Shmoocon is by far my favorite conference of the year. It seems to hold a special place that all other conferences are compared to. Some of it might be a bit biased since it was the first conference I went to, but something about it is magical. . .
I think there are so many factors that go into making Shmoocon the experience it is. A lot could be attributed a chance to see stuff discussed sometimes a full year, or even two, before it hits other mainstream conferences like Defcon. I think the biggest attribute though is it feels like close knit friends. Be it from seeing and talking to Bruce and Heidi (the conference organizers) and actually seeing their kids grow up year after year, or the smaller size that the conference embraces.
Having a chance to do labs for a couple of years now definitely adds emotion of being part of the con. I have always liked the saying, “you get what you put into it,” and that applies completely to this conference.
I would actually proof read this and clean it up, but it is time for labs to get started . . .