Welcome... to fabulous BSides Las Vegas!

BSidesLV Sponsorship Kit

When: July 25th-26th, 2012

Where: The Artisan Hotel

In Search Of...

Are you in search of the real, but elusive IT security professional? He doesn't answer your phone calls, he doesn't read your emails. She thinks Facebook is an invasion of privacy and too insecure. They don't follow you on twitter and they certainly don't go to mainstream, media driven security conferences!

If you want to reach real, live security pros, the best place to find them is at Security B-sides (BSides) events. The original - and still one of the best - is the annual BSidesLV event in Las Vegas during high summer.

Security has reached top of consciousness with the entire IT sphere and the bigger world beyond. More new members are joining the ranks of information security professionals. More people and organizations are interested in the next new thing in security. BSides is the place where these people come to collaborate, learn and share.

Now you can reach this highly sought after audience and participate in the BSides experience. By participating in BSides as a sponsor you are making a solid investment in your own brand, helping to further the goals of BSides and enabling the betterment of the security community as a whole.

At BSidesLV, we don't offer branded breakfasts or lunches. We are seeking to partner with sponsors who understand that traditional commercial "pitching" will not fly with our participants. We have designed sponsor programs that are in keeping with the BSides ethos and which will enhance your standing among this very important audience.

We have programs geared for larger security vendors, while also acknowledging the value and contributions of the smaller sponsors that are such an important part of BSides. We are also flexible and willing to listen to any great ideas that you may have about how to make your sponsorship of BSidesLV more valuable to your organization and enhance our participant's experience.

So please be creative, share your ideas with us, and most of all know that we humbly thank you for your sponsorship. Without you, BSidesLV would not exist.

Sincerely,
The BSides Las Vegas Team

About

What is Security B-Sides?

Each BSides is a community-driven framework for building events for and by information security community members. The goal is to expand the spectrum of conversation beyond the traditional confines of space and time. It creates opportunities for individuals to both present and participate in an intimate atmosphere that encourages collaboration. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from participants. It is where conversations for the "next big thing" are happening.

History of Security B-Sides

BSides was born in 2009 when a number of quality speakers were rejected from a mainstream conference, not due to lack of quality but rather lack of space and time. Our mission is to provide people with an alternative by removing common conference barriers and providing more options for speakers, topics, and events.

2009: The first BSides is thrown in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
2010: BSides breaks into the global space with BSides in London and Berlin
2011: More than 20 events worldwide in US, Europe, India, Hong Kong, & Australia

Thousands of people have attended and written about their experience at BSides events. Read more at the Security BSides media page. While every BSides event is unique, here are some things that don't change:

Community organized, volunteer driven, and corporate funded
Provide a forum for expanding the spectrum of conversation
Focused on giving a voice to the "next big thing"

Stay up to date!

The Security B-Sides mailing list, online forums, slide share, social media activity, archived photos and videos as well as streaming video are all accessible through the Security BSides Portal

Goals

Promote Communication

BSides act as a complement to other area conferences by creating long-tail spectrum events that enhance the current or surrounding conferences by providing additional, highly sought-after content. The goal of each BSides event is to provide a forum where communication and collaboration can continue while the level of conversation is able to increase.

While large main stream conferences tend to focus on the current hot topics in the information security industry, BSides events explore the fringe of conversation and focus on what could be the next big thing. Conversations have ranged from hardware hacking to gender issues, twitter hacking to proximity-based identity theft. We aim to give a platform to the conversation that is happening just below the surface.

Sponsoring enables you to engage that conversation!

Reach the Target Audience

BSides reaches out to the industry professional looking to augment their professional knowledge with cutting edge conversations. Typically this includes industry leaders, thought leaders, security professionals, and even students who wish to expand their depth and body of knowledge and network. Participants have a wide a variety of backgrounds in multiple sectors and verticals with a shared goal: To learn about and discuss emerging security issues and connect with others already having the conversation.

Engage

Unlike other events where the speaker is rushed in and out, BSides provides a small and intimate environment for the participants to directly engage the speaker before, during, and after their talk or presentation. BSides participants are looking for more than just information; they are looking to make connections they will call upon throughout the rest of the year.

Participation

BSides is made up of participants, not attendees. Everyone brings something to contribute. Some bring hardware, some bring organizational skills, and others bring their friends to fuel the discussions. Sponsoring enables you to be a part of the conversation and interact with participants. As our thanks, we are committed to connecting you with those participants of interest to you and your business. By making your participation successful, organizers hope to enable future BSides events.

Format

Our list of prior speakers includes: Gene Kim, HD Moore, Dino Dai Zovi, Alex Hutton, Tim Keanini, Jonathan Cran, David Mortman, Val Smith, Egyp7, Bruce Potter, Ryan Linn, Mike Murray, Mike Bailey, Andy Ellis, Erin Jacobs, Jack Daniel, and many more.

Culture

Traditional media exist as a constrained system that must operate within the bounds to which it has defined itself. Physical events constrain themselves with space and time but frameworks permit the continuous creation of individual events. Our goal is to provide people with options by removing those barriers and providing a wider variety of speakers, topics, and events. The initial BSides in Las Vegas spawned a wave of new events throughout the United States and around the world.

Media

In under a year, Security B-Sides has attracted media attention and been written up in CSO Online, Network World, ComputerWorld, Information Week, The Register, ZDNet, and Dark Reading magazines. In addition to the blog posts and podcasts, BSides has also received coverage from Hacker News Network (HNN), EFFector, and Cisco System Cyber Risk Report.

Be part of the conversation and get swept up in the media. Many participants have been quoted and picked up by mainstream news sources including National Public Radio (NPR). Check out the entire list here: http://www.securitybsides.org/Media

Many BSides events are simulcast online. Your participation will reach an audience larger than simply those present. For example, at BSidesSF 2010, the online audience was up to 10x those present at the event. Although events are often simulcast, only some are archived for viewing, so being present is a key part of participation.

Reasons to Support BSides

The goal of Security B-Sides is to offer events where all participants can engage each other to help develop connections, friendships, and network with different industry professionals. We recognize the value in engaging a smaller audience and providing the opportunity for sponsors to be a big fish in a small pond. We specifically design different options so that any sized organization can participate and support this event.

In fact we have a program in place for smaller sponsors who donate less than One Thousand Dollars to BSides. With many of these donor/sponsors, they want to show their support for the BSides community and be involved. We are honored that they chose to help us with their hard earned funds and will honor them as sponsors in several unique ways.

An event such as BSidesLV requires in excess of 100k in sponsor funding however. So we also understand that larger corporate sponsors are an important part of the equation. We also understand that while all of our sponsors do wish to support the BSides concept and community, there also has to be a clear path to ROI.

We think we have crafted a program that does justice to both of these categories of sponsors.

Levels of Sponsorship

Donors (Under $1000)

BSides Rocks – Rocks are the foundation upon which BSides is built. These are donations between $100 and $500 dollars. The donations are not made with the hope of a financial gain by the sponsor, but rather to make the statement that they support BSides and have put their hard earned money where their mouth is. Rocks will have their name displayed on the BSidesLV Wall of Supporters to be displayed this year and receive a special badge.

BSides Beams – Beams are used to build the frame of BSides. Donations over $500 and under $1000 dollars are made by Beams. They can be individuals who want to make a strong statement of support to BSides or smaller organizations who would perhaps like to make a bigger donation but their budgets don't match their admiration of BSides. In addition to being listed on the Wall of Supporters, Beams will be announced as sponsors at various track sessions throughout BSides, and receive a special badge.

If you wish to support BSidesLV as a donor, please visit the BSidesLV WePay page.

Thank You!

Thank you for your interest in BSidesLV. We appreciate your support.