Conferences are highly complex events that can bring together thousands of people to discuss sometimes controversial issues in environments that have their own particular threat profiles. To evaluate the potential threats of attending a particular conference, the attendee must consider past threats to similar conferences, how those threats interact with the local threat environment of the host city, and how the attendance of certain individuals or companies may attract certain threat actors. Conferences have not attracted as many violent attacks as hotels, airports or airlines have, but still pose various risks. The biggest potential threat to conference attendees is arguably industrial or political espionage. The open, collaborative nature of conferences makes them excellent environments for rivals to collect sensitive information and even recruit sources. Furthermore, conferences often attract critical attention and protest activity that can disrupt gatherings and pose a potential threat to conference attendees. Before rejoining the conference circuit after a long hiatus, it is important to review the risks that come along with attendance.

Extremist and Militant Threats

Conference security can vary dramatically, depending on an event’s nature and threat profile. For example, police were present and on high alert when organizers of the intentionally provocative "Draw Mohammed Contest" gathered in May 2015 at an events center outside Dallas. When two men inspired by the Islamic State initiated an attack in the parking lot, SWAT team members standing by responded quickly and prevented the attackers from causing a mass fatality event. The threat profile of an event is not always so clear, however, and the more open environment of massive conferences can provide a target-rich environment. Although not motivated by an extremist ideology, a similar threat emerged in May 2017 when a psychologically disturbed individual brought firearms and edged weapons to a Comicon event in Phoenix planning on killing an actor scheduled to appear there. Police, however, were able to detain the suspect before he posed a threat. Conference organizers have since increased security measures outside such conferences and banned prop weapons.

Compared to hotels, conference venues tend to have more control over who enters, which can stop a violent person from gaining access and carrying out an attack. While virtually anyone with enough money and forethought can purchase credentials to get into a conference, restricted access generally prevents some individuals from committing opportunistic attacks possible at other locations like the landside of airports or hotels. Conference organizers also can, and often do, install security scanners to reduce the likelihood of an individual bringing in a deadly weapon. Depending on the nature of a given event and the emergence of threat intelligence, venue security teams and local police departments can increase restrictions and conduct proactive surveillance to defend against physical attacks. Moreover, security staff and local police often patrol the conference floor in order to quickly respond to developing situations. As evidenced by the 2017 attempted attack on the Phoenix Comicon, even if an armed individual is able to get past checkpoints, security working the floor can respond quickly to threats.

Extremist militant groups have also used attacks against conferences as a tactic to challenge the host government or intimidate their perceived enemies. In 2015, militants in Egypt carried out a wave of small-scale attacks against bank branches in an effort to undermine investor faith in the government ahead of a major state-sponsored investment conference. While the group demonstrated that it was able to attack softer targets at will, it was not able to attack the conference itself in Sharm el-Sheik, and the campaign of violence was ultimately ineffective at deterring attendance. In another example, in 2016 far-right extremists in Dresden, Germany, attacked a mosque and convention center the day before the 10th annual German Islam Conference was set to meet. The attacks in Egypt and Germany highlight how militant groups recognize both the propaganda and strategic value of conferences as targets to undermine the credibility of their host governments or to intimidate others.

Criminal Threats

Due to restricted access at conferences, the majority of the criminal threat lies outside the conference venue, although there is the persistent potential for petty theft on the conference floor — particularly of unattended electronic devices. Outside of the event, local criminal actors are more likely to target out-of-town attendees who may not be as familiar with their surroundings and/or local crime trends. Attendees should increase their situational awareness when entering and leaving the venue, as that is where criminal actors are most likely to operate. Criminals may trail conference attendees to or from their hotel or other gathering points to surveil them for potential robberies. Also, knowing when attendees will be out of their hotel rooms gives thieves an opportunity for theft if they can gain access to the rooms as discussed in part three of this series. In order to lower their profiles, conference attendees should remove or conceal badges or credentials associated with a conference while in public, only displaying them when necessary. Additionally, while attendees are safer traveling in small groups, they also should avoid large groups, which attract attention and could make them targets.