ShmooCon 2009 CFP
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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@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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@xxxxxxxxxxxx
. 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!