FAQs

The mission of Cannon Fodder Security (CFS) is to evangelize information security (infosec) and ethical hacking to the infosec community in order to help provide avenues for professional development, networking opportunities, and career advice and job placement. CFS was established by infosec professionals to give back to infosec professionals and those who might be interested in joining the infosec community either professionally or as a hobby. We strive to bring top quality content and resources to the community to help equip security teams combating the ever-changing threat landscape we all see every day.

As all proper stories do, the origins of Queen City Con started on the streets of Louisville and another Hacker Conference called Derby Con in 2019. This conference had an amazing following due to the high quality of presentation, hands on experiences, lighthearted antics, live music, and the vendor parties on 4th Street Live. One of the nights, the founder lamented that this was the last Derby Con and in a Bourbon infused epiphany the idea of a Hacking Conference in Cincinnati was born. Slowly more people joined in the founders dream from all walks of life and here we are today.

We want to be open to all people who want to attend. One of the simplest ways is to attendee, heck even better bring a friend as well! We will also be looking for people to speak and share their knowledge through our Call For Papers. If speaking is a bit too intimidating, either find an experience speaker that can help guide you or reach out to us and we might be able to help make those introductions. We are always looking for Volunteers to also help us staff the front table, wrangle our presenters, and generally support the conference. All of these are a great way to network, make new friends, and have a #HackingGoodTime!

@MicahKBrown “I have been doing public speaking now for a few years and it has tremendously! Not only do I get to share what I have learned with my peers, some of the absolute coolest experiences of my personal and professional life have come as a direct result. While I have spoken at some of the worlds largest conferences, I prefer to speak at the mid to smaller hacker conferences such as Queen City Con as it is easier to talk and meet people. Speaking has also made me a much better communicator professionally in the construction of visualization / slide decks and also more ‘nimble’ in my thoughts. If you are scared of negative reactions, in my many years of public speaking I have never had anyone be unkind due to one of my presentations. But most importantly, I have also been able to establish true friendships with some of the coolest people on the planet.”

"A hacker is someone who is willing to bash their head in the wall repeatedly until they overcome a challenge / problem". All joking aside, a hacker is someone who uses unique tools, techniques, and tactics to overcome challenges, bypass system / processes often strongly leveraging technology. Queen City Con is a mix of different people from all folds of life that come together to share and learn from each other. We will have many presentations, villages for hands-on learning, capture the flag contests, and several other themed rooms to promote networking.

Our sponsors, volunteers, speakers, village owners, and board members come together to take Queen City Con from a dream to a reality. Our speakers and village owners help ensure that we are giving you real world and excellent content. Devoted volunteers help in all aspects of execution from planning to day of the event. Make sure to visit our sponsors, have a conversation, learn what they view are threats today and how they work to reduce / solve / mitigate those threats, and grab some sweet swag. We have a great partnership with our host, the Hyatt, that takes care of us. As a volunteer run 501c3 organization we would not be able to put on this event without everyone’s help.

ABSOLUTELY! As a student you are going to have a chance to see and meet our presenters, village runners, volunteers, sponsors (potential hires), and fellow attendees. This is a great way to start to grow your personal network which is incredibly important for your career. You might even find a mentor! On top of this you will be able to explore many different aspects of hacking, IT, and IT Security. Did I mention that we even offer discounted student tickets? Also stickers! Grab your friends and come on down, its gonna be a #HackingGoodTime!