As I prepare for another year of BlackHat and Defcon, this being the 15th year or so that I have attended, it has a completely different feeling than previous years. Last year, when the COVID pandemic was still in full swing, the conferences went virtual and I was relieved that both conferences were taking it seriously. I wanted to be onsite with my friends and hacker family, but it was the right thing to do to remain virtual and wait for the next year when we could be together.
Now we are in another upswing of the COVID pandemic, after it has started to tail off, and both conferences are in a hybrid mode. I scheduled myself to be onsite, after being vaccinated and taking extreme precautions for the last 18 months. I keep telling myself, I am taking the precautions necessary to attend and be safe. I am vaccinated, wear a mask, and have plenty of hand sanitizer. I still have concerns, but my desire to see my hacker family is overriding my fear.
With the time I have had to prepare, I think that I will be safe, but understand the number of folks that are cancelling their trips. Everyone needs to do what they feel is right, and with the COVID numbers spiking around the country, it is hard to feel safe anywhere.
So, this year at Defcon, will be like no other year, and hopefully like no future year. I will be in person, meeting up with the folks that are still going to be in person, and giving elbow bumps when appropriate and missing the folks that aren’t there with us in person, though I know they are there in spirit.
Hopefully next year we will be through the spikes of this pandemic and can all be together in person. Until then, Hack the Planet!
