Few weeks to the end of the Call for Speakers (or Call for Papers, CFP) for REVULN 19Q4 and it’s time for some updates and “behind the scenes”.
The two topics selected for this conference are quite different than those of the previous event in May focused on cybersecurity (OSINT and hacktivism). Cybersecurity is our main field, therefore during that CFP it was a bit “easier” to find and get in touch with possible speakers connected to it.
With topics like crime prevention and fake news it’s a totally different game, they are very sensitive nowadays and it’s more difficult to locate and contacting the possible speakers due to the many fields involved and covered by the topics.
For example “fake news” can cover political aspects, journalism, activism, debunking, tech info on bots and countermeasures, approaches of different countries, academic researches, police forces, social networks and media, legal aspects, psychological behaviors, and so on… additionally it must be focused on Asia only.
The result has been an extension of the CFP from the original deadline of October and it will now last till the beginning of November.
The “Fake news, disinformation and propaganda” topic has received good feedback and the agenda is already in progress, while the situation for the “AI, speech and face recognition in crime prevention” topic is quite different and it’s going to be removed due to low submissions. It’s not easy to find speakers from police forces, organizations and even companies directly involved in this field who can talk about this topic due to daily commitments, strict policies, NDA and other reasons.
Also the location of the conference, Hong Kong, had some impact on the submissions due to the current situation that started since June, but that’s also the best place for talking about these topics that are very current in the region.
The new plan is moving the “fake news” topic to Day 1 and keeping Day 2 open topic for the whole or half day, depending by what will be the final number of selected speakers for the main topic.
The idea is having Day 2 open to any type of presentations, better if focused on cybersecurity or in line with the current situation in the region, mainly from speakers who are already in Hong Kong for living, holidays or attending the conference, in fact there will be no free accommodation benefit for this new “off-topic” plan because it’s going to act as a sort of side event.
This “open day” may also be adopted in our future events, for example a 3-day conference where the first 2 days are strictly focused on the selected topics and the last one more relaxed and open to ideas and submissions covering anything interesting.
An official announcement about this plan will follow in few days so comments and submissions are welcome.
All the benefits for the original two topics covered in the Call for Speakers remain the same:
- free accommodation for 3 nights (for speakers not from Hong Kong)
- access to the event for two people
- possibility to suggest other people to invite at the event
The budget for the event in December is going to be lower than the previous one used for the conference in May, the experience gained from it allowed to cut superfluous expenses and adopt different solutions.
REVULN ’19, the previous event of few months ago, costed over 20.000 USD (like a Platinum sponsorship at most conferences) taken from an initially allocated budget of 40.000 USD which is financing the upcoming event too.
The whole budget comes from our own funds, there are no sponsorships or product placements or other forms of marketing, and we have full control and freedom over every single aspect and detail of the event.
The conference is meant just for sharing knowledge and connecting people.
Information about REVULN 19Q4:
- Location: Hong Kong
- Dates: 2019 December 11–12
- Estimated attendees: between 50 and 80
- Private conference, invitation-only, free
- Topics: “Fake news, disinformation and propaganda” on Day 1 and possibly part of Day 2, open topic for the remaining time of Day 2
- Deadline for the “fake news” submissions is November 11, while there is no deadline for the “open day” plan and submissions will be accepted once all the available slots are taken
