BSides Rocket City is Huntsville’s free, community-driven information security conference — by the community, for the community.

We’re looking for technical, hands-on, community-driven proposals across ethical hacking, red teaming, blue teaming, purple teaming, space cyber, RF, hardware hacking, lockpicking, maker projects, AI security, cloud, ICS/OT, research, tools, demos, war stories, lessons learned, and weird ideas worth sharing.

We especially encourage students, first-time presenters, and new voices to submit. You do not need to be a “big name” to have something valuable to share.

What we’re accepting

⚡ 15-minute lightning talks

🎤 1-hour talks

🛠️ Multi-hour workshops

If it helps people build, break, learn, defend, research, reverse, question, or think differently, we want to see it.

What we’re not accepting

No marketing pitches. No sales talks. No fluff. No generic business capability briefings. No vendor-first content.

This CFP is for real knowledge-sharing, technical depth, hands-on learning, community-driven ideas, and practical takeaways.

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.

Every proposal is reviewed seriously, whether it arrives early or closer to the CFP deadline.

If your proposal is not selected during an early review wave, that does not mean it has been rejected. Unless we contact you otherwise, it may continue forward into the next review wave.

Review waves

🚀 Launch Window

Early submissions are reviewed first. Strong-fit talks and workshops may be accepted early so we can begin announcing speakers while still keeping space open for later submissions.

🛰️ Orbit Window

The main rolling review period. New submissions are reviewed as they arrive, and proposals carried forward from the Launch Window may receive additional consideration.

🌕 Final Approach

Final review after the CFP closes. Remaining talks, workshops, and lightning talks are selected to complete the schedule.

Review wave dates are cutoff points, not rejection dates.

Make your submission stand out

Lead with the problem and why the audience should care. Then tell us what you’ll show, teach, demo, or walk through.

A clear outline with concrete takeaways goes a long way.

For workshops, tell us:

🧠 What attendees will walk away able to do

🎯 What experience level the workshop is for

💻 What attendees need to bring

🔧 Any hardware, software, accounts, or setup required

Timeline

CFP opens: July 1, 2026

Launch Window cutoff: August 31, 2026

Orbit Window cutoff: October 31, 2026

CFP closes: December 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM CT

Final Approach review: January 2027

Notifications sent by: February 5, 2027

Confirm your slot by: February 12, 2027

Event: Saturday, March 20, 2027 — Calhoun Community College, Huntsville, AL

If you’ve got something useful, interesting, challenging, technical, or wonderfully weird to teach, show, build, break, or spark discussion around, send us your proposal and help launch BSides Rocket City into orbit! 🚀

Conference is FREE for everyone!