LinuxTag 2004 June 23th - 26th, 2004 Karlsruhe, Germany

Frequently Asked Questions - And Answers for Projects

Since many people and projects ask the same questions about their LinuxTag presence, the most common ones are summarized below. The list will be extended as more questions occur and more facts appear. In general it is a good idea to check this FAQ before asking a question about LinuxTag.

1. How does a project apply for a booth?
2. How do I best reach Joey?
3. Can we demonstrate our PHP-based project?
4. Does a booth cost the project real money?
5. How large will the booth be?
6. Who decides how much space we get?
7. What kind of furniture can we use?
8. Is there a mailing list for the organisation?
9. Are we able to use posters?
10. Is there a facility where we can rent computers?
11. Is there a way to give a demonstration or talk?
12. How long will the workshop rooms be open?
13. Do I have to register as visitor for a workshop?
14. In which hotel will all speakers stay?
15. Is there a cheap sleeping facility nearby?
16. When do you need to know who is staffing the booth?
17. Why do you need the names of booth staff?
18. Do we need to register or purchase tickets?
19. Do we need exhibitor passes or something?
20. When can we start setting up the booth?
21. Can we drive into the exhibition hall for unloading?
22. What is this projects interface and how do I get there?
23. Will there be a network for us projects?
24. Will there be a place to work during LinuxTag?
25. Can we get our stuff delivered directly to LinuxTag?
26. Will there be a social event?
27. Is there a party planned during LinuxTag?
28. Are there shops near by?
29. Are there vacant jobs? I.e. can I help you at LinuxTag?

1. How does a project apply for a booth?

You will have to get in touch with Joey who maintains the projects pavillon and the entire community communication. Your project needs to guarantee that the booth will be staffed for the entire event and that enough equipment will be available on the first day already.

You also need to have an idea about what do demonstrate. If the project develops software without a user interface (i.e. daemons), it's difficult to imagine how to demonstrate the project. Hence, a description of what and how you want to demonstrate would be helpful.

You should also have prepared a description of the project (in both languages, German and English would be best). The description will be used for advertisements and public lists of the projects, e.g. in newspapers and in web-zines. As soon as the project has been accepted to the list of projects that may eventually be get a booth at LinuxTag you should add staff members (see a later FAQ item on why).

2. How do I best reach Joey?

If it is a short question, which can be answered with a one or two line reply, the easiest way is to log into IRCnet or OFTC and drop a /msg to the user named Joey (or Joey[tm] on IRCnet if the other nickname is in use by somebody else). If Joey is not around, though, you should use the most preferred method: use electronic mail, sent to joey@linuxtag.org.

Questions or information that require more than two minutes of action from Joey, should only be asked via mail. This will provide you with the benefit of a detailed answer, written without too much chaos around. If possible the reply will contain a link to a web resource where the answer is already written.

If you notice that your mail to Joey isn't accepted on the Infodrom mail server, this is most probably due to a bug in your mail setup (i.e.: non-existing hostname, non-existing HELO/EHLO host, non-matching hostname and HELO/EHLO host, sending from a dialup account etc. pp.) and a paranoid mail setup at Infodrom in order to reduce incoming SPAM. In such a case, please fix your mail setup. Until it is fixed, you can still use the address @linuxtag.org.

3. Can we demonstrate our PHP-based project?

Everything related to PHP, both commercial and non-commercial, is maintained in a special "PHP Pavillon" managed by Georg Richter. Therefore PHP projects won't be able to get a booth of their own in the exhibition but instead get a chance to demonstrate the project within the PHP pavillon.

4. Does a booth cost the project real money?

No. LinuxTag e.V. is sponsoring space, furniture, electricity and IP connectivity (if possible) for projects with the help of an IP sponsor and the Karlsruhe exhibition company. We have to pay for it, though, but that should not worry you too much.

We are proud to be able to help projects improve their visibility and demonstrate their work to the public. This has been a part of the LinuxTag show from its beginning and gained a high priority on our agenda. This will in turn help the community grow and become an even more accepted member of the larger picture.

If you want to help us in turn, we are always looking for competent and reliable people who help us organize this event. You will probably learn a lot if you pick one or another part of it and work on it on your own. However, you'll have to have some sort of masochistic and egomanic, otherwise you won't stand the stress, flames, discussions, lazyness, problems etc. Feel free to contact us by naming the part you would like to work on.

5. How large will the booth be?

This depends on what your project plans to demonstrate, how you plan to make use of the provided space, and how important the project is for the Free Software community. Definitive booth reservations can only be made at a very late stage, one to two weeks before the show.

If Joey should be forced to provide guaranteed booth size at an earlier stage, he could only hand out small booths with one open side, because that's the only thing he would be able to guarantee at that time. You are, however, always invited to pay for booth space on your own, in which case the booth and number will be guaranteed as early as you order.

Hence, it is working the other way around to get the maximum use of space for all projects. People need to exchange ideas and tell Joey what they plan to demonstrate, how they plan to use the booth etc. They normally have an idea of how much space they need for this, since that's implied by the ideas anyway. This will be used as the basis for booth reservations. The best and most helpful plans look like this one, which may as well be submitted in ASCII art (e.g. drawn with Emacs' picture-mode).

Please, pretty please write your plans for the booth as additional comments to the projects interface or sent them to Joey via mail, including sketches. Joey will insert them into the system, since that's the only place where plans are guaranteed to not get lost since they are stored in a central repository or a database respectively.

6. Who decides how much space we get?

Joey will decide how much space a project requires and where it will be located based on your own ideas and plans. This sesms to be the best way to handle this. Space is not only limited but also quite expensive and hence, needs to be used in the most efficient way. We are only able to pay for a limited amount of space and furniture, hence the existing amount needs to be used as efficiently as possible.

To help him, you should dump your ideas with regard to the LinuxTag booth to him as soon as they are matured. The same goes for the people who will be staffing the booth. If there are enough people and machines that will maintain a well organized and well stuffed/staffed booth, it could be a good argument for adding some square meters to that booth.

7. What kind of furniture can we use?

LinuxTag will provide you with a carpet, surrounding walls, conference tables (130cm wide, 65cm deep and 75cm high) and conference chairs. The general rule is that 9qm justifies two tables and four chairs. We're not sure if we manage to get more tables. If you need more tables and you are able to take some with you, please do so.

We will not rent furniture from the exhibition renting company since it is way too expensive. If you want to do that, please get in touch with Joey or the LinuxTag office during the show so thing can be rented for you, but you'll have to pay for them on your own. We will only be able to tunnel the requests to the proper people.

We usually rent some additional equipment from the Kaiserslautern University named KIT. This system builds up into a couple of presentation desks on which you can put one monitor or a laptop. Things must not be too heavy, though. For pictures you'll have to scan through the booth pictures from last year. You can apply for these as well, assignments will probably be made directly before the show.

8. Is there a mailing list for the organisation?

There are several mailing lists dedicated to organisation of LinuxTag. One part is running on lists.infodrom.org (talk to majordomo@lists.infodrom.org for details) and the other part is running on linuxtag.org (check mailman.linuxtag.org for details).

For projects the main list is linuxtag-projects@lists.infodrom.org where discussions and inter-project communication is done. People from several projects have already joined this list. People from all projects should join this list in order to be able to talk to other projects who will attend LinuxTag.

For general discussions and questions concerning LinuxTag there is lt2k@linuxtag.org. Everybody affiliated with this event is invited to join this list. Public information from LinuxTag people will also be distributed there.

For supporters there is linuxtag-helfer@lists.infodrom.org which is dedicated to our volunteer supporters who help us break down the chaos during LinuxTag. This list has no connection to the projects pavillons during LinuxTag but only reflects another fields of endeavour for Joey.

9. Are we able to use posters?

Yes, definitively. Even more, you are encouraged to create coloured and large posters so visitors can get an idea on what is happening in the booth and in the project, even without having to talk to the booth staff. Using large posters you can also increase the quality of your booth, since walls will look more interesting than blank ones. All booths will be surrounded by "Octanorm" walls, which are about one meter wide and about two meters high with a plain surface. Hence, you can use adhesive tape for pinning posters at it.

For printing, many universities provide a possibility to print large posters (A0, A1) at cost price. If you need this, you should try to get in touch with the computing center or the physics department. The printers often understand PostScript which is generated quite easily by LaTeX with this class from Peter Ganten and documentation by me. Personally, I'd like you to use this possibility and make use of posters at your booth.

10. Is there a facility where we can rent computers?

I'm pretty sure that there are companies in Karlsruhe where you can rent hardware for exhibitions. However, this is usually very expensive. Thus, it would be much cheaper to find partners (i.e. booth personnel) from Germany who will be able to take their computers with them for demonstrating at the booth.

11. Is there a way to give a demonstration or talk?

Yes. We are able to use two smaller rooms for talks and workshops. They are not large and no more than 80 people will fit in them. I guess, actually, there will be only about 50 chairs. You can use them for talks, presentations, key signing, informal meetings etc. Please see the workshop schedule to find out when these rooms are in use already. We will have a beamer in each room, thankfully supplied by a sponsor, so you can easily use a computer for your talk. There is no sponsored computer in the rooms, and there's only network connectivity if you're lucky, so you'd better not depend on it.

If you would like to use these rooms, it is recommended that you contact Joey before the show and give him the name of the speaker (or responsible person if it's not a talk or presentation), an abstract and the preferred time which will be placed online so people can decide where to go before LinuxTag starts. You can also reserve a room for your project during LinuxTag if it isn't used already, please meet Joey in the administrtion office for reservation at least at the day before.

You will also have to advertise your talk on your own, since it will not be listed next to the free conference talks of LinuxTag. If we would do that, the rooms would be filled too much and we can't get larger rooms. The workshops will, however, be advertised in the exhbition area and in the conference building during LinuxTag. You can easily locate the workshop rooms on the schema of the Stadthalle building.

12. How long will the workshop rooms be open?

I expect them to be closed and locked right after 6pm when the last workshop is over and the exhibition closes. They may actually be locked at 6:30 but you'd better not depend on it. If you want to gather after 6pm the social event which will probably take place on Friday (??) and the KaLUG party on Thursday should be well suited. On the remaining days, you should be able to walk for five minutes and find a café or a pub nearby since LinuxTag takes place in the city of Karlsruhe.

13. Do I have to register as visitor for a workshop?

No, this is not necessary. Even though the workshop rooms have only a limited capacity, they should be large enough for all interested visitors to attend. However, if there are more than 50 people in the room already, you will have to stand, but there should be enough room. You'll need to register for LinuxTag, though. Details are on the main website.

In the past, some workshops were well frequented but people were able to listen to the talk without having to wait outside of the room. However, to ensure that you will be able to hae a seat during the workhop, you'd be advised to be there in time for highly frequented workshops (like KDE workshops for example).

For 2004 the workshops are said to be announced on the main website as well within the community section and part of the conference planer system. This will probably result in a larger audience for workshops. Hence, it may be wise not to arrive at the rooms too late.

14. In which hotel will all speakers stay?

The main hotel, in which all crew members and most speakers will stay, is the Dorint Kongress-Hotel. It is located directly adjacent to the LinuxTag area and hence quite easy to get to. However, it is not one of the cheapest hotels. If you want to stay there and book through LinuxTag (there should be a web form), you should get some discount and don't have to pay the full price.

15. Is there a cheap sleeping facility nearby?

There will be a gym hall (called AKK) maintained by the KaLUG people. Project members can apply for space there. Booking is done through the private LTP interface, hence, you'll need an account there, ask your project coordinator for it. This hall is intended to serve project members and not regular visitors. Breakfast is sold at cost at € 3.00. Steffen Mutter has also listed some more sleeping information.

UPDATE: The AKK is filled up. We're sorry. It is possible, though, to use a tent there as well, but it has to be dismantled during the day. There will also be the university party on Saturday which could mean a lot of "fun". If you use a tent, please talk to the AKK people in Karlsruhe. We have a list of people who did not find a place inside the AKK so we can calculate the need (which could be used for next year), hence, it would be helpful to contact Joey (see above) anyway.

16. When do you need to know who is staffing the booth?

The earlier the better. In fact, it is no problem to add more people at any later time or to remove others. It is, however, a big problem if 10 projects want to add 15 people (sum: 150 people) one week before the event begins. At that late time, Joey will probably don't have enough time to manage such things properly and everything that needs to be printed externally will already be ordered.

17. Why do you need the names of booth staff?

On former LinuxTag shows, staff members from all projects pavillons got reduced tickets for the social event. On some former LinuxTag events we've also had an insurance organized that required us to give them a list of all people who should be part of the insurance. For projects staff we also reserved exhibitors passes. Also, the organization during last four years included sending mails to projects staff for information and preparation. It is important that these mails do reach booth staff since these people need to discuss and decide upon their presence. Please see the informails from past years for examples.

As usual, registration for the social event and for the sleeping space in the gym hall is done online, hence, at least those people who would like to participate in either of them, need to be registered with the LTP system.

18. Do we need to register or purchase tickets?

Yes. You will need either an exhibitor pass or a normal ticket to pass the entrance of LinuxTag. You can get exhibitor passes for all registered booth staff in our office above the Gartenhalle.

If you purchase a normal ticket at the entrance, you will get more than only printed information, which should be worth the price for the ticket. You will also sponsor LinuxTag and hence your own projects booth with this money.

19. Do we need exhibitor passes or something?

You will need special passes in order to be able to enter the exhibition area before LinuxTag is opened for the public on Wednesday to Saturday. With an exhibitor pass you don't need a normal entrance ticket. However, you'll have to fetch the passes on Tuesday at latest in order to benefit from them.

You can get exhibitor passes for free for yourself or, if you manage a project, for the entire project in the LinuxTag office upstairs of the exhibition hall named "Gartenhalle". Since the office is located behind the entrance you'll have to fetch the passes before the show starts or you'll have to get regular tickets as well in order to get past the entrance.

Exhibitor passes are only available for those who are listed as staff of the particular project in the projects interface. You are, however, invited to purchase the LinuxTag Kit which will also help LinuxTag e.V. keep their costs under control.

20. When can we start setting up the booth?

This depends on how long people need to build the basis of the booth. You can set up your booth as soon as it is built. Building it up will start on Sunday and continue through Tuesday. Several booths should be usable on Monday, though. However, in general it should be sufficient to set it up on Tuesday. If you have any questions drop by at the LinuxTag office where Joey will probably be or return to.

Furniture will arrive on Tuesday, but you can upload your stuff at the booth already, but please stay there to guard your worthy equipment. During setting up and dismantling people can walk into the exhibition wall and moving computers and the like won't look suspicious. Hence, please do look after your equipment.

The exhibition hall will be open from 6am to 10pm on Tuesday. When you arrive, drop by at our office and I'll show you the booth. On other days you can enter the exhibition hall from 7am if you have an exhibititors pass. It is open to visitors from 10am to 6pm.

The booths can be cleared again right after LinuxTag closes on Saturday at 18 o'clock (6pm). The exhibition hall will probably be open until the night sneaks in. However, please keep your things together since many people are running around removing stuff. You won't want your equipment to vanish accidently.

21. Can we drive into the exhibition hall for unloading?

Yes, this is possible. However, please note that other exhibitors, especially companies with large booths, need the space as well. Hence, please only drive into the exhibition hall if you have heavy things to unload. Please only dump your stuff at the booth and move the car out of the exhibition hall again. Please see the plan of site to find out how to get into the exhibition hall by car.

22. What is this projects interface and how do I get there?

Joey helps organizing LinuxTag for some years now and is usually flooded by mail and has to maintain information provided by others, and also summarise some of them for you as well. The projects interface is supposed to help coordinate parts of LinuxTag and to provide an easy way for all affected projects to maintain the information on their own, without having to go through Joey each time.

This includes descriptions, staff, registration for the social event and sleeping space as well as leaving notes for the organisation. Calculating booth space and discussing issues with others is much easier if information are available at a central place and if they can be entered by members of the project on their own.

23. Will there be a network for us projects?

We hope so, but nothing has been negotiated yet. However, network will most probably be provided via WLAN again, so adjacent booths should share a gateway and build an inter-booth network.

24. Will there be a place to work during LinuxTag?

This depends on whether the exhibition hall will be filled up totally or not. If there is spare room, you can inofficially acquire it. However, you should take chairs and tables with you and not use power from only one socket.

25. Can we get our stuff delivered directly to LinuxTag?

Sure you can. We will be at the exhibition center from Sunday to Saturday. However, if you get your producers to send stuff to LinuxTag directly, please contact Joey before and tell him who sends what, so that he can negotiate with the delivery companies and accept the packages for you if you aren't around, or can route the delivery to your booth if you have already arrived. It's also less painful to find out where a package should go to if it is known already. This prevents wrongly routed deliveries, so your stuff will end up at your booth if you arrive or be captured in the LinuxTag dump space until you arrive. Please also ensure that nothing is delivered to LinuxTag before Monday since it may get lost otherwise.

The delivery address for LinuxTag is:
Kongreßzentrum
Messeleitung LinuxTag
Projekt <your project>
Gartenhalle
Festplatz 9
76137 Karlsruhe

26. Will there be a social event?

Yes, just as every year. The details have been sorted out rather late, though. The social event is usually an amazing mixture of business people, community, speakers and organisers. It will take place on Friday June 25th at the lido Wolfartsweiher starting at 19 o'clock. Since there will be pool attendants until 23 o'clock, you are free to take a bath if you like.

We have organised shuttle busses which will take you from LinuxTag to the lido, starting at the congress centrum Stadthalle. They will carry visitors from LinuxTag to the lido and vice versa from 19 o'clock until 2 o'clock in the morning.

Since many people are probably interested in the European soccer championship which will take part at the same time, we plan to telecast it with a beamer. We also plan to have a music band or a DJ.

For booth staff that is listed for your project the price per ticket is € 15.00, for regular visitors and non-project staff the price per ticket is € 25.00. The ticket includes food and regular fluids (non-alcoholic, beer, wine). There will be a barbecue starting at about 20 o'clock, including vegetarian food. When you arrive at LinuxTag, please drop by at our office where you can pay for and fetch the tickets.

27. Is there a party planned during LinuxTag?

Yes, the LUG Karlsruhe is organising a large community oriented party again on Thursday, June 24th. All project members and staff, supporters, officials and interested visitors are invited. Food and fluids will be sold at cost.

28. Are there shops near by?

I seem to recall that there's a bread shop on the other side of the Ettlinger Straße (i.e. go to the tram station and cross the streat). However, there's at least a supermarket and a bakery in the Karlstraße near by. It's only a 5 minute walk to get there. Steffen Mutter and Eduard Bloch have prepared information and a location plan on how to get there. He also took pictures to help you get the right direction.

29. Are there vacant jobs? I.e. can I help you at LinuxTag?

LinuxTag depends on volunteer work since its beginning. Most of the work is done voluntarily and will stay this way. However, we need to work and negotiate with several commercial entities as well to ensure the success of present and future LinuxTag events.

During LinuxTag a lot of jobs have to be done. Much of the extra volunteer work done by a large crew of supporters, managed by Joey Schulze (joey@linuxtag.org). Many jobs are born or created at short notice and need to be done quickly. Hence, for many jobs we are unable to work out proper schedules before the event.

If you are interested in helping to keep LinuxTag the No. 1 GNU/Linux event in Europe (worldwide?) please get in touch with Joey. Please let him know when you plan to help, what you would like to do, what kind of experience you've already got. For some jobs a suit (or similar clothes) is required, then information about age and a picture would be helpful.