ShmooCon 2009 CFP

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

Forwarded from: Bruce Potter <gdead (at) shmoo.com>

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+ ShmooCon 2009
+ Feb 6-8 2009
+ Wardman Park Marriott
+ Washington DC, USA
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+ Call for Papers
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The Shmoo Group is soliciting papers and presentations for the fifth 
annual ShmooCon.

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+ About ShmooCon 2008 and The Shmoo Group
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Over the last 4 years, ShmooCon has grown from a little security 
conference to a slightly larger security conference. In 2008, ShmooCon 
convinced over 1200 people to come to Washington DC in the wintertime to 
talk about technology exploitation, inventive software & hardware hacks, 
building advanced defenses, as well as open discussion on a variety of 
technology & security topics. We hear there's an inauguration or 
something going on in January, but things look pretty quiet in DC after 
that. So in an effort to help boost DC's post- inauguration economy, we 
decided to have ShmooCon 2009. Once again, ShmooCon will be held at the 
Wardman Park Marriott, just minutes from your choice of 3-letter 
agencies.

The Shmoo Group actually does more than just ShmooCon. 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 present 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.

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+ Conference Format
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ShmooCon 2009 has 4 tracks to accommodate a variety of speaking styles
and topics.
       ? 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

+ Presentation Format - One Track Mind, (Friday Night Only) In One Track 
  Mind, presenters have 20 minutes on Friday night to give the entirety 
  of ShmooCon a view into their mind. Presenters be aware - you need to 
  be diligent about your use of time as the 20-minute timeline is 
  strictly enforced by ShmooCon staff (we had to use the hook last year 
  on a few speakers). We'll give you a few additional minutes for 
  audience questions while we switch to the next talk. If any questions 
  can't be answered in that time, there is space set aside for further 
  discussion while One Track Mind marches on.

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

+ 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 within those 50 minutes. 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.

We're serious about this. We want the community to get something from 
your presentation, not just 50 minutes of hot air. So PLEASE, in your 
CFP response, indicate what you are releasing that will be of interest. 
If you can't release code or something similar, be sure your techniques 
and methods are mind blowing. 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. If it does neither, 
you will be unceremoniously pelted by ShmooBalls (see below). The 
audience is armed and ready to fire.

Topics for Break It! may include, but are not limited to, EXPLOITATION
of:
       ? Virtualization attacks
       ? Hardware disassembly and perversion
       ? Consumer electronic devices
       ? Application, host, and network security
       ? Telephony
       ? Physical security
       ? RFID

Topics for Build It! may include, but are not limited to, inventive
software & hardware SOLUTIONS in:
       ? Robotics and animatronics
       ? Advanced defensive technologies
       ? Software security concepts that work in real life
       ? Distributed computing
       ? Wireless networking (Zigbee, anyone?)
       ? Trusted computing
       ? RFID

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
       ? Team Fortress 2
       ? 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

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+ ShmooBalls
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ShmooCon 2009 is continuing in the tradition of arming attendees with 
ShmooBalls (a soft aerodynamic object of some sort). One of ShmooCon's 
major objectives is to facilitate a frank and open discussion of 
opinions rather than just a one-way flow of information from the speaker 
to the audience. Speakers are encouraged to present innovative ideas 
that not everyone agrees with. Audience members are encouraged to throw 
their ShmooBalls at the speakers if they disagree. The balls are 
basically soft and light enough to not hurt but heavy enough to get 
range from the back of the conference rooms.

Audience members are also encouraged to build their own ShmooBall 
launcher. Please write us if you want specific dimensions and weights.

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+ Submission Procedure
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ShmooCon 2009 will continue to use a web based submission process. This 
might be a bit different than what you are used to. PLEASE don't just 
mail us your CFP response. If you can't follow simple directions like 
these, we won't have a lot of faith in your talk. Using this system will 
help us out a lot. Please visit https://cfp.shmoocon.org and be prepared 
with 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:
               ? Two to three paragraph presentation description 
                 (limited to 200 words) and/or outline
               ? List of other conferences at which submission has been presented
               ? List of facilities required. Projector for use with VGA input,
                 flipchart, sound projection, and Internet connectivity 
                 will be provided.
               ? Speaker bio, limited to 75 words or less - strictly 
                 enforced.

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 2009 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 
and ShmooCon volunteers. If you have questions for the reviewers, please 
write cfp (at) shmoocon.org

If you feel you have a presentation that would be appropriate but that 
does not meet the guidelines in this CFP, 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 (at) 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.

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+ Schedule
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       ? September 10, 2008 - CFP opens. Game on!
       ? November 1, 2008 - Papers for preferential first round 
         consideration due
       ? December 1, 2008 - Final due date for all papers
       ? January 1, 2008 - All speakers notified

Submissions are due by December 1, 2008. Early selection speakers will 
be notified by November 31, 2008. 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 2009!


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