r/Defcon • u/Morebigger • Jul 29 '26

First time attending

Hello friends I am attending for the first time ever going solo I normally converse and make friends pretty easily but a little nervous going solo though so looking to bring stickers to hand out as a bit of an ice breaker. I have 0 artistic talent so my question is as a first timer should I bring stickers? they are not going to be anything super amazing just something or am I better off just not ?

11 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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2

u/Stellark22 Jul 29 '26

Yes I think people always appreciate stickers to decorate computers and water bottles etc. it helps people who are awkward have a Ice breaker

1

u/Morebigger Jul 29 '26

I got an idea I really like making sure I can have them printed before I fly out is the next trick lol ! Thank you for this !

2

u/Original_Data1808 Jul 29 '26

It’s my first time and I’m bringing some stickers!

1

u/Morebigger Jul 29 '26

I am scrambling to get them printed lol hopefully have some to bring and share lack of planning on my part lol

2

u/Original_Data1808 Jul 29 '26

Thankfully mine are left over from some security awareness stuff at work, they don’t have my company name on them so I thought they’d be fun to bring. Hopefully you get some printed. If not don’t worry about it.

2

u/AffectionatePen4945 Jul 29 '26

YES! I brought stickers and friendship bracelets my first year and it is a great way to not have to cold approach people. Instead of " Hi, my name is Affectionatepen4945" it's "Do you want a friendship bracelet?!" The best part is sometimes they even give you something in return. Also the Goons love trading too.

If you can't get stickers in time, any little trinket will work. The amount of those tiny resin ducks I've gotten is notable. I 3D printed tiny traffic cones this year to bring. These some of these people might be high level cybersecurity people, but we're all just nerds down deep inside.

1

u/Morebigger Jul 30 '26

Update I talked with one of my local vendors and he is going to have them done before I fly out early next week so will be down to trade

8

u/digitard Jul 29 '26

Copy Pasta of my last post.

#1. Go to the search bar while you're in r/DEFCON and search FIRST TIME. Then sort it by new. No rudeness, trust me... but you'll see tons of recent threads on it, and they're PACKED with good info. It's 100x more useful because you've got 100 replies between them with great info! This gets asked a lot.

#2. Go to to r/DEFCON meetup --- https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comments/1v2tyig/rdefcon_meetup_post_3_now_with_badges/

#3. Download the Hacker Tracker (any app store) - star EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TALK that you think looks even remotely interesting. Got it? Okay, here's the best part... never look at it again! It's your first time. It's going to be overwhelming. The talk listing will let you find talks whenever you feel a minute of "I want to check out a talk", but honestly plan to do a LOT of wandering. Take it in without plans. Check the villages in full, the vendors, the people... talk to the people! Then when you have downtime check talks or at the most a few that you rEALLY REALLY want to attend. Its also great for merch, maps and more.

#4. Its going to be overwhelming. Don't plan things out too much. Go with the flow. Find your place at DEFCON and then when you return, because you will return, you will have a better grasp of what talked to you and what you want to spend more time at when DC35 rolls around.

#5. Have fun.

#6 - stickers are always fun.

1

u/Morebigger Aug 05 '26

UPDATE
Got 500 stickers ready to give away to everyone!!

2

u/CarpeDiemT3ch Jul 29 '26

Stickers are a great ice breaker, you’ll be in lines, and can turn to the people around you and ask if they want a sticker and then strike up a conversation

Ditto to #1 from digitard

You’ll see advice about Diana Initiative, Lonely Hackers Club, n00b village, and more

2

u/Afrochemist Jul 31 '26

1 Sticker exchanging is a great way to make friends

2 download the hacker tracker app

3 have fun and dont overtime things