I will be attending DragonCon this weekend, as I usually do. It is my home-town convention so I always look forward to catching up with my sci-fi and skeptic friends during the Labor Day weekend.
DragonCon is pretty gigantic – it spreads across five major hotels and a convention center and it has its own custom smartphone app just so attendees can manage their schedule. As of this writing even the information in the smartphone app is not quite complete, at least for my schedule. So for reference, here’s where you can see me speak during the weekend:
Year of the Data Breach
Friday 11:30am – Hilton 201 (EFF Track)
Sony, Anthem, Home Depot, OPM, and many others. What’s up with corporate information security these days? Why are so many companies getting hacked? Other panelists include Blair B. Chintella (moderator), Amie Stepanovich, Josh Ruppe, Chris Grayson.
Tuff Topics for Parents
Friday 8:30pm – Marriott A708 (Kaleidoscope Track)
Well mannered but frank discussion of tough topics including bullying, LGBTQ, cyber-bullying, the internet and social topics. Targeted at adults. Ohter panelists include Ronald Thomas Garner, Tony Gowell.
Hacking 101
Saturday 7:00pm – Marriott A601-A602 (EFF Track)
Hacking 101 returns for another glorious year! Just what is a hacker anyway? Culture, history, contacts, resources, and pointers for more info. Brought to you by se2600.org. Other panelists include Randal L. Schwartz, Kit Walsh and jonny X.
If you are interested in what sorts of topics get covered in the Hacking 101 session, here’s video of the one from last year, on which I also appeared.
You can watch two other computer technology panels on which I appeared last year in this playlist in my YouTube channel.
SkepTech
Sunday 1:00pm – Hilton Room 204-207 (Skeptrack)
Skeptical thinking isn’t always about Bigfeet, Ghosts, and Tarot… Sometimes it can be in your tech too! Other panelists include Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont.
Wrap-Up and Feedback
Monday 1:00pm – Hilton Room 204-207 (Skeptrack)
Come and join us for a discussion about the past weekend. Discuss the highlights, and offer feedback for ideas in 2016! Other (tentative) panelists include James Randi, Richard Carrier, Margaret Downey, Barbara Drescher, Ian Harris and Evan Bernstein.
You’ll probably see me in the Skeptrack room at various times during the weekend. I’m also using the DragonCon smartphone app to track what other sessions I’m attending, if you want to catch up with me send me a friend request in the app.
A couple of notes – we are not repeating the Ignite Skepticism program we did last year. We had hoped to repeat it this year, but it didn’t come together due to various things (such as my wedding in August). It will return in the future.
Also if you are looking for the WiFi guide to DragonCon you can find last year’s guide at that link. I didn’t have time to update it this year either – if I notice any significant changes I’ll post them on Twitter, so please follow me.
Skeptical Software Tools 