Event Information

Ranked by Crawling Distance from Canal Bar

When evaluating hotels for SummerCon, we use a highly scientific measurement system: distance from the After After Party at Canal Bar. The following properties have been field-tested by generations of SummerCon attendees and are all solid options.

1. Tru by Hilton Brooklyn

529 President St, Brooklyn, NY 11215

A solid choice and one of the closest hotels to Canal Bar. You’ll feel like a real New Yorker because the rooms are small, but efficient. In fact, this hotel can practically be reached by crawling from Canal Bar, making it a favorite among attendees who take the phrase “one last drink” as a personal challenge.

The free breakfast is particularly decent as free breakfasts go in NYC. (Hint: very few things in New York are actually free.)

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2. TownePlace Suites by Marriott New York Brooklyn

561 President St, Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 765-5000

Another tried-and-true SummerCon option located just around the corner from Canal Bar.

The biggest advantage here is the in-room kitchenette. If you’d prefer to avoid spending your entire bug bounty on New York food prices, having a refrigerator, microwave, and basic kitchen setup can be a surprisingly valuable feature.

Also close enough to Canal Bar that your GPS may simply display: “Good luck.”

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3. Fairfield Inn & Suites Brooklyn

181 3rd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
(718) 522-4000

A few blocks from the conference venues and an easy walk to Littlefield, Ornate Studios, Lucky 13, and Canal Bar.

The Fairfield has long been a SummerCon favorite. The décor may not be luxurious, but somehow it manages to maintain the neighborhood dive-bar aesthetic even when you’re back in your hotel room. Think of it as an immersive Brooklyn experience.

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4. Ace Hotel Brooklyn

252 Schermerhorn St, Brooklyn, NY 11217
(718) 313-3636

Want to stay where all the baller hackers are? This is the place.

The Ace Hotel is stylish, comfortable, and frequently serves as an unofficial gathering spot for attendees, speakers, sponsors, and other conference regulars.

The rooms are, admittedly, expensive. And the “small room” category is so small that you may have to leave the room to change your mind. But if you’ve got the budget, it’s a fantastic option with great food, excellent common areas, and easy access to Downtown Brooklyn and the conference.

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Honorable Mention: Anywhere Near a Subway

SummerCon is centered in Gowanus, one of Brooklyn’s most walkable neighborhoods. If the hotels above are sold out or outside your budget, don’t panic. Anything near the 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, F, G, N, Q, or R trains will get you to the conference quickly, and New York’s subway system runs 24 hours a day.

Just remember: no matter where you stay, the After After Party is still at Canal Bar.

You may notice that SummerCon does not have an official hotel room block this year.

Normally, we like the simplicity of providing attendees with a discounted conference hotel option. However, SummerCon takes place during an unusually busy period for New York City due to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which has significantly impacted hotel contracting, availability, and pricing across the region.

At the same time, broader economic conditions, international travel trends, airfare costs, jet fuel prices, and other global factors have created a somewhat unusual travel market. While many people expected New York hotel rates to skyrocket for the summer, the reality has been more mixed than anticipated.

The good news is that there are still plenty of hotel rooms available throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, and many are priced reasonably—at least by New York City summer standards. In many cases, attendees can find rates that are comparable to, or even better than, what a traditional conference room block might have offered.

Rather than locking attendees into a single hotel, we’ve chosen to let everyone select accommodations that best fit their budget, travel plans, and preferred neighborhood. The SummerCon venue cluster in Gowanus is easily accessible by subway, making it practical to stay in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Long Island City, or other nearby areas and still get to the conference quickly.

We’ll continue to monitor hotel availability and may post recommendations as the event approaches, but for now there are plenty of good options available—and we encourage attendees to book sooner rather than later as availability can change quickly.

Traveling to SummerCon is easy from any of New York City’s three major airports. The conference venues are located in Gowanus, Brooklyn, a walkable neighborhood served by multiple subway lines and accessible by public transportation.

From John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)

The easiest public-transit route from JFK is usually the AirTrain and Long Island Rail Road. Take the AirTrain to Jamaica Station, then take the LIRR to Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn. From there, Summercon is a 12-15 minute walk south along 4th Avenue, or one stop on the Brooklyn-bound R train to Union Street.

The AirTrain costs $8.75. A discounted LIRR CityTicket from Jamaica to Atlantic Terminal costs $5.25 off-peak or $7.25 peak, bringing the total to $14 off-peak or $16 peak. Taking the R train for the final stop adds $3.

For a lower-cost subway-only route, take the AirTrain to Jamaica and transfer to the E train, then switch to the Brooklyn-bound R train at Queens Plaza. You can also take the AirTrain to Howard Beach, then the A train to Jay St-MetroTech and transfer to the R train. The AirTrain costs $8.75 and the subway costs $3, for a total of $11.75 per person.

From LaGuardia Airport (LGA)

The easiest public-transit route from LaGuardia is usually the Q70-SBS LaGuardia Link bus and the subway. Take the free Q70-SBS bus from Terminal B or C to Jackson Hts-Roosevelt Av, then take a Brooklyn-bound R train directly to Union Street. Summercon is one block north on Sackett Street. The bus-to-subway transfer is free when you use the same card or device, so the Q70-SBS is effectively free, and the subway costs $3.

From Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)

Take the AirTrain Newark to Newark Airport Station, then board NJ Transit to New York Penn Station. From Penn Station, connect to the New York City subway system via the 2, 3, A, C, or walk over to the D, F, N, R in Herald Square. Travel time is typically 60–90 minutes.

Getting to the Conference Area

SummerCon’s venues are centered around Littlefield in Gowanus. The closest subway stations include:

• Union Street (R train)
• 4 Avenue–9 Street (F, G, and R trains)
• Carroll Street (F and G trains)

All conference venues—including Littlefield, Ornate Studios, Lucky 13 Saloon, and Canal Bar—are within a short walk of one another, making it easy to move between talks, sponsor activities, social events, and after-parties without needing a car.

New York’s subway system operates 24 hours a day, making it convenient to travel between conference activities and accommodations throughout the event.

Also, you can just take a taxi or an Uber 🚕

Summercon 2026

Two days of technical talks, hacker culture, late-night conversations, and Brooklyn chaos.

Summercon returns to Gowanus on July 10–11, 2026, bringing together the information security and hacker communities for a weekend that is technical, social, irreverent, and unmistakably Summercon.

This is not a hotel ballroom conference. It is a walkable hacker village centered around Littlefield, Lucky 13 Saloon, Ornate Studios, and the surrounding neighborhood.

Tickets include admission for both days and the always amazing Summercon t-shirt.

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What your ticket includes

Your Summercon 2026 ticket gets you more than a seat in the room. It gets you into the whole weekend: the talks, the parties, the neighborhood, the shirt, the side quests, and the conversations that make Summercon feel like Summercon.

Two days of technical talks

Summercon is a single-track conference built around serious technical content and the hacker spirit. Expect research, stories, strange discoveries, strong opinions, audience participation, and talks that respect your intelligence.

The official Summercon 2026 t-shirt

Every attendee gets the one-of-a-kind Summercon t-shirt, included with admission. Pick it up across the street at Ornate Studios, then feel free to wear it all weekend. Nobody will accuse you of “wearing the band’s shirt at the concert.”

Hacker Village at Ornate Studios

Ornate Studios becomes part of the Summercon footprint for the weekend, with sponsor tables, merch, giveaways, lounge space, and opportunities to meet people without having to shout over a PA system. Between talks, head across the street for hands-on activities, lock picking, exclusive conference merchandise, sponsor demos, swag, surprises, and whatever other strange little missions we manage to create before go-time.

Friday night at Littlefield

After the first full day of talks, we keep things moving with happy hour, live music, a DJ, and the official Friday night Summercon party at Littlefield.

Saturday closing ceremonies and flip cup

Saturday wraps with closing ceremonies, happy hour, and our traditional flip cup tournament: an event of questionable athletic merit but significant cultural importance.

Completely From Memory

Saturday night continues with a special performance by Completely From Memory, an improv troupe that performs an entire movie from memory, with the kind of accuracy, confidence, and narrative instability that feels spiritually correct for Summercon.

The unofficial After After Party

For the brave, the foolish, and the people who somehow still want to keep talking, the unofficial After After Party continues late at Canal Bar.

A walkable Brooklyn hacker village

Summercon 2026 centers around Littlefield, Ornate Studios, Lucky 13 Saloon, Canal Bar, and the surrounding Gowanus neighborhood. Talks, drinks, food, merch, parties, and late-night conversations are all close enough that the whole weekend feels like one shared space.

The people

The best part of Summercon has always been the people: researchers, builders, breakers, defenders, old friends, new friends, hallway-track philosophers, first-timers, lifers, and people who came for one talk and somehow ended up in a 2:00am conversation about RF, municipal infrastructure, and whether computers were a mistake.

The Neighborhood

Summercon 2026 takes over a small, walkable piece of Gowanus, turning a few blocks of Brooklyn into a hacker village for the weekend.

At the center is Littlefield, our main venue and home base for talks, ceremonies, happy hours, live music, DJs, and the moments that somehow become Summercon lore before the weekend is over.

Across the street, Ornate Studios becomes the daytime side quest: t-shirt pickup, sponsor tables, conference merch, lock picking, lounge space, and the place to wander when you need a break without leaving the event.

Next door, Lucky 13 Saloon gives attendees a nearby place to grab a drink, meet up between sessions, continue a hallway conversation, or quietly reconsider whether the previous speaker was joking.

A few blocks away, Canal Bar hosts the unofficial late-night continuation for people who are not ready to let the night end and are willing to make tomorrow’s decisions tomorrow.

The whole thing is intentionally compact. No shuttle buses. No conference-center carpet. No wandering through a casino trying to find Ballroom C. Just talks, drinks, food, merch, parties, side quests, and friends old and new, all close enough to feel like one shared space.

For one weekend, Gowanus becomes Summercon’s neighborhood.

Summercon runs on chaos, but it still has rules. Keep it strange. Keep it technical. But keep it together.

Summercon comes from a tradition that goes back almost forty years. A lot has changed since Summercon ’87. The computers changed. The networks changed. The scene changed. The jokes changed. The expectations changed. So did we.

That does not mean losing the things that made Summercon matter in the first place. It means protecting them.

Summercon has always been more than a schedule of talks. The talks matter, but the real event is what happens around them: the conversations, arguments, introductions, reunions, hallway debates, late-night stories, and strange little moments where people realize they are on the same frequency.

That only works when people can actually share space. Summercon depends on trust, good faith, and enough self-awareness to know when your bit, your argument, your joke, your flirting, your volume, or your behavior is starting to make the room worse.

We want you here. We want you to meet people, argue about computers, learn something strange, make friends, and have the kind of weekend that becomes a story later.

The ground rules are not complicated.

1. Don’t harass people.

Summercon is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.

We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. That includes harassment at the venue, at official events, at parties, online, or anywhere else your behavior affects the Summercon community.

2. Respect the humans.

Everyone at Summercon is a person first. Speakers, attendees, sponsors, volunteers, venue staff, organizers, press, friends, strangers, and people you only know by handle all deserve to be treated with basic respect.

You do not have to agree with everyone. You do not have to like everyone. You do have to share space like a functioning adult.

3. No means no. Stop means stop.

If someone sets a boundary, respect it immediately.

No debate. No negotiation. No “I was just joking.” No repeated attempts. No following someone around to continue the conversation. If someone tells you to stop, leave them alone.

4. Don’t threaten, stalk, abuse, or intimidate.

Threatening behavior, stalking, intimidation, abusive conduct, and patently offensive behavior are not welcome at Summercon.

This applies whether it happens in the conference venue, in sponsor areas, at official parties, in online spaces connected to the event, or anywhere else it becomes our problem.

5. Don’t make the room worse.

Summercon works because people bring energy without making the event miserable for everyone around them.

Do not disrupt talks, interfere with speakers, harass volunteers, abuse venue staff, create safety problems, or otherwise make shared spaces harder to enjoy. Heckling can be part of the culture. Being an exhausting menace is not.

6. Breaking the law is still illegal.

Yes, this is a hacker conference. No, that is not a legal defense.

Do not break things, set off alarms, damage venues, tamper with equipment, attack networks, interfere with safety systems, steal things, or create legal problems for yourself, the venue, other attendees, or Summercon.

If you love anarchy, want to break things, set off fire alarms, or generally behave like a twelve-year-old, you should probably stay away — even if you are a twelve-year-old. Especially if you are a twelve-year-old. It is not that kind of event, and we are not those kind of people.

7. Don’t make official spaces creepy, gross, or uncomfortable.

Summercon is strange on purpose. That does not mean every space is open season for every joke, image, comment, bit, shirt, prop, slide, or conversation.

Talks, sponsor spaces, registration, official events, and official parties need to remain comfortable for the people who came for the conference. Do not bring material or behavior into those spaces that turns the room creepy, gross, hostile, or uncomfortable.

Read the room. Then do better than that.

8. Staff in red shirts are empowered to maintain order.

Anyone wearing a red Summercon Staff shirt is empowered to step in, redirect behavior, separate people, escalate concerns, remove people from an area, or otherwise maintain order.

If staff gives you a direction, follow it. Arguing during an active situation only makes it worse. Questions can wait until things are stable.

9. Report problems early: 720-586-HACK.

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concern, please contact Summercon staff immediately.

You can speak to any staff member in a red Summercon Staff shirt.

If you do not feel comfortable approaching staff in person, call us directly:

720-586-4225
720-586-HACK

We would rather hear about a problem early, while it is still small, than hear about it later after it has already harmed someone or damaged the event.

10. Organizers have the final call. No refunds. No drama.

Summercon reserves the right to remove anyone, at any time, for any reason, at the discretion of the organizers.

Conference participants violating these rules may be removed from the conference without a refund. This may include removal from the venue, official events, parties, online spaces, or future Summercon events.

No drama. No debate. No refunds. No takebacks. Please, don’t test us.

Thanks for helping.

Keep Summercon weird, welcoming, and worth coming back to.

It’s been a long, strange year. Since some of us are going to be in the same room together for the first time in eons and might have forgotten about the normal social contract that exists in shared spaces, we’d like to remind everyone of our Code of Conduct.

Many years ago, Summercon published its first real code of conduct. This was kind of a landmark, since the Summercon team has always prided itself on a certain amount of constructive chaos. That early code of conduct looked like this:

If you love anarchy, want to break things, set off fire alarms, or generally behave like a twelve year old, you probably should stay away–even if you are a twelve year old. Especially if you are a twelve year old. It’s not that kind of event, and we’re not those kind of people. Even though we’re a group of hackers, breaking the law is still illegal.

If you’re interested in meeting your peers in the security world, meeting some of the finest people you’ll ever know, putting names to faces, and learning about the latest trends in security analysis, we’d love to see you. Mingle, socialize, make lifelong friendships. That’s what we’re all about.

We still believe in that.

But the world has grown. And while we still love that constructive chaos, we’ve grown a lot, too. We want everyone to have a good time. And because not everyone knows what that means, we’ll be very clear:

Summercon is dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference experience for everyone, regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or disability. We do not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for conference talks or exhibitors. The conference reserves the right to eject anyone who engages in behavior that is threatening or patently offensive to the community, regardless of whether it occurs at the conference venue, parties, or online.

Conference participants violating our rules may be thrown out of the conference without a refund at the discretion of the conference organizers.

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the conference staff immediately. Anyone wearing a red Summercon Staff shirt is empowered to intervene.

In case you don’t feel comfortable approaching a member of the staff, call us at 720 586-4225 (720 586-HACK) so that you can speak directly with the conference organizers about your concerns.

TL;DR: Not to be all heavy or anything, but top legal minds tell us we should say this: we reserve the right to eject anyone at any time for any reason at the sole discretion of the conference organizers.

Thanks for listening. Sorry if this harshes anyone’s mellow, but it’s easier to have a good time when everyone knows the ground rules. Have fun, everyone!