I’d like to take a moment to thank some folks who helped make Shmoocon 2012 a great event for us.
First, I’d like to send a HUGE thank you and shout out to SANS who once again graciously offered to pay for my airfare so I could attend the conference. These guys do this without any expectation of publicity, but I can’t help but publicly thank them every chance I get. Without their support, it’s too expensive for me to come to the conference.
Dragorn contacted metageek who graciously donated two SUPER SWEET Wi-Spy units! Together, this was a $1200 donation! We auctioned one and will auction the other at a future con. These things really are pretty amazing and I encourage anyone who is serious about wireless to check out their products.
Myles Conley was kind enough to donate his personal PwnPlug to the auction.
PwnieExpress donated two PwnPlugs for the auction, but we decided to hold these to prevent people from bargain shopping. We’ll release these plugs at the next couple of cons, so keep an eye out! We love.. PwnieExpress’ products. Be sure to check them out.
The crew at Hak5 donated their brand-spanking new Pineapple Mark IV. This was a limited edition pre-release and did very well in the auction. Hak5 has always been good to us, and if you remember, they donated the first-ever pineapple at Shmoocon 2009. Since the overwhelming response to that auction, Hak5 began selling the pineapples through their retail outlet. We’re proud to have played a small part in the release of this cool device!
Phat32 donated two VERY COOL GPS tracking devices. We put one up at Shmoocon, and the second will release at a future auction.
Wonko donated a cool netbook and a tablet PC. A few folks tried to sneak in a bargain basement bid, but were outdone in the final moments of the auction.
No Starch Press again donated several books from their amazing library. They are frequent supporters and donate oohs at just about every con.
Several folks donated challenge coins from various government agencies. These are always best sellers, and I won’t mention the donors for obvious reasons.
Irongeek donated a handmade, really cool (and really scary) necronomicon kindle cover.
The folks at HackFortress inserted an element in to their challenge where players had to make a donation to HFC. This raised around $120!
GMark stopped by again this year to drop off some of his HAXO(RED) T-Shirts. These seem to be a hit with a lot of attendees and GMark was kind enough to split the proceeds with us!
I’d also like to take a moment to thank a few folks who went above and beyond in their personal donations to HFC.
Eric and Seth at Parts-Express.com sent us a box of gear we needed from their web site at cost. Thanks to eighty of Dual Core fame for making the connection and sharing booth space with us at the con!
Also, my good friends at 304Geeks and long-time volunteer and friend Glenn Eccard took a lot of time pulling together care packages for me to take back to Uganda. The packages contained everything from tools to candy and just about every cool geeky thing in between. It was obvious that they spent a lot of time and put a lot of thought into the packages, and I just want to thank each of them for this. It really meant a lot to me.
I’d also like to thank Bruce and Heidi for putting on yet another awesome con. The T-Shirt fund was a huge success, and our placement in the Chillout Room was a pleasant surprise. We had plenty of room to spread out and we were able to have lots of conversations with lots of attendees.
I’d like to thank Glenn, Sam, JP and Rob who once again dedicated an entire weekend (and then some) to manning the booth and planning and executing another great con for us. We couldn’t do it without you guys.
Last, and certainly not least, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to stop by the booth, chat with us, participate in the auction or buy a T-Shirt. Your support is what keeps us going.
Thanks again everyone, and see you.. next year!
