Well, the second day of the tutorial program went well. We had a number of tutorials that were particularly well received and interesting — in particular, a tutorial on Botnets that I found fascinating. Also particularly good was the tutorial on attacking web applications (which gives lots of good ideas on defending things). Lots of folks I know are showing up here (note to ellipticcurve: Matt B says “Hi”). That’s one of the nice things about this conference: the regulars at the conference become like family, and hopefully the new folks become regulars. Everyone I’ve spoken to seems excited about the location of next year’s conference: We’re holding it at the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort — next door to the Disneyland Resort.
We have been talking about new ways to publicize the conference. Perhaps the craziest that I can type in public is the notion of creating a meme of which conference committee member you are most like, and then seeding it on MySpace. But I don’t think it will work.
If you hadn’t guessed, our internet connection is finally fixed.
I did take some time today between lunch and the afternoon tutorials to walk along the beach. The beaches out here are different than the beaches back in Southern California. The water is a lighter blue (perhaps due to shallowness), and the area of sand is a lot smaller. More folks go topless — something I never thought I would see in a Republican state like Florida vs. Los Angeles. The hotels are also built right up to the beach, and there is an eruv along the sand. The mix of normally dressed beach folks, Orthodox families all covered up, and the occasional topless tanner is very different than the normal views on a Los Angeles beach.
Tomorrow, the main technical part of the conference starts, meaning that the tutorial aspect of my position is mostly done for the year. Next year, I’m covering both tutorials and local arrangements (although I’ll recruit help), and I’m looking forward to it. I’m *really* looking forward to the conference being in Anaheim, for I think we’ll have great attendance.
