BSides Knoxville: The Guide

What you need to bring: nothing!

The QR code for your Eventbrite purchase is preferred, but we can register by name also.

What you might want to bring:

  • Business cards - this is a great opportunity for networking or job hunting!

  • A laptop - if you choose to participate in the Splunk “Boss of the SOC” CTF

  • A small notepad and pen for any ideas or reminders you want to jot down during talks. Of course, you could just use your smartphone for this. Also, we’ll be putting all the talks on YouTube later on, so maybe just listen and enjoy - you can always rewatch it later!

  • A small backpack or bag for swag - we’ll be giving you a rolled-up poster and t-shirt when you register - you might not want to carry it around all day. (parking is relatively close, so this is really optional)

  • Cash or card donations are required to play PicTacToe and other games in our lockpick village, run by Fox Pick

When sharing thoughts or pictures related to the conference, use the hashtag #BSK2026 so that others at the event can find your posts!

Talks and Schedule

Sched, as the name implies, is where the event’s schedule is hosted!

You can log into your account, create your own personal schedule and even leave feedback for speakers.

⭐ We LOVE feedback - please take the time to tell us what you think!

Sponsors

Ticket sales cover roughly 15% of our operating costs!
That’s why having amazing sponsors is so important.

And for the fourth year in a row, BSides Knoxville has sold out all sponsor slots!

T-Shirt ($5,000) - Pilot Company

Platinum ($4,000) - Clayton Homes, Cisco, and Starseer

Big Tent ($4,000) - Zelvin & Strike48

Gold ($3,000) - ThreatLocker, SentinelOne, and Checkpoint

Drinks ($3,000) - Premier Staffing Partners

Silver ($2,000) - LBMC, Avertium, and TrustedSec

Speaker’s Dinner ($1,000) - Pilot Company

Village Sponsor ($500) - Chainguard

Community Sponsors

BSides Knoxville is only once a year. If it weren’t for the hard work and dedication of our community, we wouldn’t exist.
A huge thank you to our community sponsors for showing up and showing off!

DC865, Knoxville’s OWASP, and the ISC2 groups are a big part of our local cybersecurity crew, but we can’t forget our security adjacent groups;
ETSA, KnoxDevs, and the local M365 user group rounding out our list of community sponsors.

Once again, Fox Pick is providing the lockpick village, lockpick contests, will be raising money for Hak4Kids, and made our 3D badges this year.

Food & Drink

Breakfast: Donuts (as is tradition) - Buck'n Good Donuts

Drinks: coffee, tea, water, as well as alcoholic/non-alcoholic beverages - Southern Sips

For lunch, there will be a wide range of food options.

Food trucks: This year’s food truck will be Big O’s Famous BBQ

Restaurants: Just a short walk from the venue: Potchke Deli, 10+ options at Marble City Market, Barley’s (Pizza, Sandwiches), Urban Bar, Da Vinci’s (Pizza), Southern Grit, Fin-Two (Japanese), Stir (upscale seafood, sandwiches, drinks), Kaizen (Asian), and many more!

Where is BSides Knoxville?

Track 1 is a popular music venue called The Mill & Mine and Track 2 is Regas Square Events, just down the block.

Registration will be at Track 1 - The Mill & Mine.

For parking and the location of tracks 1 and 2, refer to the map below. Click it to download a higher quality PDF. Note that BSides Knoxville is on Friday, so parking won’t be free in the lot that’s free on weekends/evenings.

BSides Knoxville will be an easy 10-15 minute walk from Crowne Plaza hotel, and a 5 minute Lyft/Uber ride from other downtown hotels.

Code of Conduct

Our “Code of Conduct” is "Be Excellent to Each Other" AKA the Golden Rule. Don’t be a jerk (Staff reserves the right to determine what constitutes “Being a Jerk").

Asking questions of a speaker during their talk, to get clarity or debate a point is NOT being an jerk — heckling the speaker IS. If you are not sure, ask, or err on the side of common courtesy. If what someone is doing would not be acceptable to have done to you, your best friend or anyone else that you know, do not let them treat anyone else that way — whether you know them or not. If someone asks you to stop — stop.

Alcohol is served at this event. This is our twelfth year, and we’ve only had a single reported incident. DON’T BE THE SECOND!

If you see or experience something you’re concerned about, please, let us know, regardless of whether it’s an attendee, venue staff or someone hanging out that isn’t part of the event.

Contacting the Organizers

Email: info@bsidesknoxville.com

SMS: James is available at 865-408-8259

You can also locate a staff member in person (James, Joe, Stephannie, or John).
Our photos are at the bottom of the main page at https://bsidesknoxville.com if you don’t know what we look like.