BSides Rocket City
Bridging the Gap from Student to Rocket Scientist.
until the CFP closes — December 31, 2026, 11:59 PM CT
About
BSides Rocket City is Huntsville's free, community-driven information security conference — by the community, for the community. Hosted in the heart of Rocket City, we bring together hackers, defenders, builders, researchers, students, and the merely curious for a day of technical talks, hands-on workshops, and the hallway conversations that make BSides what it is.
We're a volunteer-led conference designed to foster the next generation of defenders: a low-barrier platform where K-12 and university students collaborate directly with hackers, rocket scientists, researchers, and industry professionals.
From first exposure to advanced tradecraft, BSides Rocket City is built to connect curiosity with real-world experience. Free to attend. Bring your curiosity.
Between now and launch day, the community lives on Discord — join us.
Call for Presenters
The CFP is open now and closes December 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM CT. We especially encourage students, first-time presenters, and new voices to submit.
15 min Lightning Talks
One sharp idea, tool, or lesson. Perfect for first-time speakers.
1 hr Talks
Room to go deep — research, demos, war stories, lessons learned.
multi-hr Workshops
Hands-on labs. Tell us what attendees will walk away able to do.
What we're looking for
Technical, hands-on, community-driven proposals across:
- Ethical hacking — red, blue, and purple teaming
- Space cyber, RF, hardware hacking, and lockpicking
- Maker projects, AI security, cloud, and ICS/OT
- Research, tools, demos, war stories, and lessons learned
- Weird ideas worth sharing
…anything that helps people build, break, learn, and think differently.
What we're not accepting
No marketing pitches, no sales talks, no fluff, no business capability briefings. This is for real knowledge-sharing, technical depth, hands-on learning, and community-driven ideas. Everyone, including sponsors, submits through the same CFP.
Lead with the problem and why the audience should care, then what you'll show. A clear outline with concrete, practical takeaways goes a long way. For workshops, tell us exactly what attendees will walk away able to do — and what they need to bring.
How CFP review works
BSides Rocket City reviews CFP submissions in waves. This lets us begin confirming strong talks and workshops early while still keeping space open for great submissions throughout the CFP window. Submitting early or late doesn't change how seriously your proposal is considered — every wave gets the same review.
wave 01 Launch Window
Early submissions are reviewed first. Strong-fit talks and workshops may be accepted early so we can begin announcing speakers and building the program.
wave 02 Orbit Window
The main rolling review period. New submissions are reviewed as they arrive, and proposals from the Launch Window continue forward for additional consideration.
wave 03 Final Approach
Final review after the CFP closes. Remaining talks, workshops, and lightning talks are selected to complete the schedule.
If your proposal isn't selected during an early review wave, that does not mean it has been rejected. Unless we contact you otherwise, it continues forward to the next wave. We intentionally keep plenty of the program open until the end, with final selections made after the CFP closes and notifications sent by February 5, 2027.
Timeline
2026-07-01CFP opens2026-08-31Launch Window cutoff Early submissions received by this date may be reviewed for early acceptance.2026-10-31Orbit Window cutoff New submissions and proposals carried forward from Launch Window are reviewed.2026-12-31CFP closes — 11:59 PM CT2027-01Final Approach review Remaining talks, workshops, and lightning talks are reviewed to complete the program.2027-02-05Speaker notifications sent by this date2027-02-12Speakers confirm their slot2027-03-20Conference day — Calhoun Community College, Huntsville, AL 🚀
Free for speakers. If it's real, technical, and worth sharing — it belongs here.
Villages
Lockpicking Village
Learn the basics and get hands-on with practice locks.
Meshtastic Meetup
Bring your nodes and radios for experimentation and mesh networking fun.
More coming soon
Additional villages will be announced as they're confirmed.
Registration
[ PENDING ] Registration is not open yet.
BSides Rocket City is free to attend. Registration details will be announced here — watch this page, join our Discord, or follow us on LinkedIn.
Sponsors
BSides Rocket City is free because sponsors help make it possible. Sponsorship is community support — it keeps admission free and feeds a room full of hackers. Sponsors who want to present submit through the same CFP as everyone else.
Why sponsor BSides Rocket City?