Can’t be in Hamburg? Try Congress Everywhere!

TL;DR: Please set up a congress everywhere near you, invite your neighbors and take part in C.H.A.O.S.!

Remember when we met in Berlin at the bcc? The 25C3 was when we first stuck those pesky signs on the door that read “Sold out, we’re sorry”. The building was already incredibly packed and we couldn’t let anyone in anymore. This inspired the concept of “congress everywhere” which debuted at the 26C3. The theme of that congress was “Here be Dragons”, so the idea to expand the fun of the congress beyond the bcc was called “Dragons everywhere”.

But what was this notion of “congress everywhere”? It actually existed from the times the congress first had streams. Some people needed to go to work during daytime, others had family and couldn’t leave during the holiday, and some probably just preferred watching it all from the comfort of their living room. But facing another packed bcc in 2009, we formally encouraged people to open their homes and hackerspaces, and they did!

At 27C3 (“We come in Peace”) we called them “Peace Missions“, and there were more than 50 of those in 14 countries all over the world. The concept of the “Signal Angel” spontaneously emerged at the 27C3, allowing those watching the streams to act questions and interact with the audience remotely. At 28C3 (Behind Enemy Lines) we called them “No Nerd left behind” and there were over 60 publicly announced get-togethers in 15 different countries as far away as Chile, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

With the move to Hamburg and the much larger CCH for the 29C3 (Not my Department), space was no longer an issue. Everyone who wanted to attend could get a ticket, even at the door! Yet, remote participants from 34 places in 9 countries still met and continued the tradition of “Congress Everywhere“.

Despite the fact that we have enough space for everyone at the 30c3 and will be selling tickets at the door, we still encourage you to have your “Congress Everywhere” if you can’t make it to Hamburg. To get started, just add your Congress Everywhere to the wiki, along with some information regarding location, timeframe, a link or contact information for people interested in joining you.

Questions to the speakers can be forwarded by Signal Angels via IRC and Twitter. Also VPN access to the congress network will be available, so you don’t have to worry about your network.

In addition to the Signal Angels, see C.H.A.O.S. for another way to connect from anywhere to the 30C3!