Chaosmentors at the 37C3

Chaosmentors will be at the 37C3! Interested Mentors and Mentees please registers HERE before the 8th of December at 23:59 o’clock.

It’s that time again - the Chaos Communication Congress is just around the corner! After a three-year break, we are back in Hamburg and, as always, we expect many new people to consider attending the Congress for the first time. Are you among them? Maybe you could use a little support to get off to a good start.

Who are the Chaosmentors for?

Are you a hacker or a member of another underrepresented group and are unsure whether you will feel comfortable at Congress? Do you have specific needs that make it difficult for you to participate? Are you interested in topics such as data protection, security, hardware hacking or net politics, but have little or no connection to the community? Are you attending the congress but have the impression that you are not one of these “hackers” and feel like you don’t really fit in?

Then the Chaosmentors would like to welcome you to the Congress and make it easier for you to get started!

You’ve come to the right place and we want to help you have an exciting and enjoyable stay. As a “Chaos Mentee”, you will be assigned a mentor and a group of similar-minded mentees. The mentors are there to answer your questions in advance, welcome you on your first day and explore the site with you. Together we will find out where there are interesting workshops and talks for you and will be there for you as a point of contact. We will also be there to answer your questions, concerns, needs and wishes in the run-up to the event. We also have a meeting point during the congress where you can make yourself comfortable and get to know other Chaos Mentees.

How does this work?

Register before the 8th of December by signing up HERE with a few details about yourself. Please register as early as possible, as we will start creating the groups before the 8th of December. Tell us a bit about yourself - for example, what brings you to the Congress, why you are contacting the Chaosmentors, what you are interested in and whether you have any specific needs. This way, we can find a suitable mentor for you and put together a group with similar interested mentes. Your Chaosmentor will contact you and your group before the Congress so that you can get to know each other. At the congress itself, you will be able to explore together.

Why are we doing this?

We ourselves have always had a great time at the Congress for 1, 2, 10 or 30 years. However, we know from our own experience how difficult the first step can be. Thoughts like “A big hacker congress, do I even fit in there?” are not unfamiliar to us - many Chaosmentors were once Chaos Mentees themselves. But don’t worry - once you’ve taken the first step, excellent people are waiting for you - and the opportunity to learn an incredible amount. But exchange is not a one-way street: the community at the Congress can also learn a lot from you and thrives on the diversity of the participants. That’s why we want to use the Chaosmentors to encourage people who wouldn’t have dared to come on their own. We are therefore particularly targeting people who do not belong to the strongly represented cis, male, white group. Of course, we do not exclude anyone.

For mentors

Of course, we are looking for active support from friendly, experienced and reliable mentors again this year. If you would like to take a group of newcomers under your wings and look after them, please register with us. Tell us something about yourself and your interests so that we can find suitable mentes for you. Thank you very much for your support.

Please note

In order to help this year’s Chaosmentors succeed, please follow the following requests:

• Registration by December 8th: Register by the 8th of December, we will not be able to consider registrations received after this date.
• No guided tours: Please refrain from spontaneously referring people to us. We do not offer guided tours (persistent fake news!) and the programme is for those who have registered in advance. If you meet people who are looking for orientation and connection, first think about how you can support them yourself. Any hacker can also spontaneously become a chaosmentor!
• For people on their own: Please don’t send people who are already connected to the congress environment and don’t belong to a minority group to the Chaosmentors just because they are attending the congress for the first time. Become a Chaosmentor yourself and rediscover the congress together!
• No tickets: We cannot provide tickets. Please only become a Chaosmentor or mentee if you also have a Congress ticket
• Arrival: Please let us know when you plan to arrive to the Congress so that your Chaosmentor can already be present at this time.
• Registration: You can register here

Looking forward to an amazing event!

the Chaosmentors