I still haven't been to all that many cons but I think that I've been to enough to state some points. This blog post is dedicated to one of those points. When I first attended RECON in 2006, I wasn't sure what to expect... it was my first con. I'd always been active in security, but traveling to cons was never in my budget. When I got there I was somewhat surprised... while the talks were informative and many speakers had something to add that you'd miss if you just watched the PowerPoint but that wasn't the most important part of the con. The really interesting parts really happened when the talks were over for the day. The info sharing and networking that happened in the evening proved to be just as valuable as the presentations. The next con that I attended was SecTor (2007) and while the talks were great, I definitely noticed that the social aspect was lacking... It didn't have the feel of a big con... at least not the feel that RECON had lead me to expect. I summed up my experience to one of two things; SecTor was new (it was the first year) or RECON was an exception.

I ended up attending RECON again this past year and I found the social aspect to far exceed what I'd noticed in 2006. I don't know if it's because I was used to the con or if the atmosphere had changed, but the networking was great. I met a lot of interesting people that I still keep in touch with and that have become valued sources of information. In some cases, while the presentations were interesting, I found that an hour in the evening over a beer with the presenter could yield much more in-depth information. Again though... was RECON the exception, or had SecTor missed the social networking boat?

I finally answered that question this past month, when I attended Blackhat and DEFCON. As I've mentioned in past posts, I stayed at the booth for all of Blackhat, forgoing attending any of the sessions. I found that I gained a great deal of personal and business knowledge by interfacing with the booth visitors. The same thing happened in the evening, after we'd closed the booth. I was able to meet and speak with a number of people... not only people who's software I'd downloaded and used but people who's blogs I've heard and people who've read my blogs. Once again, the knowledge that was shared outside of the actual con was extremely beneficial. Many of the people I spoke with, I'm still speaking with... exchanging emails and sharing ideas. The ongoing discussion, that occurs long after the con has ended, is what makes a large portion of the con worth attending.

So there we are... 5 cons attended; 4 were social havens and one was a social flop. However, as I said, it was the first year of SecTor. The second SecTor is only a couple of months away and from what I hear there are huge improvements to the social aspects of the con. I'm eager for October 7th to show up so I can find out, but I'm not expecting to be disappointed. In the end though, the con is as social as you make it... You could attend Blackhat or DEFCON and not have the least bit of social interaction. So, if you're going to be around for SecTor... get in touch, let us know that you'll be there... because we definitely will be. If it turns out that nothing happens... I'll organize something. So SecTor attendees, watch our blog... if we get closer to the event and the organizers haven't announced anything in particular planned... I'll work something out and make it happen.