diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/conference_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/conference_controller.rb
index 7bc5fe79..0027ff77 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/conference_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/conference_controller.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class Admin::ConferenceController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def update
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:id])
     @conference.update_attributes(params[:conference])
     flash[:notice] = "Updated Conference"
     redirect_to(admin_conference_path(:id => @conference.short_title), :notice => 'Conference was successfully updated.')
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class Admin::ConferenceController < ApplicationController
 
   def show
     @conferences = Conference.all
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:id])
     respond_to do |format|
       format.html
       format.json { render :json => @conference.to_json }
diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/difficulty_levels_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/difficulty_levels_controller.rb
index 6b500ac1..8c9b7701 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/difficulty_levels_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/difficulty_levels_controller.rb
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ class Admin::DifficultyLevelsController < ApplicationController
   before_filter :verify_organizer
   
   def index
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
   end
 
   def update
diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/questions_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/questions_controller.rb
index 7cac1e0e..edaf35d7 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/questions_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/questions_controller.rb
@@ -2,19 +2,19 @@ class Admin::QuestionsController < ApplicationController
   before_filter :verify_organizer
 
   def index
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
     @questions = Question.where(:global => true).all | Question.where(:conference_id => @conference.id)
     @questions_conference = @conference.questions
     @new_question = @conference.questions.new
   end
 
   def new
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
     @new_question = @conference.questions.new
   end
 
   def create
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
     @question = @conference.questions.new(params[:question])
     @question.conference_id = @conference.id
 
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class Admin::QuestionsController < ApplicationController
 
   # GET questions/1/edit
   def edit
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
     @question = Question.find(params[:id])
     
     if @question.global == true && !has_role?(current_user, "Admin")
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ class Admin::QuestionsController < ApplicationController
   # PUT questions/1
   def update
        
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
     @question = Question.find(params[:id])
 
     if @question.update_attributes(params[:question])
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ class Admin::QuestionsController < ApplicationController
 
   # Update questions used for the conference
   def update_conference
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
 
     if @conference.update_attributes(params[:conference])
       redirect_to(admin_conference_questions_path(:conference_id => @conference.short_title), :notice => "Questions for #{@conference.short_title} successfully updated.")
diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/registrations_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/registrations_controller.rb
index 8eebf85f..91b2992f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/registrations_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/registrations_controller.rb
@@ -53,11 +53,11 @@ class Admin::RegistrationsController < ApplicationController
     @person = Person.new
     @registration = @person.registrations.new
     @supporter_registration = @conference.supporter_registrations.new
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
   end
   
   def create
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
     email = params[:registration][:person].delete(:user)[:email]
     @person = Person.find_by_email email
     @registration = nil
diff --git a/app/controllers/admin/volunteers_controller.rb b/app/controllers/admin/volunteers_controller.rb
index 739f1990..0da1f31f 100644
--- a/app/controllers/admin/volunteers_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/admin/volunteers_controller.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 class Admin::VolunteersController < ApplicationController
   def index
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
     render :index
   end
   
   def show
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
     if @conference.use_vpositions
       @volunteers = @conference.registrations.joins(:vchoices).uniq
     else
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ class Admin::VolunteersController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def update
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
     begin
       @conference.update_attributes!(params[:conference])
       redirect_to(admin_conference_volunteers_info_path(:conference_id => params[:conference_id]), :notice => "Volunteering options were successfully updated.")
diff --git a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
index 7023fbcb..077f2073 100644
--- a/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/application_controller.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
       return false
     end
 
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
     true
   end
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/conference_registration_controller.rb b/app/controllers/conference_registration_controller.rb
index 4e692022..c8379d61 100644
--- a/app/controllers/conference_registration_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/conference_registration_controller.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ class ConferenceRegistrationController < ApplicationController
 
   def register
     # TODO Figure out how to change the route's id from :id to :conference_id
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:id]).first
     @workshops = @conference.events.where("require_registration = ? AND state LIKE ?", true, 'confirmed')
     @person = current_user.person
     if @person.first_name.blank? || @person.last_name.blank?
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class ConferenceRegistrationController < ApplicationController
 
   # TODO this is ugly
   def update
-    conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:id]).first
+    conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:id])
     person = current_user.person
     registration = person.registrations.where(:conference_id => conference.id).first
     update_registration = true
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ class ConferenceRegistrationController < ApplicationController
   end
 
   def unregister
-    conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:id]).first
+    conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:id])
     person = current_user.person
     registration = person.registrations.where(:conference_id => conference.id).first
     registration.destroy
diff --git a/app/controllers/proposal_controller.rb b/app/controllers/proposal_controller.rb
index 6d252830..9234d885 100644
--- a/app/controllers/proposal_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/proposal_controller.rb
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ class ProposalController < ApplicationController
     @person = current_user.person if current_user
     #FIXME: @conference also comes from verify_user, but we need setup also in show
     # which can be accessed anonymusly
-    @conference = Conference.find_all_by_short_title(params[:conference_id]).first
+    @conference = Conference.find_by(short_title: params[:conference_id])
     @url = conference_proposal_index_path(@conference.short_title)
     @event_types = @conference.event_types
   end