Why reschedule?
We’ve been following the news of COVID-19 since it first was clear that it would be a global issue and started ramping up our planning and creation of various back up plans. Once announced as a pandemic, it became clear it wasn’t going to be possible to hold our normal event in June 2020 and started figuring out how to proceed in a way that is safe for everyone involved.

Due to the uncertain timing of everything, we believed it was best to move to an online event rather than simply delaying. As a result, BSides San Antonio 2020 will now be held virtually. We have postponed our date to be July 11, 2020 to allow our staff, speakers and event volunteers additional time to prepare for the change of format - as this is the first time we have attempted such a thing.

We truly hope you agree that caution is warranted in this situation and will join us virtually! All Eventbrite ticket sales will be refunded in the coming week, as our virtual event will be free! We hope to see you all on July 11, 2020!

FAQ about the rescheduling of BSides SATX 2020

Why has the original June conference date been rescheduled?
Every year, we strive to hold the best event possible for our community. Due to our decision to move to an online format and our lack of familiarity, we decided to push back the event by about a month to allow us to fully prepare while working out the kinks. This also helps give time to our various volunteers who help make this happen - such as our speakers and event volunteers. We appreciate your understanding!

What is the new date for BSidesSATX 2020?
BSidesSATX is now scheduled for July 11, 2020.

What happens if I already bought a ticket?
We will be refunding all tickets already purchased, and have temporarily closed off any new registrations.

How will registration work for the new date?
We will be having a free, virtual event in 2020. However, we will be doing a basic registration online at a future date to share access codes to our virtual platforms to attend the conference.

But how will I get some of your sweet, sweet, swag?
We plan to open our online shop to include some of the swag you’ve seen in previous years before the event. We are currently planning on what swag will be available, and how we will ship it. If you have anything you’d love to see - let us know through social media!

When will an event schedule be available?
We are still working on confirming what speakers will be able to present, what villages can accommodate the virtual transition, and what workshops are able to be held online. As soon as we start getting parts of these finalized, we will be posting them onto our website!

Is there any chance the dates for the conference could change again later?
Nope! We are hosting it online for this reason!

Will BSidesSATX 2021 be online? What about in July?
We plan to return to our normal venue and date range (early June) in 2021!

I’m a speaker, when do I find out my acceptance?
We have sent out the first wave of acceptance e-mails to the speakers. Please double check your e-mail and make sure you respond letting us know if you can present! If you haven’t received one yet, please contact us at cfp AT bsidessatx DOT com!

I’m a village coordinator/workshop coordinator, and I haven’t heard any of this before! What do I do?
We’re so sorry to hear that! Please e-mail us at events AT bsidessatx DOT com and we’ll sort that out!

I was scheduled to hold a community table - what now?
You should have been reached out to by our social outreach team, but if you haven’t, please go ahead and contact them at outreach AT bsidessatx DOT com and we’ll help you out!

I’m a sponsor who already committed money, what now?
Please e-mail us at management AT bsidessatx DOT com!

I have a question that isn’t answered here. How can I get help with this?
If we haven’t answered one of your concerns about the rescheduling of this event in this FAQ, please reach out to us on social media or by contacting info AT bsidessatx DOT com!

We are pleased to announce our 2020 dates and location!

The event will be held at St. Mary's University on June 6 2020!

Important dates:
Call for papers: January 1 2020
Call for events (workshops, villages, CTFs, etc): Open now, closing date TBD
Call for mentors: January 1 2020
Call for volunteers: TBA

If you're interested in contributing, check out the relevant section on our website!

Change is a part of life. As BSides San Antonio grows, we are taking steps to try to grow along with it. In this case we're talking about adopting a more detailed Code of Conduct.  We have selected the Berlin Code of Conduct because of its greater detail in describing expected behavior and description of handling situations, should they arise. That being said, the goal is for everyone to share in an experience where the goal is to build one another up and learn together whenever possible.  This includes active support from anyone in attendance. Please reach out to a volunteer or staff member if anything needs to be addressed. This is a community driven and supported event. It works best when we partner together and help each other.

We will strive to do our best to address any issues that come up and work with those involved. We look forward to a continued environment of mutual development and advancement. Thank you.

-The BSidesSATX Team

When BSidesSATX started in 2013, there was no way to know what it would grow into or if it even would continue. 2018 marks the third year that we have been at St. Mary’s University, the sixth year of the con, and our best year yet. Best because, with all told, over 400 people were in attendance. It’s the first year that we added a Hardware Hacking Village. The first for having an ice cream social, our first at offering a mentorship program for new speakers, and the first time for having a Blue Team Village. In response to the positive feedback received, we plan to go even further in 2019 with the addition of some form of wireless village and potentially a podcasting village for those who are looking to learn more about media production.

 The Hardware Hacking Village has extra meaning because we have always had the benefit of Longhorn Lockpicking Club providing their assistance, but we never knew if there would be enough interest in people learning how to solder and tinker with projects at our small event. When discussing this late in 2017, the decision was made to order only a small number of kits that would be easy for people to work with, beginner grade only. Only 20 kits were initially ordered, however the village coordinator thought better of it and ordered an additional 30, bringing the total to 50. Every single kit sold on the day of the con. Three tables were initially set aside, however seven tables ended up being needed and were very crowded, all day long. The original idea was to have the hardware hacking village take up one corner of the room, it needed almost half of it, the response was so overwhelming. 

This is no small feat. The original badge design which had a simple PCB with our logo silkscreened on it, hanging from a lanyard. Thanks to SANS, we had very nice lanyards with clips. The clever coordinator and volunteers who ran the hardware hacking village devised a way to add blinky lights to the badge and make it look like something we had planned all along. The credit goes to them for coming up with the idea, working out how to mount things to the badge, and making it one of the most desirable items from our 2018 San Antonio BSides conference.

This has nothing to say about the very well attended tracks, of which we had four. From deeply technical, to how to get started in your career, we had a wide range of topics covering many interests. Every single track was full to overflowing most of the day. If we had larger rooms, we would have had to use them. The attendance of the conference alone is remarkable in that we had visitors ranging from local to international in attendance. At least one of which was a fellow event coordinator having come all the way from Chicago. This community never ceases to amaze with their willingness to show their support, step outside of their comfort zones, present, volunteer, or help to coordinate. Our career track is coordinated and curated by the same person who takes care of BSides Las Vegas', Recruit DC's, and so many other recruiting events. It goes without saying that we owe Kathleen Smith more than can be expressed in words. 

Thanks to SANS we also had bags to give every single attendee. Through a show of support and willingness, every single bag was stuffed with materials, packed, stacked, organized, and loaded up days ahead, so that everything would be ready for the big day. Throughout the day, people would call me aside to offer a word of encouragement or positive feedback about the event itself, or an opportunity that came out of their willingness to participate in some way. One person stopped me to express their appreciation for the chance to mentor first time presenters at a conference.  

All in all, this was a phenomenal day that will be difficult to top. Yet the community continues to ask us to grow and encourages us at every turn. We’ve already picked out a date, June 8, 2019, for the next event and will be trying out a new layout to help provide more foot traffic to our on-site sponsors as well as make our attendees and participants feel more connected. The entire BSides San Antonio team is excited about the future. Things are only looking up, can only get better, and we cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings.

A very special thank you from,
Steven and the BSidesSATX crew.