LockCon is an international conference about... locks. Every year, LockCon showcases innovative and unique content from speakers around the world. We would like to hear from you if you have an interesting lecture you want to give... see the CFP information on the registration page! If you're a professional locksmith with a new tool or a researcher who has developed a new tactic or an academic with a knowledge of lock history or even simply an amateur who has discovered something that no one has seen before, contact us. The people who attend LockCon do so because they want to stay abreast of the latest trends and developments in the world of physical security and also simply because they love the hardware and tools of the locksmithing world, both new and old.

Besides the high quality presentations, LockCon also hosts the world championships in lockpicking, impressioning and safe-manipulation. Some of the best sportpickers from around the world get together in this one place to see who is the fastest and most skilled at opening some of the world's most advanced security hardware.

One important aspect of LockCon is that it is a place where creative energy flows and you can make friends for life. It is the place where top lockpickers meet one another and contacts are made between locksmiths, sport pickers, and the lock industry. In other words: it is a unique event. To give you an idea read about previous LockCons here, here, and here.

LockCon toook place on July 17th, 18th, and 19th of 2012. This was right in between the ALOA trade show and the BlackHat technical security conference in Las Vegas. We scheduled things in this manner so that people who were taking time off work (and international travelers who were coming to the United States from overseas) had the opportunity to string events together into a single trip and attend ALOA & LockCon or LockCon & BlackHat. Some daring attended all three... ALOA, LockCon, and BlackHat. (Doing so gave international travelers the opportunity to fly into and out of Las Vegas, since both the ALOA show and BlackHat took place in that city.)

We were so about this first year that LockCon was held in the United States of America. LockCon 2012 was hosted by the prestigious Lockmasters Security Institute in Nicholasville, Kentucky... just a stone's throw from some of the most renowned safe and lock manufacturing facilities in the world.

In the past, the Dutch branch of TOOOL has hosted LockCon in the Netherlands. While this has allowed for significant attendance by our Dutch and German friends (with respectable showings also by lockpickers from the UK, France, Spain, and other parts of Europe) the presence of Americans at LockCon has always been difficult to achieve. This year, we saw many of our American compatriots in attendance, given the location just outside of Lexington.

Read plenty of additional details about Lockmasters and all of the amazing things their facility offers on the venue page.

Admission to LockCon 2012 cost $125 USD.

In the past when the event was held in Holland, LockCon historically cost €150. That price (the equivalent of about $200) granted participants more than just admission, however. Since the conference was held at a StayOK Hostel, lodging was also a portion of that price, as well as some inclusive meals.

In 2012, people were not sleeping at the hosting venue, but rather at either a nice hotel in town or at one of the available rental townhouses that TOOOL arranged. While admission fees did not also cover your lodging, they include unlimited access to the shuttle limobus services that ran all day long, to and from the event. And, like at previous LockCons, free meals and beer were also part of the package, along with admission to the high-level presentations, hands-on workshops, and exotic equipment sales tables.

Additional details about the lodging options are found on the venue page.

For this event we had set aside reserved ten to fifteen seats for people we never met before, and it was terrific meeting some ALOA folks as well as persons from the military who attended. If you think you have something to contribute, or just are a very enthusiastic lockpicker who does not have the right connections yet, you can always email us. We are open to interesting people and might be able to work something out. So, in the future, just give it a try... you might get lucky :)

Contact lockcon@toool.us for more information. There is also more information about registering as an attendee or appearing as a speaker on the CFP & Registration page.