Toxic BBQ - An Abbreviated History

This text originally appeared in the Toxic BBQ Retrospective Zine, Grow your own Sideshow.

DEF CON’s unofficial launch party is a sometimes-quiet cookout that welcomes all, n00b and 1337 alike. This prelude to the cacophony and telephony grew with its host convention to a gathering of hundreds with grill temps and daytime highs to match. If each DEF CON is a hacker carnival, Toxic BBQ is its first sideshow.

We celebrated the 15th year of grill and chill (and a hybrid return to DEF CON amidst a turbulent pandemic) by collecting tips and tricks for running a sideshow of your very own. We also caught up with past organizers of Toxic and similar events to get their perspective on building community and culture in the Information Age. We hope that our masticarious adventures delight and inspire you to build (or rebuild) a culture of care and friendship at DEF CON and closer to home.

Special thanks to Sc0tland, TheCotMan, EvilMoFo, Deviant Ollam, the @dc_peppercon crew, and many others for making Toxic BBQ a success year after year.

Sinc,

the_bozo and DuncanYoudaho

The Beginning

Before it had a name, a cookout was organized on forums and IRC leading up to DEF CON in the early 2000s. Vegas locals Siviak and Sc0tland directed carloads of hackers to Paradise Park just off Tropicana Blvd. The shade kept summer temps as high as 117°F/47°C bearable. It was also a straight shot from the newly minted con venue, the legendary Alexis Park. The draw has been the same each year: hackers coming together to share food and catch up, a calm before the storm.

Sc0tland: “...my memories are really fuzzy and it’s not just because we tended to have a really good time at DEFCON … but because it was quite a long time ago now.”

In 2004, the informal get-together became Toxic BBQ. Planning moved to the DC forums, and the cookout moved to Sunset Park. With publicity came exponential growth. 70 attendees became over 800 in six short years. Titanium Chef, the Beverage Cooling Contraption Contest, and HackBus all made appearances. The BBQ was now a financial and logistical challenge for the organizers. Size also brought official scrutiny. One year was shut down early by park police, and Sc0tland had to convince more than one officer that the group in black t-shirts were not a threat. They just wanted to play dodge ball.

“Someone gave me a ride and I showed up. The early days of DEF CON had a lot of goings-on like that...a rumor of ‘people are all at this spot’ and you'd just head to that hotel room or that local bar.

- Deviant Ollam

Whenever someone got tired, they passed it to another. Sc0tland and friends handed it off to Graverobber’s crew, and then to the_bozo and DuncanYoudaho. After fifteen years, organizing Toxic BBQ hasn’t changed: a forum thread, audacious plans, and trust that hackers the world over would brave the heat on the promise of a burger and some camaraderie. And we’re glad they keep showing up, year after year.

The Odyssey of HackBus

Regional caravans are part of conference traditions, and the trip can be an adventure in itself. PacBell drove a city bus from Oregon in the early days of DEF CON. EvilMoFo and Fpenguin followed suit in 2007.

The HackBus was a 1956 GM PD 4104 bus delivered to Public Service Coordinated Transport in New Jersey. A quick vacuum and some old couches allowed it to make the trip from San Fran to DC15, but it didn’t return home until October. A laundry list of repairs, including a new engine, kept it on the road year after year.

The HackBus itself
Appearing with permission from EvilMoFo

Those who rode it to DEF CON said it was one of the most entertaining, if sweaty, ways to get there. Bay Area hackers worked on it together to add amenities like 16G internet (4 carriers x 4G each!), pirate radio stations,  and sometimes-functional AC. In addition to the road trip to DC, the HackBus ferried legions to Toxic BBQ, and it also rescued The Minibosses when their van broke down on the way to the EFF party.

Due to Fpenguin’s interests outside DEF CON and EvilMoFo’s role at Scav Hunt, they kept the bus home after DC23. Sadly, the HackBus was destroyed in the 2020 North Complex Fire. Apart from pictures and memories, the front license plate and metal DEF CON Jack are the only mementos that survive.

Spotlight: Peppercon

As your event grows, Sideshows to your Sideshow may pile on spontaneously. My favorite at Toxic BBQ is the crew that brings home-grown hot pepper products to share with everyone. I’ll let them tell it in their own words:

We usually prefer heat measured in scovilles, not Fahrenheit, but what better place to find people interested in crazy hot peppers than a cookout? We usually start the rounds like this:

"Hey, you like spicy food?”  “Wanna try a hot pepper?”  “How about some spicy whiskey?”  “Wanna put a kick on that burger?”  But it’s the siren call to convention-goers that gets the best response: “We’ve got swag…"

Soon, the brave are sweating, turning red, and bringing their friends to share in the misery and ecstasy. A blonde from Wisconsin chomps a ghost pepper like it was nothing while her tough guy friends tear up and search for liquid relief.  

Sharing food and drink is one of the simplest, and strongest, expressions of friendship, and we’ve made a lot of friends at this BBQ.  When someone grows an idea and keeps it alive, it becomes greater than the sum of its parts. A space and time that exists on its own. We couldn't be more glad to be a part of this. Thank you to all the people that show up and make Toxic BBQ happen. Can't wait to see you all again.

With much love - Peppercon