Some thoughts on 33C3

I've just had the pleasure of attending all four days of 33C3 and have returned home with somewhat mixed feelings.

I've been a regular visitor and speaker at CCC events since 15C3 in 1998, which among other things means I'm an old man now. But I digress ;)

The event has come extremely far in those years. And to be honest, I struggle with the size. Back then, it was a meeting of like-minded hackers. You had the feeling that you know a significant portion of the attendees, and it was easy to connect to fellow hackers.

These days, both the number of attendees and the size of the event make you feel much rather that you're in general public, rather than at some meeting of fellow hackers. Yes, it is good to see that more people are interested in what the CCC (and the selected speakers) have to say, but somehow it comes at the price that I (and I suspect other old-timers) feel less at home. It feels too much like various other technology related events.

One aspect creating a certain feeling of estrangement is also the venue itself. There are an incredible number of rooms, with a labyrinth of hallways, stairs, lobbies, etc. The size of the venue simply makes it impossible to simply _accidentally_ running into all of your fellow hackers and friends. If I want to meet somebody, I have to make an explicit appointment. That is an option that exits most of the rest of the year, too.

While fefe is happy about the many small children attending the event, to me this seems somewhat alien and possibly inappropriate. I guess from teenage years onward it certainly makes sense, as they can follow the talks and participate in the workshop. But below that age?

The range of topics covered at the event also becomes wider, at least I feel that way. Topics like IT security, data protection, privacy, intelligence/espionage and learning about technology have always been present during all those years. But these days we have bloggers sitting on stage and talking about bottles of wine (seriously?).

Contrary to many, I also really don't get the excitement about shows like 'Methodisch Inkorrekt'. Seems to me like mainstream compatible entertainment in the spirit of the 1990ies Knoff Hoff Show without much potential to make the audience want to dig deeper into (information) technology.