bsides bloomington
BSides Bloomington is a volunteer-run nonprofit that organizes an annual cybersecurity conference in Bloomington, Indiana, serving information security professionals, students, and researchers through talks, workshops, CTF challenges, and themed villages.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersBloomington Springs, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What bsides bloomington does
BSides Bloomington is a volunteer-run, community-supported nonprofit organization that organizes an annual information security conference in Bloomington, Indiana, founded in 2022. The organization operates as a local chapter of the global Security BSides framework, which was co-founded in 2009 by Jack Daniel, Chris Nickerson, and Mike Dahn as a decentralized alternative to large, expensive security conferences. The core offering is a two-day annual conference held at the Monroe Convention Center, featuring multiple tracks of talks, hands-on workshops, themed villages, and capture-the-flag (CTF) challenges including a Search Party CTF hosted by Trace Labs for missing persons investigations. Programming is sourced through Call-for-Papers and Call-for-Trainers submissions managed via Eventzilla and Sessionize.
The organization is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of credentialed information security professionals serving as unpaid volunteers in roles including Technology Officer, Programming Officer, Operations Officer, Secretary, Marketing Officer, Treasurer, and Outreach Officer. The Board includes CISOs and security leaders from organizations including the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Notre Dame, Ultra Maritime, Kroger, and IBM. The conference has been held annually since 2023, with 2026 marking the fourth edition under the theme 'Insert Coin to Opt Out' with an arcade aesthetic.
Revenue is generated through corporate sponsorship tiers (Diamond $5,500, Platinum $4,000, Gold $2,500, Silver $1,500, Bronze $500) and specialty sponsorships (Food Truck $1,500, Cookies and Coffee $1,000), supplemented by ticket sales. Student attendance is free with valid student ID. The 2024 and 2025 sponsor portfolios included major enterprise security vendors such as CrowdStrike, Palo Alto Networks, Cloudflare, Rapid7, Tanium, Checkpoint, Armis, and GuidePoint Security, along with Indiana University affiliates. The organization has no products, proprietary technology, or external funding; it operates on community volunteer labor and event sponsorship revenue.
bsides bloomington firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- bsides bloomington
- Legal name
- BSides Bloomington
- Website
- https://bsidesbloomington.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- BSides Bloomington is a volunteer-run nonprofit that organizes an annual cybersecurity conference in Bloomington, Indiana, serving information security professionals, students, and researchers through talks, workshops, CTF challenges, and themed villages.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
bsides bloomington industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Information Security Conferences
- NAICS
- Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies) (THAHACAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Meeting & Conference Planning & Coordination (HSACADAA)
Keywords
Where bsides bloomington is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Bloomington Springs
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
bsides bloomington business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Conference Sponsorships: Primary revenue stream from corporate sponsorships at multiple tiers (Diamond $5,500, Platinum $4,000, Gold $2,500, Silver $1,500, Bronze $500). Sponsors receive track sponsorship, vendor tables, social media mentions, and verbal announcements.
- Ticket Sales: Attendee registration fees. Students attend free with valid student ID. General admission tickets are available for purchase.
- Specialty Sponsorships: Food Truck Sponsor ($1,500) and Cookies and Coffee Sponsor ($1,000) provide additional revenue streams with specific branding opportunities.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Diamond Sponsorship - $5,500 (Limit 3) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Platinum Sponsorship - $4,000 (Limit 3) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Gold Sponsorship - $2,500 (Limit 4) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Silver Sponsorship - $1,500 (Limit 10) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Bronze Sponsorship - $500 (Limit 15) |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Student Admission - Free |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Food Truck Sponsor - $1,500 (Limit 4) |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Cookies and Coffee Sponsor - $1,000 (Limit 2) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
bsides bloomington product offering
Product offeringCore offering
BSides Bloomington organizes an annual two-day volunteer-run information security conference held at the Monroe Convention Center in Bloomington, Indiana. The conference features keynote talks, hands-on workshops, themed villages, CTF/badge challenges, and sponsor exhibits, with free admission for students and tiered corporate sponsorship packages. Related community offerings include volunteer programs, a speaker/trainer submission platform (CFP/CFT via Sessionize), and archived conference content going back to 2023.
Product overview
BSides Bloomington is a volunteer-run, community-supported annual cybersecurity conference organization. The core offering is the annual BSides Bloomington Conference featuring multiple tracks of talks, hands-on workshops, themed villages, and CTF challenges. The organization also offers related programs including sponsorship opportunities at various tiers and volunteer programs. The conference focuses on advancing the information security field through collaboration, inclusion, and learning, with an arcade-themed aesthetic for 2026 celebrating hacker culture roots.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- BSides Bloomington Annual Conference A two-day volunteer-run annual cybersecurity conference held at the Monroe Convention Center in Bloomington, Indiana, featuring keynote talks, multi-track technical sessions, hands-on workshops, themed villages, CTF/badge challenges, and sponsor exhibits for the information security community.
- Sponsorship Programs Corporate sponsorship tier packages offering branding, vendor tables, verbal announcements, social media shout-outs, and optional speaking slots for corporate supporters underwriting the annual conference.
Quantifiable outcome
- Free student admission removes financial barriers to professional development
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use bsides bloomington
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
bsides bloomington technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
bsides bloomington partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Trace LabscoreTrace Labs is a Canadian non-profit that crowdsources Open Source Intelligence to assist in missing persons investigations. They host Search Party CTF at BSides Bloomington and provide OSINT workshops. Director Tom Hocker serves on the BSides Bloomington Board as Outreach Officer.
- SPICE Luddy IUminorIU Luddy School SPICE organization - Gold sponsor for 2024.
- CheckpointminorGold sponsor for 2024 conference.
- TaniumminorSilver sponsor for 2024 conference.
- Rapid7minorSilver sponsor for 2024 conference.
- CACR IUminorCenter for Applied Cybersecurity Research at Indiana University - Silver sponsor for 2024.
- NineStar ConnectminorSilver sponsor for 2024 conference.
- Indiana UniversitycoreMultiple IU-affiliated sponsors including SPICE Luddy IU, CACR IU, and Omnisoc IU. IU faculty and staff serve as Board members and keynote speakers.
- Monroe Convention CentercoreOfficial venue for BSides Bloomington conference. Located at 302 S. College Ave., Bloomington, IN 47403. Offers 24,000 square feet of event space.
- Apollo Information SystemsminorPartner for 2025 conference.
- Palo Alto NetworksminorPartner for 2025 conference.
- ArmisminorPartner for 2025 conference - cyber exposure management and security company.
- CrowdStrikeminorPartner for 2025 conference.
- CloudflareminorPartner for 2025 conference.
- GuidePoint SecurityminorPartner for 2025 conference.
- Courtyard Marriott BloomingtonminorOfficial hotel partner with room block available for conference attendees. Connected to Monroe Convention Center.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
bsides bloomington competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- DEF CON: One of the world's largest and longest-running hacker conferences. It is the foundational inspiration for the Security BSides framework (co-founded after being rejected from DEF CON) and the primary competitor for InfoSec practitioner mindshare that BSides Bloomington targets.
- Black Hat: A major commercial cybersecurity conference operated by Informa. It competes with BSides Bloomington for enterprise security sponsorship dollars and senior practitioner attendance, but operates as a large-scale paid event rather than a community volunteer model.
- RSA Conference: The largest enterprise-focused cybersecurity conference globally. It competes for the same enterprise security vendor sponsorship budgets (CrowdStrike, Palo Alto, Cloudflare) that fund BSides Bloomington, and targets the same CISO-level audience.
Direct peers
- ShmooCon: A small, community-run annual hacker conference with a single-track focus and limited ticket supply. It shares BSides Bloomington's volunteer-led operating model and emphasis on intimate, community-driven InfoSec programming over commercial scale.
- The Diana Initiative: A community-driven security conference focused on diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in InfoSec. It shares BSides Bloomington's volunteer-run, inclusive community ethos and similarly emphasizes free or low-cost access to broaden participation.
- CypherCon: A community-organized Midwest cybersecurity conference featuring talks, villages, and hands-on activities. It shares BSides Bloomington's volunteer-run operating model, thematic villages structure, and practitioner-focused programming.
- BSides Las Vegas: The flagship event of the Security BSides framework, held annually in conjunction with DEF CON. It is the most established and largest chapter in the same BSides network that BSides Bloomington operates within, sharing the same community-driven, volunteer-led conference model.
- Wild West Hackin' Fest: A community-run information security conference featuring talks, workshops, and hands-on training. It mirrors the BSides Bloomington operating model (community-led, volunteer-driven, sponsor-funded) and serves a comparable practitioner audience in a different regional market.
- BSides Chicago: A regional BSides chapter serving the Chicago/Midwest InfoSec community. It operates the same volunteer-run Security BSides framework model and competes for overlapping Midwest attendees, speakers, and sponsors.
Regional players
- CircleCityCon: A community-run hacker conference based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the most direct regional competitor for InfoSec practitioners in Indiana and competes for overlapping Midwest attendees and sponsors.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
bsides bloomington social profiles
Digital presencebsides bloomington financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
bsides bloomington leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
bsides bloomington funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
bsides bloomington M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about bsides bloomington
What does bsides bloomington do?
BSides Bloomington organizes an annual two-day volunteer-run information security conference held at the Monroe Convention Center in Bloomington, Indiana. The conference features keynote talks, hands-on workshops, themed villages, CTF/badge challenges, and sponsor exhibits, with free admission for students and tiered corporate sponsorship packages. Related community offerings include volunteer programs, a speaker/trainer submission platform (CFP/CFT via Sessionize), and archived conference content going back to 2023.
Is bsides bloomington a public or private company?
bsides bloomington is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was bsides bloomington founded?
bsides bloomington was founded in 2022. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is bsides bloomington based?
bsides bloomington is headquartered in Bloomington Springs, United States, in the North America region.
How does bsides bloomington make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Conference Sponsorships are the primary driver. The others are ticket Sales and specialty Sponsorships.
Who are bsides bloomington's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are DEF CON, Black Hat and RSA Conference. Direct peers are ShmooCon, The Diana Initiative, CypherCon, BSides Las Vegas, Wild West Hackin' Fest and BSides Chicago. CircleCityCon is listed as a regional player.
Does bsides bloomington have an API?
No public API is recorded for bsides bloomington.
What industry is bsides bloomington in?
bsides bloomington's product category is Information Security Conferences. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAHACAA, Association & Society Conference Management (Nonprofit, Professional Bodies), with a secondary code of HSACADAA, Meeting & Conference Planning & Coordination. Its NAICS code is 561920 and its SIC code is 8600.