diff --git a/app/controllers/conference_controller.rb b/app/controllers/conference_controller.rb
index 3ba355fd..90ba4c05 100644
--- a/app/controllers/conference_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/conference_controller.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 class ConferenceController < ApplicationController
   before_filter :respond_to_options
   load_and_authorize_resource find_by: :short_title
+  skip_before_filter :verify_authenticity_token, if: :json_request?
+
+  def json_request?
+    return false if request.request_method != 'GET'
+    return false if !request.format.json?
+    true
+  end
 
   def index
     @current = Conference.where('end_date >= ?', Date.current).order('start_date ASC')
@@ -19,6 +26,11 @@ class ConferenceController < ApplicationController
     else
       @today = @conference.start_date.strftime('%Y-%m-%d')
     end
+
+    respond_to do |format|
+        format.html
+        format.json { render json: @conference.as_json, callback: params[:callback] }
+    end
   end
 
   def gallery_photos
diff --git a/app/models/conference.rb b/app/models/conference.rb
index 3c6f20b2..36787d5e 100644
--- a/app/models/conference.rb
+++ b/app/models/conference.rb
@@ -131,6 +131,73 @@ class Conference < ActiveRecord::Base
     result
   end
 
+  ##
+  # Builds out the model for returning a json response
+  #
+  #
+  def as_json(_options={})
+    super(
+        only: [
+            :description,
+            :end_date,
+            :logo,
+            :short_title,
+            :start_date,
+            :title,
+            ],
+        include: {
+            difficulty_levels: {
+                only: [
+                    :description,
+                    :id,
+                    :title,
+                ]
+            },
+            event_types: {
+                only: [
+                    :description,
+                    :id,
+                    :length,
+                    :title,
+                ]
+            },
+            rooms: {
+                only: [
+                    :name,
+                    :size,
+                ],
+                include: {
+                    events: {
+                        only: [
+                            :abstract,
+                            :description,
+                            :difficulty_level_id,
+                            :event_type_id,
+                            :guid,
+                            :is_highlight,
+                            :require_registration,
+                            :start_time,
+                            :subtitle,
+                            :title,
+                            :track_id,
+                            ],
+                        methods: [
+                            :speaker_names,
+                            ],
+                    },
+                },
+            },
+            tracks: {
+                only: [
+                    :description,
+                    :id,
+                    :name,
+                ]
+            },
+        }
+        )
+  end
+
   ##
   # Checks if the user is registered to the conference
   #
diff --git a/app/serializers/conference_serializer.rb b/app/serializers/conference_serializer.rb
index 1566e9da..77112cc3 100644
--- a/app/serializers/conference_serializer.rb
+++ b/app/serializers/conference_serializer.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,9 @@ class ConferenceSerializer < ActiveModel::Serializer
   # FIXME: adjusting the format the DIRTY way, for oSC13.
   # If you think this is ugly, don't look at the methods below
   def date_range
-    object.date_range_string.try(:split, ',').try(:first)
+    if defined? object.date_range_string
+        object.date_range_string.try(:split, ',').try(:first)
+    end
   end
 
   # FIXME: just giving suseconferenceclient something to play with