https://events.ccc.de/congress

I just got back from 39c3.

Review

• This is hands-down, the largest, most technically sophisticated, most well-organized event I’ve ever been to.
• 16000 people, 4 days in Hamburg’s CCH convention center
• While there is massive chaos from the nature of 16k people in one place, with so much to do, it is also the most organized, controlled, and structured form of chaos I’ve ever seen
• For a sense of this, just watch any of the infra reviews: https://media.ccc.de/v/39c3-infrastructure-review
• These people obviously just love taking things to an extreme in terms of how organized, visualized, and well-functioning they can make things. They did it so well, that in 39c3, infra teams ran out of problems to solve and started fixing the actual CCH facilities itself (a broken accessibility ramp). This is also not just digital work, this is real, physical labor and handywork.
• The online documentation is incredible. Everything is very clearly written out either on the blog or wiki, or somewhere else. My only nit is that it can sometimes be hard to find info.
• There is a mind-blowing amount of custom technical infrastructure created for this. Everything from managing and submitting events, to securely selling the actual open tickets (which sell out in seconds), to dashboards for the queue times for checking in (with comparisons to previous years), to dashboards for the CCH power consumption, network traffic, … you name it
• Massive lines for checkin or coat check are well organized, often with volunteers clearly marking the end of the line, or at least some kind of laminated paper held by the last person and line and passed on when new people enter the lines.
• Talks are all live-streamed AND often have live-translation in multiple languages by volunteers AND are all archived on https://media.ccc.de
• Incredible focus on accessibility. They add custom blind-accessible braille bathroom maps in from of all bathrooms, just for the congress(?)
• There is a locally running phone system (?) and even GSM (mobile phone network) running at the event
• There is on-site security, autism support, accessibility support, etc.
• There is complete automated infrastructure for volunteers — for posting jobs that need to be done, and for signing up for work, and tracking that it’s done. Plus break room and food for volunteers (angels).
• The queues are super-optimized for speed, e.g. check in and baggage claim.

Tips

• The food on site is somewhat expensive and small portions. Buy a few sandwiches and items at Dammtor station on the way in to last you for the day.
• There is apparently c3print printing service on site if you need to print flyers (e.g. for a meetup)
• If you are organizing a meetup last minute, a long table in the food/bar area is a decent option. If you go a bit early, you can often claim an entire table for the meetup. This is nice as it requires no reservation (the room reservations easy get booked out), and allows for standing space with a table so people can mingle around and laptops can be shown.
• Early check in to get your wristband opens on Day -1 in the afternoon until late. Go there to avoid a large queue.
• If you want to go to the opening talk, go a bit early. It can fill up completely.
• In general you need to be fast for things. With so many people, things are often booked quickly.
• Consider not connecting to the Wifi, and using mobile data instead. Also consider using Lockdown mode on iOS devices, especially near the Hack Different assembly 😉
• The line for retrieving coats/luggage gets very long on Day 4 towards the end of the day – reserve up to ~30 min for waiting in line.
• Coat check and baggage claim can fill up.
• Everyone leaves and the party ends on Day 4 – no need to book hotel lodging for that night, unless you especially want to stay.
• The infodesk does not love it if you need to borrow a marker from them for your signs. They’re a bit more accomodating for the special tape needed to hang things up on the walls.
• Time goes extremely fast during the congress due to all the chaos and things to do.
• It can be lonely, since there are so many people there, many seemingly with their own friend groups.
• Talks can sometimes be a waste of time (as with any conference), prefer other ways of spending time unless you really want to see a talk, want to hang out with someone by seeing a talk together, or want to sit in a comfortable seat and talk a break and watch a talk.
• It’s easy to get sick. Take immune supplements and consider masking.