Blue Team Con and COVID-19
When we envisioned Blue Team Con, we had a vision…and that vision was recently crafted into our official Mission Statement. Our official Mission Statement is “Cultivate a community-driven experience which focuses on educating and connecting anyone interested in defensive cybersecurity through a safe, inclusive, friendly, and fun ecosystem.“
Due to these unprecedented times with the current threats of COVID-19, we feel our vision of the word “safe” in our Mission Statement is at risk. We feel it is in the best interest of our attendees, venue staff, volunteers, and Blue Team Con staff to postpone Blue Team Con, originally scheduled for 20-21 June 2020 at the Fairmont Chicago in Chicago, Illinois.
Our new date is:
28-29 August 2021
We would like to apologize for these circumstances as we know many of you were excited for this new breed of cybersecurity conference. To further build the defensive cybersecurity community and to take the knowledge back to your organizations.
We hope you understand this is the best decision to help protect our industry peers, our friends, our organizations, and our families. Out of this, we hope to do even more in 2021 and make it better than we had originally planned.
We truly hope to see you there, friends.
- – Blue Team Con Advisory Board
Why 2021?
We have been listening to the US government, the Illinois government, the CDC, the WHO, and various industry experts. We agree with their assessment that any large events (1,000+) are likely a risk until a vaccine, herd immunity, and/or other protection options exist across the population. We found it valuable to lock in a new date now and be committed to full steam ahead for that date. We did not want to pick a new date in 2020 and end up only having to move it again, causing further stress to speakers, attendees, and everyone else.
Why not make the conference virtual?
When you lead a conference, you have to determine what your goals are. Are you focused on the talks, lobbycon, the parties, the networking, or something else. We felt that our main focus was on community. While we value every aspect, we felt strongly that the sense of bringing everyone together to discuss defensive security was our main focus. Due to this, we did not find that we would provide the same value and mission while virtual. In our discussions and what we have seen across the industry, the conferences that have gone virtual are either free or have limitations in captivation. The speakers and talks are not attended as much as they would be physically and receive less attention due to the various distractions we have in our world right now. There is also the removal of physical interactions and friendship building that we value. We believe that for a first time conference and working to build a new foundation among the defensive cybersecurity industry, that being a physical conference is important.
What does this mean for current ticket holders?
We will carry forward your ticket purchase(s). In addition to that, we will have swag specifically for you when you attend in 2021. We are discussing additional concessions you will receive for being an early believer in our conference and maintaining the ticket until our new dates. If, however, you would like a refund, please access your Eventbrite ticket and request a refund.
You will see our Eventbrite page has switched to the new dates and tickets will remain on sale from now until the event, or until tickets are sold out.
What does this mean for the room block reservations?
Unfortunately, these reservations will not carry forward and will be fully cancelled. If you had a reservation within the room block, that will be cancelled by Fairmont Chicago and there is nothing you need to do. Closer to the new dates, we will open a new room block. Please note that you will not receive a cancellation email notice for the room, but rest assured it will be cancelled.
What does this mean for speakers?
We will carry forward our speakers and their talk(s). If the speaker would like to present on the new dates and with the same talk title/abstract, then they will continue as planned. If a current speaker wants to change their talk or rescind their talk, they will need to submit to a new CFP we will be running for all available slots. Yes, this means a new CFP will be ran if we have available slots. Speakers that are carrying their talk forward are automatically slotted and will not be competing against other CFP submissions, if one is held.
What does this mean for sponsors?
Sponsors are being contacted and we hope they will carry forward as well. In doing so, we plan on truly realizing the belief they have in Blue Team Con and our mission. We value the sponsor’s faith they have in us and our goal of making this a successful community event.
We are also fully open for new sponsors if you are interested, we will be accepting sponsors all the way until 1 July 2021. If you are interested, please email us at [email protected].
What does this mean for the villages?
We hope they will carry forward as well into our new dates. We plan on maintaining the same villages.
