DerbyCon 4.0, getting (Smirnoff) Iced and Sexy Explosions

DerbyCon 4.0 - what more is there than anyone can say?

Well, after a little thought, this is what came to my mind…

Friday Morning Keynote: Entering for the keynote on Friday morning was an amazing site to see.  I didn't count how many people were there, but if a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm guessing we may have been taxing the "Not to exceed limit" of the Hyatt's capacity.

SATURDAY GRINDER GIRLS & INFECTED MUSHROOM: I survived, having been given the opportunity to present to ones peers and colleagues is one of the greatest opportunities an individual can be given.  To have a near packed room at 9am on a Sunday following Infected Mushroom, all I can say is WOW!! This Iowa farm boy was greatly humbled by the fact that so many were willing to fight off con fatigue to come here me share my experiences and ramble on.

GETTING ICED:  I learned not that you should ALWAYS check that your presentation is ready to go -- a slight issue with formatting won me one of these at shortly after 9am:

I learned not to taunt the DerbyCon staff, as my comment of "Well that wasn't so bad" earned me another one of these:

Making probably a more interesting presentation, and little tongue twisting stumbling, to boot as I'm typically a teetotaler (I drink very infrequently and even then, only around those I'm comfortable with).

It was captured that while @Jack_Daniel, the original Information Security Curmudgeon and I, the Jaded InfoSec Pro, do actually have moments of happiness and that we actually can and do smile -- then again it could have been the result of being iced during the presentation:

I had a blast. I had the opportunity to see folks with whom I banter with on Twitter, IRC and text whom I don't get the opportunity to see outside of the conferences.  While I love the conferences, I don't think I'm the only one who thinks that they seem to pass by so quickly.

FOR THE RECORD: I did not troll @Egyp7 in the restroom about 'the Hacker conference'

HUGS: While I did get my hug from @HackingDave, I did not get the picture of it , I did manage to get awkwardly hugged by @jaysonstreet however :) 

Rockabye Baby Awkward Hug

I was able to spend time with a number of folks whom I truly admire, not only for their technical skills, but their being humble and willingness to share their information and invest their time helping others grow.

FAMILY: For me, I was able to shake hands and hug a number of folks who, through their generosity in sharing their time, have helped me learn and become successful. Folks who, had it not been for, I may have taken an entirely different route.  This is one of the distinct differences I believe makes our community vastly different than most others.  

But most importantly, I felt at home with family. I believe that I can say for most of us this does not come without serious implication or consideration. A majority of us spend countless hours advancing our knowledge, skills and talents. We are typically on the road with clients, at conferences or in training, all of which takes away from our families.  Some of us have missed birthdays, anniversaries and spending time with those closest to us.  So to come to DerbyCon and have an immediate sense of belonging can be a little overwhelming.

To everyone who made it to DerbyCon, the families, the staff, my fellow attendees and presenters, and especially the folks supporting us at the Hyatt -- you have made a Iowa Farm Boy feel not only at home, but also have reminded me of why we do what we do and why in the face of disparity and moments of being jaded it is important to keep up the good fight; at the end of the day what I realized was "We don't give up on family, because family never gives up on us."

Sexy Explosions: Open Source Threat Intelligence - Building an Threat Intelligence Program using Open Source Tools and Public Sources was the original name of the my presentation.  According to some in my family that was was a BLAND title compared to some of the other talks at DerbyCon this year.  @HaxortheMatrix suggested "Sexy Explosions" - so I opted to adapt to make it such.

Now, I don't know if it was technical difficulties or a result of a couple of wayward Smirnoff Ices, but there were a few issues.  As a result, I'm in the process of converting and posting a copy that isn't technically challenged.

If you have any comments, ideas, free time, spare unsweet Iced Tea (NOT SMIRNOFF) or just want to help out, please don't hesitate to reach out to me and let me know.