[mike_d]

> but had (IMO) improved incrementally with the move to multiple larger venues

I feel like it is getting worse, and can't wait for Caesars. With the multiple venues and hallway congestion most the people in my company were able to get to 2-3 talks a day max.

Counterfeit DEF CON badges (and a sanctioned competition for them) have really added to capacity issues since about 2016. I know of one vendor that sold over 1,500 last year.

[dan000892]

I'm sure I'm devoting more time to villages, workshops, and non-DEF CON talks than I used to (after all the official talks end up on YT a couple months after the event). It did seem to me--CP elevator choke point notwithstanding--that separating talks from the rest of the con by a 20+ minute walk did shorten LINECON but I'll concede there's a small chance that I'm becoming more patient or (more likely) that my experience was not representative.

Regardless, I am very intrigued by your experience with counterfeit badges. I'm familiar with the counterfeit badge contest and many jokes were made about last year's "urinal cakes on a lanyard" but this is the first I've heard suggesting there was effectively mass production of counterfeit badges. Can you tell us more?

[nerfhammer]

there's a backup laminated paper badge for when the electronic badge runs out of stock, maybe it's that

[dan000892]

While lame, that certainly seems much more feasible than mass-producing 1500 copies of an electronic badge (or even a mock thereof) in the span of a couple days but it also renders mention of the sanctioned (actual) badge counterfeiting competition (which to my knowledge involves paying competitors) irrelevant.

Given that #badgelife folks have difficulty manufacturing hundreds of badges they themselves designed and there's been no real scrutiny of attendee badges as would surely result if it were found that 5%+ of attendees had counterfeits, I have to call bullshit.

If reasonable evidence is presented to the contrary, I will eat my hat by donating the $300 I won't be spending for this year's DEF CON admission to the EFF.