Preparation

• Pre-register on the wiki. There's a signup page for your local event. Please put your name and any organization you represent on the form, to give coordinators an idea as to how many people are coming.

• Bring a laptop - You need it.  I need it.  It's the natural extension of our body.  It's also handy to write down notes and Twitter about the event.

• Come early, but not too early - Showing up at the announced starting time will be fine. Show up earlier, and you'll get drafted for setup work (much appreciated!). Show up later, and you'll miss some social activity.

• Be ready to participate, but unlike BarCamp this is not a free for all. Events should be organized and planned out, at least as far as speaker lists.  The participation comes in the form of asking questions, providing information, and meeting others.

The Event

When you arrive, sign in and claim your name tag (if available). Enjoy some snacks and coffee (if organizers or other participants have brought some to share) and lots of people to socialize with.  The day will follow one of two modes:

Structured Day

A Structure event is one that coincides with another security conference (i.e. Black Hat, CanSecWest, CCC, HackInTheBox).  This means that attendees of the BSides event and the coinciding conference may intermingle and attend one or both events.  (An example is: BSidesSanFrancisco)

Since the speakers will start and stop at designated times (as outlined in the program or website) it is important that you show up on time and seat yourself prior to the presentation.  Feel free to speak with the preseter either before or after their event and mingle with others while exchanging Facebook or Twitter info.

Fluid Day

We start by going around the room to introduce ourselves with three tags to describe what we're passionate about (or want to hear more about). There will also be some announcements. After this, event organizers will either present the first speaker or leave it open for attendees to list their presentation topic on the agenda.  (An example is: BSidesBay)

After a couple of sessions, you will have a significant amount of downtime for lunch. Feel free to wander around and socialize while or after you eat. More announcements will be made, and any newly proposed sessions will be announced.

After the sessions are finished, please stick around to clean up. It's generally as simple as throwing trash away and taking down signs, but all the help is appreciated.

Logistics

If you brought wireless equipment or power strips, find a coordinator and ask where they're most needed. Please set your wireless router to a unique SSID (e.g.- bsides_xxx), to avoid networking conflicts (nasty with a dozen routers in the same room named the same thing). Always choose one of channels 1, 6, or 11 to avoid interference between nearby channels (the coordinators may have a preferred choice to avoid interfering with neighbours too).