List of things to do, to pack and tips on attending a congress, conference or other event, especially Chaos Communication Congress. It's been handy for general travel as well.
This list is irregularly updated (and pushed). You may want to refresh regularly. :-) Pull requests are welcome!
If you're attenting a camping event, with the great outdoors, evil daystar and foliage, you'll also want to check out [@Columbia19][144]'s Camping-Checklist in addition!
General considerations to make the event a worthwhile experience for everyone, humans, robots and aliens alike. You'll also find a list of all the nice humans who have contributed to this list at the bottom.
- Be excellent to each other
- Tag your children with an easy way to reach you, like DECT.
- Remember that they might not understand why they are in this crazy place and why you need to talk to all these people.
- If the children are grumpy, everyone's grumpy.
- Charge ALL the batteries!
- Make backups.
- Bonus points for even testing restore.
- Update all the software on your devices.
- You might want to empty your drives to make room for some COMPLETELY LEGAL media files that might be shared.
- Put your name on your stuff, especially on things you’ll likely lend to someone (power strips, cables etc). Mastodon handles make excellent name tags because people know how to contact you right away. Prefer permanent markers over stickers, for theft reasons.
- You DID make backups of all your devices, didn't you? That includes portable computers, servers, mobile phones, tablets, navigation devices, wrist watches and all your other $gadgets.
- Store the backups not only on the device you're backing up or another device you’re taking with you. A Swiss bank locker is good, if you have one.
- Send a pull request to this list for all the things I did not think of.
- Feed the guinea pigs.
- Water your plants.
- Clean your coffee-machine and take out the trash.
- When bringing credit cards and not living in Germany: call your bank and have them pre-approve payments from Germany. Otherwise, your bank may decline all purchases when they don't know you're traveling and suspect fraud.
- Stock you pantry/freezer with some food that keeps so you have something to eat when you get home (that doesn't rely on shops/restaurants being open).
- (optional but recommended) Create account in the congress wiki, add your projects and find your assembly.
Stuff that you're not allowed to bring on a plane or otherwise need to send via package courier or freight train. (Depending on its size.)
- Ammunition
- Fireworks
- Explosives
- Lighter benzine
- Lighter gas (Butane)
- Matches
- Lighters (only allowed on your person)
- Butane cartridges
- Propane cartridges
- Radioactive medication
- Anything toxic
- Lead acid batteries
- Mercury (Quecksilber)
- Acids
- Bleach
- Peroxides
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7
- Batteries >=100Wh
- Self-balancing scooters (hoverboards), unless you remove the battery.
- (Strong) rare-earth magnets (really small and weak magnets, like the needle of a compass, are okay)
- All kind of blades
- Knives, even small pocket knives
- This includes nail files over 6cm, for some reason
- Lockpicking equipment
- Handcuffs
- Small lighters (one per person)
- Train/plane tickets (including verification documents for self-printed DB tickets. Check the List of accepted documents! Welche Lichtbildausweise werden anerkannt?)
- Tickets (printed or digital. iOS passbook/wallet, PDF); have them ready before your line up at the cash desk!
- Passport or other kind of photo ID (Personalausweis)
- Driver's license (even an international one)
- Hotel booking
- Ham radio license (CEPT license)
- Hackerspace passport
- An organ donor card (We really hope you won't need it, but just in the case: you might save a life!)
- Health insurance card
- Auslandskrankenversicherung
- Vaccination documents or history (Impfpass)
- "Business cards" to hand out to people with essential information like email address and OpenPGP fingerprint. Optionally other ways to reach you as well. Normally simple DIN A4 paper strips with the information printed on is enough. No need to get fancy.
- Tooth brush (plus charger if it is an electrical one)
- Toothpaste
- Flip-flops for shared showers
- Shampoo / Shower gel
- Soap
- Duschhaube für trockene Haare
- Tampons
- Sanitary towels
- Disinfectants
- Deodorant, antiperspirant
- Towel. Never hitchhike the Galaxy without one. (bring at least one big and one small)
- Contact lenses
- cleaning fluid
- contact lens container (make sure it fits flight regulations for fluids if you travel by plane.)
- replacement contact lenses
- replacement glasses
- eye drops
- Glasses
- Case
- Cleaning cloth
- Oropax or other things to plug into your ears for a good “night”'s sleep.
- Handkerchiefs
- Lip balm
- Tweezers
- Cotton swabs (Wattestäbchen)
- Hairbrush/comb (to avoid bad hair days)
- Haargummi
- Razor (with spare blades / plus cable/charger if it is an electrical one)
Check the expiry date of the meds you bring.
- Patches (Pflaster, for your webcam or if a MacBook AirFrisbee hit you)
- Blasenpflaster
- Aspirin (If you partied too long…)
- Thomapyrin (analgetic)
- Parkemed (DE/AT), Ponstel (USA/UK) (analgetic)
- Clarityn (or other histamine blocker if you're allergic to something)
- Blister Pads. You will walk, a lot.
- Neocitran/Theraflu/Paracetamol (just in case hacker pest strikes)
- Something for your stomach (if you've got a nervous digestive system when under stress, while flying or generally traveling)
- Camomile tea relieves hyperacidity very well
- Bepanthen
- Protective masks (FFP2)
- GeloRevioice
- isla moos
- algovir
- Alfason Repair
- Octenisept
- Fieberthermometer / -tabletten
- Mückenschutz / Moskitospray
- Mücken- / Insektenstichheiler
Come as you are, as a friend.
- At least ONE clean shirt for each day you stay, plus two for traveling to and from congress (nerdy print is always welcome)
- At least ONE set of clean underwear for each day you stay, plus two for traveling to and from congress (Doesn't necessarily need to be in matching pairs, but that is up to you.)
- At least ONE pair of clean socks/stockings/tights/overknees for each day you stay, plus two for traveling to and from congress (again, matching pairs optional)
- Enough pants/skirts/trousers/dresses/etc. so you can wear clean clothes every day you attend congress (even if somebody accidentally (or intentionally) spills a beverage all over you!)
- Cycling shorts. You will walk, a lot. Prevent chafing your thighs.
- Sewing set (needle, thread, spare button for your trousers/skirts/shirts/blouses/etc.)
- Long sleeve shirts
- Hoodies, pullovers, zippers, vests (it's cold outside!)
- Jacket, coat (wind proof, at least somewhat water resistant)
- Comfortable shoes (You'll cover a lot of distance-units during your stay)
- Cap, wool cap
- Scarf / buff (it might get windy)
- Umbrella
- Bag to separate laundry from clean clothes in your luggage
- Swim suit, bikini, trunks
- Evening gown / pajamas
- High Visibility Vest (to be visible during Angel Work)
- Gürtel
Label ALL your gear in a consistent manner. (Mastodon handle and DECT numbers have proven to be working well.) In case something gets lost it can find its way back to you.
Start charging your batteries right now so they're ready when you finish packing and leave.
For travelling abroad there is a handy World map showing the spread of plug types
- 3x to 10x multi-plug power extension (230V AC @50Hz) with Schuko Plug (and optional switch, hotel rooms usually suffer from severe lack of outlets)
- cable drum (power, ethernet, fiber)
- Chargers for all those phones, or at least matching cables if you can charge over USB.
- most Android phones (and other exotic stuff like WP, Firefox OS, etc)
- micro USB cable, or
- USB-C cable (to USB A or USB-C)
- DECT phones
- Charging cradle (with power brick if required)
- micro USB cable, or
- most Android phones (and other exotic stuff like WP, Firefox OS, etc)
- A portable battery pack (aka powerbank) so you can charge on the go. (And the necessary cable to recharge that battery pack overnight. A USB-A to micro USB cable in most cases, maybe already a USB-C cable as well.)
- 3-phase 400V adapter to 230V single phase (ruggedized outdoor kind)
- Solarpanele
- Oktupus-Ladegerät
- Laptop (with a working battery)
- Maybe clean display and keyboard while you're at it ;-)
- Charger for laptop
- USB flash drives
- Put an OWNER.txt file on them with information on how to contact you in case one gets lost accidentally. (Mastodon, phone (for example DECT, 33C3 GSM extensions), email, name of the assembly you're well known at, owl, raven)
- For devices with private information be sure to encrypt them! (VeraCrypt, GPG, FileVault, EncFS, Bitlocker, gbde, geli, dm-crypt, LUKS, eCryptFS)
- Make a GPT Label or Volume label with your online nickname or handle because people can't read your owner.txt file on encrypted devices. You may also create multiple partitions (plaintext and encrypted ones).
- If physically possible, add an actual label (just write on it/add a tag) with your nick on it – many people will be rightfully hesitant to plug in a found USB stick.
- make note of the filesystem used so you know if they will work on the system of the person you want to exchange data with. (FAT32 is a safe bet to work everywhere, for larger files ExFAT should also work on most platforms.)
- USB/Thunderbolt/USB-C to Ethernet RJ45 adapter, if your device needs one (for example thin notebooks)
- Mass storage devices (bring some empty ones to fill with data and/or bring your own data and share it!)
- SDR Equipment: HackRF, RTL-SDR, Ettus, Rad1o badge
Yes, there are way too many different types of USB cables, connectors and standards, double check you have them all.
- Mini USB cable
- Micro USB cable
Keep in mind that USB-C only refers to the connector, not the charging, signals and alternative modes it actually supports. Check out the USB-C cable matrix (Caution, Google Doc, may be gone as well. The contents have been liberated and are available tracking free in the USB-C Cable Matrix CryptPad) on what a certain manufacturer's cable actually supports.
- USB-C cable (Check if it does 5Gbit/s or 10Gbit/s USB. It doesn't have to, but helps to know before you troubleshoot an issue for hours.)
- USB-C docking station (and power supply if necessary)
- RJ45 Ethernet adapter (from USB-A, USB-C or Thunderbolt) to access the wired network. Thanks for not leeching on the WiFi!
- Ethernet cords (Cat5e/Cat6) of multiple lengths (bring a spare to tether a friend)
- Phones
- Mobile phone (GSM) one each
- for your day-to-day SIM card
- for a local GSM network at the venue,
- DECT phone (for the local wireless phone network available at many CCC events) - Be sure to register your extension number at Eventphone prior to the event. - Check if your DECT model is compatible with Eventphone
- Mobile phone (GSM) one each
- SIM cards (your usual one, european SIM [no roaming fees inside EU], CCC SIM)
- Set your GSM network selection to manual or you might end up connected to a rogue GSM network.
Make sure you get a right sized SIM card for your GSM mobile phone! If you need help with buying a SIM card, ask a local for assistance. They're friendly!
Since citizens from the EU can now use their dataplan while roaming within the EU, consider using that if you can. Keep in mind that you may travel through countries that are not part of the EU where you may get charged enormous amounts. You want to turn off mobile data while traveling through those countries.
These SIM cards have proven to work well if you need one. When in doubt, ask people who are local to the country of the venue. They surely can recommend a good prepaid SIM to get.
- Blau.de (Germany)
- Photo camera / Actioncam / DSLR
- Batteries
- Charger
- Memory cards (CF, SD, SDHC, xD, memory stick, etc.)
- freshly formatted
- with an OWNER.txt file, so people know how to contact you in case of lost+found.
- freshly formatted
- Card reader to import pictures (if your laptop doesn't have a matching built-in card reader) - the necessary cable/adapter to connect that Card reader.
- Camera bag
- Camera strap
- Lenses with lens caps
- Lens cleaning cloth
- Tripod or Monopod
- r0ket, fully charged (needs a micro USB cable for charging/programming)
- Rad1o badge
- card10
- Torch (Have spare batteries or rechargeables and a matching charger that works with 230V≈ @50Hz)
- Headlamp
- LED all the things
- Headphones (Closed type) (so you don't have to talk/listen to other carbon units while traveling)
- Neck cushion (for long journeys)
- All your devices!!1 ((Raspberry|Orange|Banana) Pi, Arduino, FreedomBox, DreamPlug, …)
- + cables + SD-cards (+ GPIO equipment)
- + extra WiFi antenna (USB) and/or extra Ethernet cord
- + WiFi Dongle (USB)
- + USB Keyboard
- + USB Rodent
- + HDMI cable to connect a display
- Pocket knife (Conforming to the German Weapons Act: Blade must not exceed 12cm; Folding knives with locking blades must not be designed to be opened with one hand. Also, “thrusting weapons” such as daggers, stilettos, swords etc. are restricted items.)
- Swiss knife
- Victorinox cybertool
- Leatherman (check for one-handed opening mechanisms, such as thumb holes or studs)
- Screw drivers, pit set
- Soldering iron
- solder
- solder pump
- flux
- Cable ties
- Duct tape or gaffer tape (vital)
- A blanket
- A pillow (and sleeping bag/camping mat if you intend to sleep at the gym or in heaven)
- Velcro straps to mount things to other things or people to things
- Your favourite tea/coffee for Coffeenerds
- reusable coffee mug to get your coffee @coffeenerds as environment friendly as possible!
- a thermo travelling mug for coffee-nerds, cocoa addicts, ...
- All the stickers to trade and give away!
- A reusable bottle to stay hydrated (German tap water is drinking water unless specified otherwise)
- Camping cutlery (or spork) to reduce on plastic waste on site and for takeaway/supermarket food
- Easy snacks such as nuts or granola bars (Events like these are often hectic and sometimes it's easy to forget to eat. If you need food to take medications, make sure to always have snacks with you)
- for angel work: last year's lanyard with portrait-format card holder, to reduce waste
- lights or flags to identify your tent
- card games
- fan (not the cheering crowd type)
- Working gloves (for buildup and teardown)
- Tape measure
- Marker (Water proof) bright and dark colour to write on tape
- hooks or pegs, clothesline/washing-line/rope (to hang up things)
- compression socks
- Money
- EC-Card
- Kreditcard
- Ziptie
- Zip Lock Tüten
- Hörspiel/Hörbuch für die fahrt
Please check in advance if dogs are allowed at the event you want to attend. Guide dogs are usually exempt, even if dogs are not allowed.
- Blanket
- Food (wet & dry, Snacks)
- Containers for water and food
- Brush
- Tick forceps / tick tweezers
- Backup leash
- Medication
- The dog duh
- Paperwork, guide dog license (just in case someone gets annoyingly picky)
Please consider ride-sharing or consolidating all your boxes into one transporter and take a train instead.
- Check out where to park your car (some hotels offer free parking if you register in advance)
- Make sure you have the environmental zone sticker on your windshield if you're driving to a German city
- Make sure that your car is safe to drive
- Check the pressure in your tires
- Check the engine oil and refill the windshield washer
- Check the expiry date of your vehicle inspection sticker (TÜV) - Be aware that the tolerance period may be different to other countries
- High-visibility vests for all persons travelling (mandatory: AT/DE: 1 per car, HU: 1 per person in the car)
- ADAC Information
- Vignette
- Tent
- pegs
- rope
- check eyelets
- optional extra rods to secure your tent in case of heavy rain
- Tellerkopfschrauben
- Akkuschrauber
- Sleeping bag
- Pillow
- sleeping pad / Air mattress
- camping mat / carpet to put in the anteroom of your tent
- mosquito net
- chair
- table
- hand truck
- pavilion or tarp (sun protection)
- rubber hammer
- Water proof clothing
- 230V/16A(blue)-to-your-country adaptor & extension (single phase)
- 230V/32A(red)-to-your-country adaptor & extensions (3-phase)
- Cat5e extension cable (10-100m)
- Food
- coffee
- chewing gum
- canned food
- ketchup
- Müsli
- Milch
- Salz + Pfeffer
- Nudeln
- Öl
- Essig
- Coocking gear
- Butterdose
- Nudelsieb
- wood plate for cutting
- bialetti
- dish detergent, sponge, dry wipes
- Dosen- / Flaschenöffner / Korkenzieher
- Küchenmesser
- Bin bags (for rubbish and dirty clothes)
- sunscreen
- sunglasses
- sun hat
- Apres Lotion
- rescue blanket
- insect protection
- toilet paper
- kitchen roll
- tissues
- cleaning tissues
- camping plates, cups, cutlery
- water canister (5L), foldable
- Wasseraufbereiter
- refrigerator box
- camping stove
- windshield
- gas container
- pan / pot
- ligther
- Cookies, cereal bars, crackers
- vegetable peeler
- salt
- Metal mug (e.g. from Easterhegg)
- cloth detergent
- UV- Shirts
- Strandtücher
- Schwimmbrille
- tinfoil
- Besen und Schaufel
- Klappspaten
- hammog
- Have a look at the Fahrplan and maybe make a preselection of talks you really “have to”, “want to” or “would be nice to“ see
- Install one of the Fahrplan apps for Android (PlayStore, Source) or iOS (iTunes)
- Be sure to schedule a period of time to get your T-Shirt or pullover/hoodie/zipper (when preordered in the first two days)!
All security measures for devices on public Internet networks also apply here – threats might come from untrusted devices within, as well as from maleficent third parties outside the Congress network. Of course you should have these measures in place everywhere and all the time since event networks are no more or no less dangerous than the internet in general.
Read the How to survive guide in the Congress Wiki. There are many excellent tips in there or consult you local CryptoParty meetup, CCC ERFA or hackspace friends.
Make fresh backups of ALL the devices you bring. Test that you can actually restore data from those backups! Have something to backup your laptop on site as well.
Make sure you do have set a BIOS or EFI Password to prevent booting from a live CD to attack your system.
Activate full disk encryption with pre-boot authentication. (Mac: Activate FileVault, FreeBSD: GELI, Linux: Cryptsetup, Windows: Windows? S'SLY? VeraCrypt)
Make sure your system does suspend to disk (SSD) and not to RAM, so you can't extract the passphrase from RAM via Firewire/Thunderbolt/ColdBoot attack.
Check that all your server services are using proper TLS. See bettercrypto.org or other sources you trust for help on how to properly configure your servers. (Mail, Web, VPN, SSH, etc.)
Have at least one trusted, working and tested VPN endpoint available for tunneling out of the congress network. If you don't have your own VPN server at your disposal, ask friends you trust to help you out. If you do, ask your friends if they need a VPN endpoint and share!
- [WireGuard][146]
- OpenVPN
- L2TP/IPSec/IKEv2
- SSH
- SSHuttle
- iodine (DNS tunnel for those pesky for-pay captive portal WiFi networks)
- Tor/Vidalia
Don't use PPTP, IKEv1, PSK VPNs anymore, they're known to be insecure. Make sure your VPN works with IP and Legacy IP without leaking DNS and other traffic.
Also have those tunnels configured on ALL the devices you intend to use on the local network of the venue, and have it tested. That includes your laptops, phones, tablets, servers, fridge, etc.
It is not recommended to connect to the wifi -- if you still can't resist, here are a few things to consider:
- WIFI connections are identified by their SSID. Some operating systems automatically reconnect to known WIFI networks by default. Make sure that your OS is not configured to automatically connect to any networks automatically (for example "OEBB" or "Wifi-on-ICE" for Austrian and German public transport networks respectively), otherwise your device might be tricked into connecting to a malicious network.
- Make sure that it's not a 802.11b device, as it would slow down the complete wifi network.
- Disable all synchronization services, as they might be using plaintext.
- Disable all auto-discovery services (network music players, remote control apps, etc …).
- Make sure there are no known exploits for your device (not that unknown-to-you exploits wouldn't be a possible risk as well…).
- Turn off push notifications.
- Update your apps, especially your browser.
- Use a VPN tunnel if possible.
- Use a Firewall and only allow the (few) services you trust.
- DroidWall for Android (root required)
- If you don't have a VPN tunnel available, you can use OnionBrowser (iOS) or Orbot (Android) to surf via Tor (which may be its own kind of risk).
If you are unsure if there are still some services transmitting plaintext data, do not connect.
Most events publish a lot of information about events as they happen. There are many ways to stay in the loop during the event or in between by subscribing to RSS feeds, Twitter accounts, Mastodon accounts, mailing lists and even newsletters [sic]. For a list of CCC related news sources you may be interested in following, see 'CCCongress Info Channels.md' in this repository.
- Store chocolate/chips/crisps at home as an post-event depression antidote
- Make notes during the event to watch all the lectures you missed on site because you were attending an awesome workshop or were having interesting conversations with people.
- Contact the cool people you met at the event
- Look for related local events and communities