Kiwicon 7

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Kiwicon 8: It Is On

Posted May 26, 2014 5:11 p.m.

We've shaved the venue drama llama to a light stubble, and are pleased as punch[1] to announce that Kiwicon 8 is actually gonna happen. If you've been to previous Kiwicons, then things are going to be a bit different this year - for a number of reasons. "Get to the point!" you demand. 

Kiwicon 8 will be:

11 - 12 December 2014 at the St James Theatre, Wellington

Yes. New venue! The St James is just down the road from the Opera House, and is bigger and better and has more bathrooms, so the mens will be slightly less like World War One trench warfare the morning of day two. 

Yes. Thursday, Friday! This is a pretty big change from our usual weekend slot, and while this is a result of our venue constraints, we think this is going to be a good thing. Yes, you'll have to take a coupla days off work. But you get the whole weekend to recover. 

Yes, its gonna be a bit more expensive. We're still working the budgetin' and sailin' the wide accountan-sea (after Kiwicon 7 resulted in a non-trivial loss; no we're not very good at this) but we're anticipating that student prices will remain at $30, and regular tickets will be somewhere between the current $60 and $100. 

Beyond the core con on 11-12 December, there's a bunch happening. The full schedule is going to be:

• Tue 09 Dec: Corporate paid training day
• Wed 10 Dec: Free training day
• Thu 11 Dec: Kiwicon 8 Day 1
• Fri 12 Dec: Kiwicon 8 Day 2
• Sat 13 Dec: Survivor's Day

The Tue/Wed will have our signature Kiwicon training event - the same classes on two days, the first day is full price corporate jerk training, the second day is free community training. If you get paid to work in infosec, you pay for training. If you're not yet paid to work in infosec, then you can apply for one of the limited free community spaces on the same courses.

The Survivor's Day is something new we can do because the core 'con is Thur - Fri. The Saturday after, once you've woken up, come hang with the rest of the Kiwicon massif for some BBQ meat and other events to help ease your pain - a burden shared!

The changes we've had to make this year open up a bunch of options for Kiwicon, and we're aiming for a bigger, better, badder-ass Kiwicon than ever. We reckon you'll dig it, man. 

Aww yiss.

 

Yours much cyberly,

The Kiwicon Crue

 

 

 

[1] punch in the face for being mad enough to run Kiwicon. Again and again and again and again...

Who Kiwicon 8 All The Pies

Posted May 14, 2014 10:09 a.m.

We're sure you're all wondering when to expect the next exciting installment of the Kiwicon saga. Normally by this point we'd at least be able to hint obliquely at a date, even though we still have no idea what we're doing when it comes to running a hacker con (as you've probably noticed). 

Unfortunately getting the venue booked for Kiwicon isn't quite as simple as this dramatic reenactment suggests:

Due to the Wellington Town Hall being closed for earthquake strengthening the booking policies for the other venues managed by Positively Wellington Venues - including our Opera House and the alternatives - have changed. The main effect for us is that we cannot get a confirmed booking earlier than three months out. We're aiming for Kiwicon 8 sometime mid November +/- three weeks, but we're not gonna get confirmed dates before August. 

Pretty much at this point we're at the "tough shit" phase. You guys can't book travel or time off, we can't organise the con or even guarantee it'll happen. Options for 800pax venues in Wellington are a short list, so I guess Bogan will be down at Positively Wellington Venues at 0859 on the morning of three months out, and we'll letchya know. 

Soz. 

Metl, on behalf of the Kiwicon Crue

It Is Time

Posted Nov. 9, 2013 6:52 a.m.

Imagine you gotta hill-start an Opera House in heavy traffic. Thats what we're doign right now. See you at Kiwicon oh so very soon, hacker chums!

 

<3

The Kiwicon Crue

Merch is Bagged, Tickets are Tagged

Posted Nov. 7, 2013 10:02 p.m.

All is on track; your sweet Kiwicon merch is bagged,  your tickets are tagged, and we're glueing the final inch of solid glitter onto the High Roller finery. 

Turn off your wifi, your bluetooth, and your mobile data (prolly also best to watch for GSM downgrades, and uh, those binary SMS messages that the baseband processes that it never tells you about. Dunno how you're gonna watch for those. Heh. Just turn it off, yo). Unmount your crypto disks, power off your laptop, and remember to put the little bit of hair over the hinge so you can tell when it got sneaked'n'peeked in your hotel room while you're out. Don't leave your thunderbolt ethernet adapter near snare. Look both ways before you cross the road (the busses outside the venue are merciless). Pack your real Kiwicon accessories; pen and paper. And come on down...

...cause oooh yeah, it that time: Kiwicon 7. 

If you're in town on Friday, come past the Early Pickup (2-6pm at Meow) to get your tickets, merch and coffee, beer or snacks. Avoid the queue on Saturday morning, and meet your haxor chums!

Con Week; Guidance is Internal

Posted Nov. 3, 2013 10:45 p.m.

It's Kiwicon week! We've got one lineup change to announce; Leigh Honeywell can't make it over from Microsoft-land, but we've got quite the replacement. David Litchfield joins us to talk database forensics, which it's fair to say he knows a thing or two about. 

High rollers have paid their luxury fat cash, the Kiwicon 7 badges are being assembled, and the speakers are perhaps finally beginning to commence their slide decks... 'cause KIWICON!

Be sure to check over the Kiwicon schedule, and if you're in town Friday afternoon, pick up your tickets and merch early. Things get a bit hectic here in Kiwicon Crue town as the con approaches, so the Kiwicon twitter feed is the best bet for up to the minute info about what we're eating for lunch (paid for, no doubt, by your tickets, ha ha!)