The State of DEF CON Groups

The DEF CON Groups department leads opened by describing the program: a network of more than 300 community-run local meetups across six continents, ranging from groups formed this year to ones that have met for two decades. They stressed that the meetups are free, open to everyone, and run by local organizers who shape their own culture. The speakers argued that these groups matter most between conferences, when attendees otherwise lose the peers they met in Las Vegas.

They then reviewed the past year. The department now has a leadership structure with regional leads and a team of eight, and it handles new group requests, point-of-contact changes, and code of conduct reports, escalating serious cases to conference safety staff. At the conference, the community ran a space with five stage talks, a party, the first official DEF CON contests (a sticker contest and a Backdoors and Breaches tournament), and collected 61 group applications and directory updates from more than 14 countries. Guidance covered starting a group with a single form and no ID check, naming groups after area codes, using the mascot in logos, accepting sponsor donations without profit or product pitches, and reserving "DEF CON" plus a city name for official events.

The session closed with calls for volunteers and organizers, followed by short stories from group leaders in western Pennsylvania, Orlando, and Kosovo. The main takeaway is that a group can begin with two people, and consistency over time matters more than size.