Built and launched a Discord-based virtual conference environment for DEF CON during COVID, then helped transition it into a long-term community platform.
In 2021, when DEF CON — the world's largest hacker conference — could not gather in person due to COVID restrictions, I built the official Discord server that became its virtual venue. What would normally be tens of thousands of security researchers, CTF competitors, government hackers, and cybersecurity professionals filling the halls of Las Vegas instead gathered in a server I built from the ground up. I hold Goon status — an official DEF CON staff position — to this day, serving as an active server administrator and ongoing member of the conference staff.
The Challenge
DEF CON needed a digital venue capable of replacing the operational and social energy of one of the world's largest in-person hacker conferences — on short notice, during COVID, for a technically sophisticated audience that would immediately spot anything that felt under-built or poorly moderated.
The Approach
I treated this as building a virtual conference venue, not a Discord server. That meant working closely with DEF CON organizers and conference leadership to understand how the conference actually operates — its tracks, villages, staff structure, and community culture — and designing a server architecture that reflected that complexity. Staff training and documentation ran in parallel with the build so that dozens of convention staff could operate the space from day one.
The Solution
I built the complete server infrastructure: channel architecture organized around conference tracks and villages, role hierarchy, permissions, bots, and moderation systems designed for a high-volume, technically sophisticated audience. I worked with DEF CON leadership throughout the build to ensure the server matched how the conference actually runs. I trained dozens of convention staff directly on Discord's features and conference-scale community management, and created documentation, moderation policies, guidelines, and operational playbooks for the team. After the conference concluded, I restructured the server to function as a permanent community platform, carrying the same architecture and culture forward beyond the event itself.
The Results
DEF CON 2021 ran as a fully operational virtual conference on Discord, bringing together tens of thousands of attendees in a structured, moderated environment built specifically around how the conference operates. The server has since grown to over 55,000 members and continues to serve as DEF CON's official community platform. I remain on staff as a DEF CON Goon and active server administrator.