MDN/Get involved/Events/HackOnMDN/Berlin-March-2015
Details on the MDN Work Weekend on March 27-29, in the Mozilla Berlin office.
Contents
The Event
Spend three days doing actual, tangible work: written idea proposals, designs/mockups, new docs, code, and/or new tools or processes. The goal is to produce something tangible at the end of the three days. We want anyone and everyone to be able to participate and share their idea/feature/product.
How it works
Friday morning, anyone with an idea they want to work on with the team will make a 5-minute "pitch" about that idea. The idea can be a new feature, improvements to current features, new content, improvements to content, new wiki code, or pretty much anything else.
a pitch must include:
- the idea
- what will be produced when you are finished (articles, code, requirements doc, etc.)
- what kind of help you need (User experience design, coding, writing, etc)
- the pitch will be recorded in an etherpad & on a card for the "idea board"
After all pitches have been made (you don't need to be present to pitch an idea), teams will form to work on the ideas. You can work on 1 idea at a time. Work on ideas may finish before the end of the three days - in that case, the team will pick a new idea (with the same or different members) and work on that. Each idea will have an etherpad to document the work being done.
Main etherpad for pitches/teams:
https://etherpad.mozilla.org/hackonmdn-2014-March-Berlin
Schedule
- Thursday, March 26:
- Travel (everyone should plan to arrive this day/evening)
- 19:00 (7:00 pm): OPTIONAL meet in the hotel lobby, go to dinner
- Friday, March 27:
- 9:00: Meet in the hotel lobby, leave for Berlin office
- 9:30: Welcome & Introductions - START VIDYO SESSION
- 10:00: Design our Alliance
- 10:15: Review Mozilla & MDN goals
- 10:30: pitch ideas, form teams (minimum of 2 people), determine vidyo for remote participants. END MORNING GENERAL VIDYO SESSION
- 11:30: Teams meet, set team goals & working agreements
- 12:00: Lunch brought in
- 12:00 - 18:00 - make stuff
- small group dinners (see signup sheet)
- Saturday, March 28
- 8:30: Meet at the hotel lobby, head into the Berlin office
- 9:00: Lightning check in (5 min per project)
- 9:30: Make stuff
- 12:30: Lunch
- 13:15: Lightning check in (5 min per project)
- 13:30 - 18:00: make stuff
- Pizza and beer in the Moz office
- Sunday, March 29
- 8:30: Meet at the hotel lobby, head into the Berlin office
- 9:00: Lightning check in (5 min per project)
- 9:30: Make stuff
- 12:30: Lunch
- 13:30: Present results VIDYO SESSION
- 18:00: After party & dinner
- Monday, March 30
- Travel home, hopefully exhausted
This is going to be an intense, fun and productive weekend! We also will take breaks during the day to take walks, see the sights, etc. These are going to be more spontaneous, when we feel we need breaks!
Hotel
Address: Prinzenstraße 40-42, 10969 Berlin, Germany Phone : +49/30/69 56 71 74-0 The hotel is around the corner from Moritzplatz.
Check in time at the hotel is 15:00 (3pm). If you arrive earlier, they may not be able to get you into your room. If this is the case, feel free to either explore Berlin or come into the Mozilla Berlin office (after 9am).
Getting There
All travel will be booked through Mozilla's travel agency, ProTravel. Invitees will be contacted by a ProTravel agent to make travel and hotel arrangements.
Transportation to/from the hotel and airport
The main international airport in Berlin is Tegel Airport. All information below assumes you are flying into this airport - if you are arriving by train or through Berlin Schönefeld Airport the process is somewhat different - please contact Ali for information if you need it.
Bus & Metro
The cheapest and often most convenient and fastest way from Tegel Airport to central Berlin is by Jet Express Bus. Buses to and from the airport generally operate from before 5 am to around midnight. Buses run every few minutes.
Jet Express Buses are operated by the regular Berlin public transportation authorities and thus require the standard Berlin public transportation tickets or passes.Tickets are valid for 2 hours, and for a trip from Tegel Airport to Berlin city you need zones A & B. Using the ticket machines in the airport, first select English, then 'Local Traffic' then Berlin AB. Cost is €2.10. Tickets must be validated in a special machine before use, and then are valid for 2 hours on buses & trains throughout the city. Tickets can also be bought on the bus for cash.
Take JetExpressBus TXL from Flughafen Tegel to Alexanderplatz (33 minutes). From Alexanderplatz you take the U-bahn (Metro) U8 towards S+U Hermannstraße. Exit at Moritzplatz station. The hotel is just around the corner from Moritzplatz on Prinzenstraße.
Taxi
Taxi service from the airport will cost approximately 30 Euros. There is an etherpad you can use to coordinate with other people attending - if you have several people arriving at the same time it might make sense to take a taxi.
Transportation to/from the hotel and office
U-Bahn
The U-Bahn station closest to the office is Voltastraße, served by subway line U8.
From the hotel, enter the U Moritzplatz subway station. Take U8 line towards S+U Wittenau. After 7 stops (10 min) exit at U Voltastraße. The subway exits onto Brunnenstraße.
Voltastraße is located between the two subway entrances - look for a mobile phone store and a shop with a blue "Schlecker" sign. Across the street you will see a supermarket "Norma". You want to have Brunnenstraße & Norma behind you as you walk onto Voltastraße. The building of the Mozilla office is about 1-1 1/2 blocks down Voltastraße on the right side of the street.
Office Location & Access
Address: Address: Haus 10, Treppe 6, Voltastraße 5, 13355 Berlin Germany Telephone Number: +49 30 983333000
The Berlin office can be a bit difficult to find! The office is in a large former factory that only has two entrances (Voltastraße 3 or 5), which look like driveways.
Here is a step by step guide (with pictures) for entering through the Voltastraße 5 entrance.
If you enter through the Voltastraße 3 entrance, go through the tunnel, and make an immediate left through the gate in the metal fence. Walk through the car park, and pass 2 sections of the building on your left. Look for Haus 10, Treppe 6 (if you reach the car barrier, you have gone too far).
Please be aware that the Berlin office does not operate on Mozilla's badge system. During working hours the office will be open, on Saturday and Sunday you will need keys. Please do not prop the doors open at any time! We will have someone available to let you in to the event on the weekend, but try to arrive on time to avoid being stuck outside!
Meals
Breakfast is NOT included in the hotel rate, please do not eat at the hotel; we will provide breakfast in the office each day.
Lunch will be catered at the office each day.
Dinner
- Thursday we will meet at the hotel lobby and head out to eat in groups, this is optional & you are welcome to eat what and where you want.
- Friday night we'll have several small group dinners. There is an etherpad to sign up for the restaurants.
- Saturday night we'll have pizza and beer in the office, and also have an option to go out to eat if you want
- Sunday night we'll have a team dinner at team dinner 3 Schwestern
Mariannenplatz 2, 10997 Berlin. Tel. 030 6003186-00
Friday through Sunday you must choose one of the offered restaurants - we will not reimburse you if you go elsewhere.
Some Tips for getting along in Berlin
Money and Tipping
- Local Currency: Euro
- Berlin-Tegel Airport has ATMs in Terminals A and C and bureaux de change and banks in Terminals A, B and C.
- It is customary in Germany to tip around 10% at restaurants. Tipping in bars is not something many Europeans do.
- Many places do not accept Credit/Debit Cards. Please be prepared to pay in cash. It's a good practice in Berlin to ask in advance at a restaurant if they accept credit cards.
Phones/SIM cards
There may or may not be stores in Tegel airport where you can pick up a SIM card. Even if you are able to purchase one be aware that in Germany you need internet access to activate it, so you likely will not have email/data until you get to the hotel/office.
Probably most convenient way to purchase a SIM card for a tourist is to go to one of the big supermarket, drugstore, petrol station or electronic market chains and look for the providers below.
- Telekom: congstar, Lebara mobile, ja!mobil, Penny Mobil
- Vodafone: Fyve, klarmobil, EDEKA mobil, Lycamobile
- o2: FONIC, LIDL mobile, NetzClub
There is also a mobile store right next to the U-bahn station closest to the office (you walk by it).
