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About dc312

dc312 is Chicago's local DEF CON group, focusing on learning new things, meeting new people, and working on technically interesting projects in ways that define the word "hacker". We're an informal grouping of hackers, defenders, and security sellouts who are in currently or formerly in the Chicago-land area. Knowledge ranges from decades of experience to just starting out with a passion. More info on DEF CON groups is available on the DEF CON website.

How is dc312 different from other Chicago meetups

Chicago has its fair share of social meetups of like-careered or like-minded people when it comes to security, with enough places to grab a drink or otherwise socialize every week. From CitySec, SuburbSec, OWASP, ISSA, Chi4n6, there’s a lot of “industry” focus. dc312 is different.

  • Focus on Doing, Learning, and Growing - Participation is encouraged, whether it be in learning or contributing with presentations, hands-on experiments, random side-projects, and contributions at conferences.
  • An Ongoing Community - The interactions do not need to start and end at the monthly meetups. Projects are ongoing, chat is frequent, and even those who move beyond the city limits continue to lay claim to their title of a “312”er
  • We’re A Group of Hackers*, not an Industry Career Development Meetup - Sure, there’s money to be made in security, and even though a lot of us are sellouts, but this is to foster the curiosity and passion we first discovered getting into this, not for the money and fame.

Membership

There is no formal membership to dc312. Show up to meetings, get involved remotely through chat, and join in on the conversation to be an ambassador of the 312 and larger DEF CON community. dc312 is heavily focused on participation, at all levels, and is not a purely social club. View more on how to get involved and stay in touch here.

dc312 Event Types

Bringing people who live in, work in, or are traveling through Chicago, dc312 meetups occur in a variety of flavors and a variety of occasions.

  • dc312 Meetings - Commonly occurring on a monthly basis in the evening, Meetings are more formal and substantial. Not another Chicago Security Community Social Event, meetings focus on sharing knowledge, practicing skillsets, and collaborating on projects.
  • Con Meetups - As many members travel to similar conferences together, these meetups focus on making the chaos of a conference become manageable. Many members work together on team challenges and competitions, grab food or drink together, or otherwise break through social awkwardness.
  • Project Hackathons - For the more-active members of the 312, mini hackathons occur randomly to work on tackling projects together, whether open source, interesting research, or just for the fun of it. Frequently these occur both in person and online in video hangouts.
  • Excursions and Outings - Whether finding a weekend to camp, heading afar to go skiing, or making a road trip to visit another city, random events of members commonly include other active members.

History of dc312

dc312 has gone through a few iterations.

  • August 2006: First dc312 meeting with Steven McGrath as the lead. Meetings are done in partnership with Chicago2600 and occurring on the first Friday of every month.
  • April 2009: Chicago2600 meetings lose their space and continue meeting at other venues as solely Chicago2600
  • November 2010: dc312 Meetings are rebooted independent of Chicago2600 by Zack Fasel.
  • October 2013: Last meeting before a sustained break due to leadership work/life balance. No other leaders step up after this date to host meetings.
  • September 2018: Meetings rebooted by Zack Fasel and Erin Jacobs (SecBarbie).