Around 30,000 people will be there. Realistically about 45 of them matter to you, and you will meet six of those by accident. Supermeet finds the rest.
Tell us you’re going to DEF CON and we’ll start there.
The problem at this scale
Villages, queues and a culture that distrusts networking. Introductions work best when they start from something you both built or broke.
attendees, roughly — mostly hackers, security researchers and the curious. The attendee list is the single most valuable document of the week, and almost nobody reads it.
names is about what one person can realistically prepare for and meet properly over a few days.
people here are genuinely worth your time. Finding them by walking the floor takes longer than the conference lasts.
How to work DEF CON
Spend time in the villages that match your interests and lead with what you have worked on. Do not arrive with a sales pitch.
What we’re building
Live today: see who else is going and get introduced, if you both opt in. Next: eighteen names, ranked, each with one line on why this person and not the 29,982 others.
The DEF CON attendee list, speaker page or exhibitor directory — whatever you have access to.
Three questions, ninety seconds. Hiring, raising, selling, learning — the answer changes the entire list.
Drafted in your voice, sent from your address, with a second nudge to anyone who goes quiet. That second message is the one nobody sends.
Questions
Around 30,000, based on recent public figures. Numbers change from year to year, and DEF CON usually takes place in August.
Mostly hackers, security researchers and the curious.
Check the speaker and exhibitor pages first, since those are usually public. On Supermeet you can pick DEF CON and see how many others are going. If you both opt in, you can see each other’s name and role. Nobody’s email is ever shown.
Free beta
See who else is going to DEF CON right now. The more people fromDEF CON who join, the sooner it gets a full shortlist.
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