Information for Sprinters

As already mentioned on the main page PIK is located on Telegrafenberg, a hill near the center of Potsdam. It's also very close to Potsdam's main train station, in fact, you could easily walk from there in about 15 minutes. Of course, with luggage it might be better to take a taxi, which would cost about 5€. On the other hand, a short walk could be quite refreshing after a long train ride -- Peter and Saskia provided a nice video showing you exactly where to go... kudos for that!

In case you're going through Berlin first, which is likely if you're coming a longer way, there is very detailed information about which trains to take from the various airports on the PIK website. The ride from Berlin to Potsdam will take somewhere from 20 minutes to an hour depending on where you arrive in Berlin.

Unfortunately, the plans regarding a shuttle bus from the train station to PIK haven't worked out for various rather silly reasons like insurance issues and such. Therefore we'd recommend taking a taxi (as the walk is uphill and it'd only cost 5 or 6€), but here are some hints in case you'd still like to walk:

• at potsdam train stations watch out for "Friedrich Engels Str." or "Tram" to pick the south exit when you come up the escalator right after leaving the train
• to help you find your way peter's created the already mentioned video visualizing the trip to PIK
• at 06:12 mins into that video you can nicely see the A62 building in the background; it's the big one with the tower on the right hand side; the sprint takes place right behind that building
• and, to get the general picture, there's also a google map with the most important spots regarding the sprint

Also, please let us know your arrival times once you know them, as this would be helpful regarding food and other things.

The sprint will take place in and even more so outside one of the main buildings of the PIK, depending on weather conditions. The event is planned as a camping sprint, so ideally we will code, eat, drink and sleep outside. Tents for 5 to 6 persons each will be provided, but participants are also free to bring their own. There are bathrooms in the nearby building and showers (a camping shower on the weekend and access to "real" showers from monday), so sprinting should remain reasonably comfortable.

There is also enough room to sprint, hang out and sleep inside the building in case of unfortunate climate changes. Some pictures of the sprint site will hopefully give you an impression of what to expect.

Besides sprinting there will be a number of other recreational options, for instance:

• a sprint barbecue on sunday night with meat, fish, antipasti and wine!
• the party of the DZUG meeting on monday night
• daily or rather nightly sing-star battles
• chill-out-zone (coz) with plone style paddling pools, volleyball court and hammocks

Please let us know in advance if you're a vegetarian, and if so, if you do eat fish, so we can plan the barbecue accordingly.

• your own computer, preferably a laptop (please talk to us beforehand if you wanna bring a desktop computer)
• sleeping bag & camping mat (if you stay in the provided tents)
• rain gear and outdoor clothing (think "warm")!!
• sleeping bag & camping mat
• bathing clothes & towel
• sun screen, insect repellent is probably also a good idea
• a flashlight would also be handy (we'll provide a few, but the more, the merrier ;))

The attendance fee will be 220€. This includes full board and lodging, the sunday night barbecue, the attendance fee for the DZUG meeting and its party, high speed internet access and last, but not least, drinks including beer! ;)

We've come up with a refund plan for those of you who won't be there for the whole duration of the sprint. We had the feeling it would make things a little fairer, especially for participants who have to pay the fee themselves. Basically it'll give you a 10% discount per day you'll miss (and yes, the sprint only lasts five days, but there are basic expenses that don't depend on the number of sprinters ;)). To avoid making things too complicated we'd suggest to sort out these issues directly at the sprint, though. Invoices for the sprint fee will also be issued at the sprint.

To sign up for attending the sprint it'll suffice to send us an email saying so. Once you receive confirmation from us you're set. Next you should transfer the above stated attendance fee to the following bank account:

Account holder: DZUG e.V.

Account number: 0822267800

Bank identification number (Bankleitzahl): 800 800 00

Bank name: Dresdner Bank

Reason for payment (Verwendungszweck): PIKTipi Sprint

If you live abroad it'll also be okay to bring the money and pay at the sprint.

If you have further question, please don't hesitate to contact us. You might pick your favourite person or someone you already know from the following:

• Nina Schütz <schuetz at pik-potsdam dot de>,
• Saskia Lubrich <lubrich at pik-potsdam dot de>,
• Tom Lazar <tom at tomster dot org> (tomster on irc),
• Andi Zeidler <az at zitc dot de> (witsch on irc/skype)

You can also catch us on #tipisprint on irc, and most of the time also on #plone.