About the Lost Policymaker Guide
The Lost Policymaker is a tongue-in-cheek nod to all the great travel guides that have given aid and comfort to those who seek new experiences in unknown spaces. We hope it will serve you in the same capacity as you travel through a hacker conference or three, whether that’s in the heat of the Las Vegas desert, the friendly confines of Washington D.C., the wild west coast in San Francisco, or elsewhere.
In recent years public policymakers have increasingly frequented hacker and infosec conferences — so much so that DEF CON now runs a dedicated Policy program. This guide can serve as a reference and roadmap to help those in the policy field more quickly gain their footing at the events and understand hacker ethos and culture.
The Conferences - Hacker Summer Camp
The colloquial term “Hacker Summer Camp” refers to three Las Vegas conferences with very different personalities and demographics. DEF CON, the oldest of the three, draws the largest crowd, largely from the hacker (or security researcher) community. Black Hat is the most like a typical convention, with a large vendor hall and high cost. BSides Las Vegas, the most recent, is a non-profit organization put on by the community, for the community. These events take place back-to-back in the first full week of August and the weekend that follows.
Black Hat USA: August 1-6, 2026 - Mandalay Bay Convention Center. Learn more…
BSides Las Vegas: August 3-5, 2026 - Tuscany Suites and Casino. Learn more…
DEF CON 34: August 6-9, 2026 - Las Vegas Convention Center. Learn more…
Make sense of it all with Hacker Tracker — the community-built app with constantly updated schedules, villages, and events for DEF CON and the rest of Hacker Summer Camp. Grab it for iOS or Android before you land.
PHOTO CREDITS: ASTCell / Cannibal / Mr Bot / Jeroen de Bakker — via the DEF CON media server
Follow and Contribute
Follow Policy @ DEF CON to track the action — on Bluesky at @defconpolicy.bsky.social or Mastodon at @[email protected]. Engage with your fellow policymakers using #lostpolicymaker and #defconpolicy on your favorite social media outlets.
Contribute content on the GitHub repository by opening issues or making pull requests.