BSidesKC 2019 · United States · 2019

BSidesKC 2019 Conference Badge

ESP8266 Badge Pirates badge with Wi-Fi beacon game

The BSidesKC 2019 conference badge was a Badge Pirates ESP8266 badge with Wi-Fi behavior, reverse-mount LEDs, participant/speaker/organizer/volunteer/sponsor/pirate variants, a related Jr Hacker badge, and a rights-cleared repository photo served locally as optimized WebP.

BSidesKC BSides Kansas City United States Kansas City Missouri Security BSides Badge Pirates ESP8266 Wi-Fi Reverse-Mount LEDs SAO Jr Hacker Badge North America

BSidesKC 2019 Conference Badge badge image

EventBSidesKC 2019

SeriesBSidesKC

LocationPlexpod Westport, Kansas City, Missouri

CountryUnited States

Image Provenance

Asset: optimized WebP from official repository photo
Status: licensed original photo
Source: photos/Participant Close up.JPG
License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Attribution: Badge Pirates, LLC / BSidesKC_2019 repository contributors
Notes: Original 4032x3024 repository JPEG downloaded from the official BadgePiratesLLC/BSidesKC_2019 repository and preserved in Public/images/source. The published WebP delivery asset is auto-oriented, metadata-stripped, resized to 1600x1200, and otherwise kept as the real close-up photo of the physical BSidesKC 2019 participant badge. GitHub license metadata detects the repository hardware license file as CC BY 4.0; this is not generated content, a placeholder, an event-gallery copy, or an approximate render. The published badge.gallery delivery file is an optimized WebP generated from the rights-cleared local derivative/source with metadata stripped, WebP quality 82, and a maximum side cap of 1600 pixels when the source is larger; upstream source URL, license, and attribution remain unchanged.

People

Authors & Credits

BSidesKC 2019 badge talk presenter

Kevin

The Badge Pirates writeup says Kevin gave the badge talk titled The Hardest Way to Present at a Conference.

Source

Pirate badge prize owner

networkgeek

Badge Pirates says networkgeek gave the winning counterfeit-badge entrant his Pirate badge along with a Challenge Accepted SAO.

Source

attendee badge assembler

PCBWay

Badge Pirates states the attendee badges were assembled by PCBWay.

Source

badge team, repository publisher, and image licensor

Badge Pirates, LLC

Badge Pirates published the BSidesKC 2019 badge writeup and repository containing hardware, software, license files, Gerbers, docs, and the selected participant-badge photo.

Source

counterfeit-badge challenge winner

DiggerOfLogs

Badge Pirates identifies DiggerOfLogs as the counterfeit-badge challenge entrant who made an electronic version and won the contest.

Source

event publisher

BSidesKC

Official publisher of the BSidesKC 2019 event page used for dates, venue, and Kansas City context.

Source

Why It Mattered

It captures a regional Security BSides badge where sourceable production reality matters: roughly 700 attendees, 250 pre-registration electronic attendee badges reserved in 24 hours, 128 hand-assembled role and kids badges, PCBWay assembly, a non-electronic crypto path, a Wi-Fi beacon exploration game, and a counterfeit-badge contest.

Hardware

The Badge Pirates writeup identifies the conference badge core as an Espressif ESP8266 Wi-Fi microcontroller with six reverse-mount SMD LEDs and a rear-to-front light-pass effect. The public repository preserves hardware files, BOM material, Gerbers, SAO-related add-ons, and a physical participant-board photo; the related Jr Hacker badge used an ESP8266 platform with IR laser-tag behavior, speaker, vibration motor, and WS2812 hit counter.

Software & Apps

The public repository provides MIT-licensed software and PlatformIO material, including a shark-badge tree. The event badge game used Wi-Fi beacons scattered around the Plexpod Westport venue for badge discovery and exploration, while non-electronic participants received a PCB-compatible artifact tied to a crypto challenge.

Lore

Badge Pirates documented the work in a talk titled The Hardest Way to Present at a Conference. The electronics allocation sold through the reserved stock quickly, the team hand-assembled organizer, speaker, volunteer, and Jr Hacker batches, one attendee won the counterfeit-badge challenge with an electronic replica, and battery life became a documented production lesson.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge game source-backed

Wi-Fi beacon exploration game

The conference badge game used Wi-Fi beacons scattered around Plexpod Westport for attendee discovery and exploration.

Compatibility: BSidesKC 2019 Conference Badge

Source

badge variants source-backed

Six role and color badge variants

Badge Pirates documents participant, speaker, organizer, volunteer, sponsor, and pirate badge designs for the 2019 BSidesKC badge family.

Compatibility: BSidesKC 2019 Conference Badge

Source

contest add-on historical

Challenge Accepted contest SAO

Challenge solvers could receive a Challenge Accepted SAO; the writeup says only two were awarded, one for crypto and one for the counterfeit-badge contest.

Compatibility: BSidesKC 2019 badge challenges

Source

kids badge source-backed

Jr Hacker IR laser-tag badge

The related Jr Hacker badge used an ESP8266 platform with IR tag gameplay, speaker, vibration motor, and WS2812 hit counter, with source material preserved under shark-badge.

Compatibility: BSidesKC 2019 Jr Hacker badge

Source

parallel challenge artifact source-backed

Non-electronic crypto challenge path

Badge Pirates says non-electronic participants received an electrically same PCB with clues for a crypto challenge, preserving participation without overclaiming electronics for every attendee artifact.

Compatibility: BSidesKC 2019 badge ecosystem

Source

unofficial variant and contest documented

Pirate badge and counterfeit contest

Badge Pirates documents an unofficial Pirate badge variant plus a counterfeit-badge challenge triggered after badge imagery leaked before the event.

Compatibility: BSidesKC 2019 badge variants

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

battery-life caveat note

Badge Pirates documented battery-life problems and weak alkaline batteries, with many badges needing replacement batteries.

The record presents the badge as a real deployed event artifact with field power lessons rather than a frictionless reference design.

Confidence: badge-maker writeup
Status: documented
Timeframe: 2019 event production
Source note: Badge Pirates BSidesKC 2019 badge writeup.

distribution scope caveat note

Badge Pirates says only 250 preregistration attendees received electronic badges, organizer/speaker/volunteer/Jr Hacker batches totaled 128 hand-assembled boards, and non-electronic participant PCBs carried crypto-challenge clues.

The catalogue avoids implying every BSidesKC attendee had a fully electronic badge while still recording the verified electronic badge ecosystem.

Confidence: badge-maker writeup
Status: documented
Timeframe: BSidesKC 2019 registration and production
Source note: Badge Pirates BSidesKC 2019 badge writeup.

image provenance note

The BSidesKC 2019 visual uses the official BadgePiratesLLC/BSidesKC_2019 `photos/Participant Close up.JPG` repository photo under the repository CC BY 4.0 hardware license.

The public badge page, image archive, and API point at a real physical participant-badge photo with source URL, license, attribution, and WebP processing notes preserved.

Confidence: repository license and exact raster source
Status: licensed original replacement applied
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: BSidesKC_2019 participant image, HW-LICENSE.md, and badge.gallery image policy.

Resources

All about the BSidesKC 2019 Badges badge-maker writeup · Badge Pirates primary narrative source for the 2019 conference badge, Jr Hacker badge, badge quantities, ESP8266 hardware, reverse-mount LEDs, Wi-Fi beacon game, variants, contests, and production lessons. BSidesKC 2019 Final BOM bill of materials · Repository BOM spreadsheet for component-level follow-up on the 2019 badge hardware. BSidesKC 2019 Gerbers hardware source · Repository Gerber archive containing conference, shark/kids, SAO, and prototype manufacturing outputs. BSidesKC 2019 badge presentation talk deck · Repository presentation deck for the Badge Pirates BSidesKC 2019 badge talk context. BSidesKC 2019 challenge summary challenge deck · Repository challenge-summary deck for the BSidesKC 2019 badge challenge trail. BSidesKC 2019 official event page official event page · Official BSidesKC 2019 page preserving April 26-27, 2019 dates, Plexpod Westport venue, Kansas City location, and event navigation context. BSidesKC 2019 participant badge photo image source · CC BY 4.0 repository photo used as the local rights-cleared original-source image for the optimized WebP badge hero. BSidesKC 2019 shark-badge firmware firmware source · Repository shark-badge tree preserving the Jr Hacker / kids badge PlatformIO source context. BSidesKC_2019 README source · Repository README identifying the BSidesKC 2019 badge source archive and expected Conference Badge and Kids Badge scope. BSidesKC_2019 repository source · Official Badge Pirates repository preserving conference badge and kids badge source material, docs, firmware, hardware, Gerbers, photos, and license files.

Sources

BSidesKC: Basic Electronics and Soldering for Hackers Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official event source for BSidesKC 2019 dates, Plexpod Westport venue, Kansas City location, and event context. Badge Pirates: All about the BSidesKC 2019 Badges Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary badge-maker source for ESP8266 badge hardware, six reverse-mount LEDs, badge variants, Jr Hacker badge, Wi-Fi beacon game, production quantities, contests, and battery-life lessons. GitHub / Badge Pirates, LLC: BadgePiratesLLC/BSidesKC_2019 Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary repository source preserving conference badge and kids badge files, docs, Gerbers, photos, hardware license, and MIT software license. GitHub / Badge Pirates, LLC: HW-LICENSE.md Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International hardware license source used to clear the selected repository participant-badge photo and hardware documentation scope. GitHub / Badge Pirates, LLC: SW-LICENSE.md Retrieved 2026-05-15 · MIT software license source for the public firmware and PlatformIO material. GitHub / Badge Pirates, LLC: photos/Participant Close up.JPG Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Repository photo source for the physical participant badge image published locally as an optimized WebP with attribution and processing notes.