Explore essential tips and tricks for creating and running Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions in this informative conference talk from Circle City Con 5.0. Discover strategies to design engaging challenges, including creating immersive stories, reducing entry barriers, and promoting lateral thinking. Learn how to make CTFs more accessible and enjoyable for participants of all skill levels. Gain insights into effective challenge design, including the use of signposts, clear success criteria, and elegant simplicity. Explore technical aspects such as utilizing the Google CTF Framework, leveraging cloud providers like Amazon AWS, and implementing Docker for containerization. Address common misconceptions about CTFs and learn how to handle questions, admit mistakes, and ensure smooth operations through proper backups and source code control. Dive into advanced techniques like generating challenges with Python and iterating from historic challenges to create compelling new content.