The year was 2016.
The place was Las Vegas.
And the temperature was 38 degrees Celsius!
But the feeling and experience was absolutely FANTASTIC!
It was definitely such an amazing experience to visit the much talked and the largest security and hackers conference in the world! With over 20,000 people from all walks of life and continents, this conference is a must visit for anyone who are into security and hacking. The last time when i was in Vegas, i was speaking at BSidesLV
I was honored to stand on the stage in the Social Engineering Village (#SEVillage) room and gave a talk and present about the topic 'The Rise of the Cyber Scam Industrial Complex'. Was i nervous - Yes! Did i lose some words - Yes... was it worth it? Hell yes!
My talk was scheduled at 8pm, and thought it was best for me to be in the room at 7pm onwards. However, when i came, i was told that my talk will start at 7pm instead! *pressure* Right before i was supposed to stand up on stage, i was approached by a dude with long hair. It took me 10 seconds to identify that he was an ex-colleague whom i used to work with on a project based in Saudi! Phewww, i felt relieved! Half of the pressure gone!
On stage, after spending 5 minutes to settle some technical issues, i looked at the audience, took a huge breathe and introduced myself. The only challenge i faced was to complete my talk within that 50mins. And i realized i was out of time so i had to shorten the last few parts of my slide before the time goes up.
Tackling some technical glitch
Chris Hadgany introducing me to the crowd
Speaking on stage!!
Overall, I'd say the team behind this #SEVillage was fantastic and friendly. I didn't feel like an alien there and Chris just seemed to be well loved by the crowd. And the swag given by Michele.. loved it! Despite not getting the Defcon badge (out of stock - i know right?), the #SEVillage team and the crowd turned my frown into a huge smile.
