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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!