CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Furious & Curious
Break & Build
Code & Chaos

Dear all,

here it is: the long awaited call for participation for the /ETC 2024 in Berlin.

When: June 5 - 9 in Berlin, Germany Where: At the Heart of Code Hackspace & New Yorck, Marielle-Franco-Platz / Mariannenplatz 2 A, 10997 Berlin-Kreuzberg

We invite all flinta** (with an emphasis on queerness - see below) to kindly submit your proposal for participation!

by the 14th of April 2024, at whatever time zone is comfortable for you.

Please submit your ideas here: https://pretalx.com/etc2024/cfp.

Registration for participants that do not want to propose a contribution to the program (e.g. a workshop, a talk, an artistic performance or any other type of content/activity) will follow in April/May.

what is /ETC ?

/ETC is a gathering of queer, intersectional, anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, feminists, who critically use/study/share/improve everyday information technologies in the context of the free software and open hardware movements. We have a feminist approach that expands the hack meetings’ reflection on politics with an intersectionalist point of view.

We strongly believe that an empowering event is one in which everyone actively contributes to its realization. For this reason, we would love to receive plenty of suggestions for activities, presentations, workshops etc.

where and how to apply

Please use pretalx for your participation idea(s): ETC pretalx link.

This information will be included in the pretalx form:

what shall I send to apply

Please fill out the form and let us know:

a title,
a brief description of your participation, what materials you will bring or if you need something to be made available,
your availability during the carnival days.

Please add a note if your workshop will be open to only trans, non-binary, intersex people / only to people of color or other communities and/or if there is another specific audience or restriction for your workshop (e.g. language).

I don’t know what to contribute …

If you just want to participate but are not sure about what to contribute, write us an email and let us know what your special skills or your interests are and maybe we can match you. what are examples of activities - some ideas

• presentations on basic or advanced Free Software and Open Hardware concepts
• how to use Linux on your laptop
• workshop on systems administration
• python, HTML/CSS, rust, or any other programming language
• demonstration of tools for circumventing censorship and for using the Internet anonymously
• a command line workshop
• a poetics of encryption activity
• a code editor workshop, e.g vim or emacs
• what is encryption and how can you use it with files, email or in specific scenarios
• introduction to security tools and software
• workshop about any skill you would like to share, whether it is soldering, soap making or health tracking
• sex toy hacking and making
• talk on recent politics of state or commercial surveillance
• artistic performances of every kind: from video art, sound performances, net art and digital poetry to acrobatics and singing
• feminist critiques on contemporary technological development and its discontents
• presentations/ discussions to reflect on issues of feminisms, activisms and technologies,
• visions and narratives for a better future based on solidarity and community
• feminist city walks
• practices of activists’ health: morning yoga, lunch choir, evening walk and other things to get some time away from the screen
• further planning of the revolution

Feel free to experiment with creative ways of sharing your skills and knowledge: we are only waiting to be amazed by your ideas! This event is based on peer-to-peer learning and sharing.

what’s the language ?

The main languages of /ETC 2024 will be English and German: we won’t have a professional translation service, but we are counting on the help of the participants to facilitate conversations between at least these two languages. If you want to submit a proposal in a different language, you can do so, but please take into account that we might not be able to understand it and that there might not be people to help with translating your presentation to others.

what makes /ETC a self-managed event ?

All participants contribute to its contents, dynamics and logistics. We organize tasks in our daily morning gatherings. We are not service providers: we all cook, recycle, clean, document, inform, take care of the temporary autonomous community we have created, and we have fun together! For the same reason, we have a very low budget: none of the organizers are paid for the work they do, and most likely we will not be able to refund any expenses.

what does it cost?

Entry will be donation-based, everyone gives IF they can. We will try to find accommodation for as many people as possible. Please let us know if you need a place to stay or if you can offer one or more. We will try to connect people for accommodation during the event.

We can not guarantee any kind of reimbursement for traveling costs. But we don’t want this to be a hindrance for people to join and participate. So if you are in need of support for your travel expenses, please let us know. We are trying to raise a travel-fund by redistributing wealth.

travel-fund - lets re-destribute

Let us practice what we want to see and hope for in this world - solidarity. If you can and want to contribute to our travel-fund and redistribute: please let us know in the application form.

The climate crisis is here so we very much welcome people considering this when traveling to Berlin. If you are planning to come by car and have free seats, we can try to connect you with other people for a ride share. If you want to travel cheaply and you are not in a big hurry, maybe consider using the 49€ ticket. This is valid for one month in nearly all regional and communal trains in Germany. There are many vendors, one with easy online purchase and termination is mopla.

who is a FLINTA* ?

FLINTA stands for Female, Lesbian, Intersex, Nonbinary, Trans and Agender. It stands for anyone who is not a cis man, ABCD anyone but cis dudes. It is important to us to point out that we explicitly invite all trans-masculinities and trans-feminities as well. /ETC is a queer feminist event.

what about accessibility ?

We want /ETC to be for every-body, but unfortunately the venue will not be wheelchair accessible in June. We will work on a general accessibility concept. As the orga team is all able-bodied, we are happy and thankful about your expertise, input and if you want to participate in that part of preparation. In the pretalx form there will be the option to let us know about any other access requirements you would like us to be aware of.

also important to know …

/ETC is totally committed to the protection and advancement of free culture. Therefore, if you want to produce an article, some kind of audiovisual work or any other type of multimedia coverage of the /ETC, you should release the material under a free license. AND ALWAYS ALWAYS ASK FOR CONSENT before recording anything. We have a No-Photos-Policy please respect this and do not take photos at the event. We will provide a code of conduct at the event. Actually, consent is important to us in many ways. Don’t assume anything - ask.

I still have questions…

So do we. But maybe we can help you with yours: Send us an email to this address: etc@heartofcode.org Everyone is a volunteer and will take on tasks during the event.