0wn the Con Growing Up

This closing session looks behind the scenes of a long-running East Coast hacker conference as its organizers prepare to end it. The organizers explain that the event is run by a for-profit company rather than a nonprofit, and they estimate that the work adds up to several person-years of staff and volunteer effort. They say they chose to stop around the twenty-year mark on their own schedule, and a pandemic delay gave them one extra year.

The middle of the talk covers how the program is assembled. The call for papers drew roughly 249 submissions, which were scored in a review platform and then refined by a small group that balances tracks and reviewer variance. The speakers stress following submission instructions, asking organizers questions before submitting, and citing earlier work on a topic. They also explain that ticketing was kept in-house to limit how much attendee data is shared, and that sponsorship is capped so sponsors still get value. Finances are shared openly to build trust with attendees.

The organizers' children then take the stage to describe growing up around the event. They list the physical chores they did, including stuffing bags, folding shirts, and building badges, and the skills they picked up, such as streaming talks and editing media. Their takeaways are to build a community, keep asking questions, stay willing to learn, and treat others with kindness, even when you disagree.