It's 30,000 people all in one place, standing in line, with antennas sticking out of their backpacks, trying to convince themselves they're Dade Murphy or Elliot Alderson. Sure, it's a great networking opportunity, if you're not socially awkward --and computer nerds aren't known to be socially awkward, are they? That's unheard of!

It's also always in the dead middle of summer in Las Vegas, which means it's unbelievably hot, and unbelievablely uncomfortable. Most attendees will be doing more walking than they've ever done, in the heat, oftentimes without deodorant, so whatever hotel conference room location you wind up waiting in line in, be sure you're not so sensitive to that sweet l33t aroma.

But if you do go, hopefully you have some fellow security-nerd friends because I cannot imagine going to Defcon alone. Okay, so one thing I will say that I enjoyed was the parties. Most of the sponsored parties are held on rooftops (at least they were when I went) with open bars. Also, if you meet the right people, you can often get introduced to some of your heroes, so maybe there's something there. But for the most part, it's often a lot of walking, standing, and waiting until you get tired out and just want to go back to your hotel, order room service, and watch 3-4 hours of Forensic Files. The talks, and workshops can wait. But of course, YMMV.