will be a highly-technical and entertaining East Coast  
hacker convention focused on technology exploitation, inventive  
software & hardware solutions, as well as open discussion on a  
variety of technology & security topics. ShmooCon 2008 is hosted by  
The Shmoo Group and will be held at the Wardman Park Marriott in  
Washington, D.C., just minutes from your choice of 3-letter agencies.

The Shmoo Group is comprised of security professionals from around  
the world who donate their time and energy towards information  
security research and development.  TSG encourages speakers to  
perform new and interesting projects for ShmooCon and will give  
preferential treatment to submissions that have not been presented at  
other conferences.  Further, TSG invites any individual who has not  
spoken at a conference before to submit a talk and attempt to make  
ShmooCon their inaugural event.

===================
Conference Format
===================
ShmooCon 2008 has 4 options for speaker submission.
+One Track Mind - Technical Tales in Twenty Minutes or Less Break It!  
- Technology Exploitation
+Build It! - Inventive Software & Hardware Solutions
+Bring It On! - Open Discussion of Technology & Security Topics

Topics for One Track Mind may include, but are not limited to:
+Updates to talks given at other conferences
+Works in Progress
+Talks that are as much about fun as they are about technology
+Anything that doesn't need a full hour to explain

Topics for Break It! may include, but are not limited to,  
EXPLOITATION of:
+Consumer electronic devices
+Application, host, and network security
+Telephony
+Embedded systems
+Physical security

Topics for Build It! may include, but are not limited to, inventive  
software & hardware SOLUTIONS in:
+Robotics
+Distributed computing
+Wireless networking
+Secure software techniques
+Trusted computing

Topics for Bring It On! may include, but are not limited to, open  
DISCUSSION of the following:
+Privacy and anonymity
+Exploit and vulnerability disclosure / databases
+DRM (Digital Rights Management), fair use, copyright infringement
+Terrorism, counter-terrorism, and eavesdropping
+Open source software world domination strategies
+Controversial views on existing trends or technology

===================
Presentation Format - One Track Mind, (Friday Night Only)
===================
Presenters will have 20 minutes on Friday night to give the entirety  
of ShmooCon a view into their mind. Perhaps that's a 10,000-foot  
overview of a new, cool idea or an update or extension of a previous  
presentation at ShmooCon or another conference.  And we're still  
hoping for a twenty minute parody of Bruce Potter up on stage (ok,  
maybe not).  We'll give you an additional 10 minutes for audience  
questions.  If any questions can't be answered in that time, there is  
space set aside for further discussion while One Track Mind marches on.

===================
Presentation Format - Break It!, Build It!, Bring It On! (Saturday  
and Sunday)
===================
All presentations & discussions will be 50 minutes in length and  
presented to attendees on either Saturday or Sunday. It is the  
speaker's responsibility to budget time for audience participation  
and questions.  Presentations in the Break It! and Build It! tracks  
are strongly encouraged to include demonstrations of personally  
developed techniques, working code, and/or devices, with code and/or  
schematics being open-source and released to the public for free.  
Presentations in Bring It On! are more open-ended, but presenters are  
strongly encouraged to structure their talk in a way that engages or  
enrages the audience.

===================
ShmooBalls
===================
ShmooCon 2008 is continuing in the tradition of arming attendees with  
ShmooBalls (a soft aerodynamic object of some sort).  This is in an  
effort to facilitate a frank and open discussion of opinions.  
Speakers are encouraged to present innovative ideas that not everyone  
agrees with.  Audience members are encouraged to use their ShmooBalls  
if they disagree.

===================
Submission Procedure
===================
ShmooCon 2008 has moved to a web based submission process.  This  
might be a bit different than what you are used to, but using this  
system will help us out a lot.  Please visit https://cfp.shmoocon.org  
and be prepared to enter in the following information:
Speaker name(s) and contact information
Presentation Title
Track preference
Keywords and 2-3 sentence abstract
Document in Text or PDF format which contains the following:
a.  Two to three paragraph presentation description and/or outline
b.  List of other conferences at which submission has been presented
c.  List of facilities required. Projector for use with VGA input,  
flipchart, sound projection, and Internet connectivity will be provided.
d.  Speaker bio, limited to 75 words or less.

Accepted speakers will receive free admission to the conference, as  
well as a $100 (One Track Mind) or $200 (Build It!, Break It!, Bring  
it On!) honorarium after evaluation of their completed presentation.  
4 runner-ups will receive free admission as hot-alternates. They  
should come to ShmooCon 2008 prepared to speak.  If it becomes  
necessary for them to speak as an alternate, they too will receive a  
$200 honorarium after evaluation of their completed presentation.

Presentation proposals will be reviewed by members of The Shmoo  
Group. A list of the reviewers will be posted on the ShmooCon 2008  
web site.

If you feel you have a presentation that would be appropriate but  
that does not meet these guidelines, feel free to submit it anyway  
but be sure to include information explaining your reasoning so we  
can better evaluate your proposal.

All questions regarding this call for papers should be addressed to  
cfp () shmoocon org. Feel free to contact us if you have an idea for a  
talk but you're not sure how to present it at a conference.

===================
Schedule
===================
Please check the web site for updates: http://www.shmoocon.org
September 5, 2007 - CFP opens
November 1, 2007 - Papers for preferential first round consideration due
December 10, 2007 - Final due date for all papers
January 10, 2008 - All speakers notified

Submissions are due by December 10, 2007.  Early selection speakers  
will be notified by November 31, 2007. All other speakers will be  
notified by the date specified above.  We look forward to receiving  
your submissions as well as seeing you at ShmooCon 2008!