Two weeks ago, I traveled over a thousand miles north to attend my first GrrCon in Grand Rapids, Michigan. GrrCon has been on my list of conferences to attend, but I never had the opportunity to go, and finally, this year, I planned and flew in to participate with some coworkers.
The conference is two days long and takes place in a large conference center with three separate tracks for talks, an expo hall, and other events and contests. For a regional conference, this is definitely one of the larger ones.
I purchased a VIP ticket, which comes with priority registration, seating, allegedly better food, and a VIP lounge. The upfront seating is excellent, but it feels elitist when you go to talks. The best part of it is the VIP lounge, which has some snacks and a wide assortment of free drinks. Grabbing some cold water bottles in the middle of the day was excellent. The badge you get is still a piece of acrylic with GrrCon written on it, but I'm not one for the whole badge life, so I didn't mind.
The food is known by many not to be very good at all. It's hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, and a drink. They mentioned because it's at the conference hall, they have to go with their vendor, so that will never get any better. It's included in the ticket price, so I guess you can always walk around town and get something else if you don't like it.
The talks were rather hit or miss, in my opinion. Some of them were very informative and engaging. At the same time, others were nothing more than an elaborate sales pitch. However, they addressed this by saying that if you want less corporates talk, submit your talks, which I also can't blame them for.
The vendor hall was rather expansive, having many different types of vendors, all giving out free swag but also doing a lot of raffles and giveaways. I sold my soul and signed up for many of them, knowing well I would be on an email list forever now, but for a chance to win a Lego R2D2, sometimes it's worth it. I honestly think there are enough vendors there that you could network for a job or look for a new service that your company may be interested in with little problem.
The villages were mixed into the vendor hall, which I hadn't seen before. They had (what I assume at this point is a requirement) a lockpick village. And people were gathered around a car-hacking village with a car onsite most of the day. Unlike other conferences, they had a healthy supply of Sparrow Lockpick products they were selling, which was a definite plus.
While I did go to this conference with a few people I knew, I often look at these conferences from what it would be like for someone interested in security and going by themselves. You must be open and go out of your way to talk to people. The only real group interactions were the Dungeons and Dragons tables, the lockpicking village, and the lunch tables. With almost everything else being talks and vendors, it may take a lot of work to get a chance to network with other attendees.
We did go to one after-party that a few vendors sponsored. They had great snacks, drinks, and music. The only problem was with the several hundred people who attended the conference; the party was only open to those who got vendors' tickets. Once again, adding to the difficulty of bringing opportunities to network if you don't know anyone at this conference.
The vibe of this conference is probably the most laid-back one out there. The man who runs the conference doesn't have any talking points for the opening remakes, mostly just telling everyone when they start serving beer and don't be a jerk. The conference speakers will probably offend you at some point by what they say, and you will hear a lot of swearing. This is really emphasized at the closing ceremony, where there is a raffle that consists of mystery bags and gift cards. While everyone gets a ticket, it's as close to anarchy as you can get.
Overall, this conference is fun for anyone who enjoys cyber security. You don't waste all your time standing in lines, which already beats most big conferences. The corporate sale pitch talks could cause some to dislike this conference, but it's constantly changing. If you're in the Michigan area, this should be one on your list to attend.
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