ShmooCon 2015

Ok so it had been over like 15 months since I posted anything…which is not surprising as my laziness far outwieghs my desire to share things with the masses…or the only person who will actually read this. Thanks Mom!

Wait…you dont even read this mom? Lovely…

Anyway moving on…

ShmooCon 2015

This past weekend I had the pleasure of heading off to DC for my first ever ShmooCon. It was a blast but let’s go back to how the whole thing started.

A few months ago a friend and I come up with the idea of going to DC for ShmooCon but not buying tickets and just doing lobbycon the entire weekend while writing code and hacking away on projects. Sounded like a fun weekend so I started planning. To make the trip more fun and cost effective I looked into some different ways of getting us to DC. Ultimately we opted to take a bus from Charlotte, NC to DC. I have never been a a bus trip and thought it would be fun but more importantly it was CHEAP!! $30 round trip on a bus with power and Wifi and it cut out one night of hotel expense!

The bus left around 11:30 Thursday night and the hashtag #HackersOnABus was born. The ride up was great! seats were comfortable and I was able to get maybe 45 minutes of sleep. We got to Union Station about ten till 8 on Friday morning. Hopped the Metro to Dupont Circle and made our way to hotel.

Once we were able to check our bags we headed out for some much need breakfast. Let me say this…I love DC. It is such a fun city and I loved that I was able to walk everywhere I needed to go! Which from a physical aspect is huge for me. Amazing what losing 105 pounds will do for you!

On the way to breakfast we ran into someone who had a couple of tickets to the con…a debate insued…I was a $150 dollars poorer…but had a ticket to Shmoo. No lobbycon for me.

Despite not really wanting to spend the money, it was a great decision to do so!

Im not used to Cons that dont start at like 9am so when I found out that ShmooCon didnt start until like 2 I was like huh…that’s  a cool idea. Basically it allows people to travel day of the event and not miss any content. So kudos to the Shmoo Group for doing that.

Friday was a good start to the event. Really enjoyed some of the talks I heard.

Friday night was “BlackHat”

Nothing like a bunch of hackers watching a hacker movie right? By the end of the movie it was dead silent…not because the movie had drawn everyone in but because there simply was no comment that could me made. That movie is BAD!!!!!

Saturday was probably my favorite day in DC.

The talks I went to where great!

I finally got to meet someone who has inspired a lot of my research efforts over the last 2 years and got to share with them the impact their work has had on me. That is always cool. Maybe one day I will be on the receiving end of that conversation.

I meet a lot of other awesome people. Always do when I am at events like this.

Sunday…man I was tired by this point but this was going to be the longest day for me. Highlight for me by far was the session right before closing called “Get off my Lawn” where a panel of “seasoned” members of the community talked about the changes we have seen in the industry…and those that we sadly have not seen. it was great. Lots of different views and opinions but the consensus was we still have a lot of work todo.

Closing ceremonies was fun but it is always a bit sad to know the event was over.

Once everything ended we still had about 8 hours until our bus was scheduled to leave. UGH. I had no idea how tired I was going to be when we first planned this trip. Needless to say, I didnt think Sunday would ever end. The good news is that coding that I had hoped to work on originally, well I had PLENTY of time to work on it and I did. More on this in the coming weeks. Its good trust me!

Finally it was time to leave the hotel and start the journey back home. On a bus. Without power this time.

The bus ride was not bad and we got back into Charlotte about an hour early. YAY!

Got to the car and drive home back to Asheville.

Whewww what a trip.

Recap:

ShmooCon is aweome! It is in my top 3 events I have been to recently. Very well organized and was just a great time. The people is what really make an event like Shmoo special. Meeting new people and seeing people that you have not seen in awhile is what it is all about. Its like a dysfunctional reunion of Epicness.

Thank you so much Bruce and Heidi for putting on something so special!

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