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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@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@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!