I attended 25C3 four years ago and really enjoyed it.
Some thoughts if you're considering going:
1) You should go. :)
2) Being only able to speak English (aside from picking up helpful words like "ein" and "bitte" :) ) was fine. Talks are listed as being in English or German so you know which ones you'll be able to follow. (And I think the majority are in English--it tends to be the more "local issues" talks that are in German.)
3) Arrive the day before and volunteer to help set up. It's a good way to get to meet some people. (The network help desk was where I ended up much of the time--I learned that the only German word I needed to know was "Neustart". :D )
4) When a local offers you a Club Mate to drink, accept it. Then try not to spit it out when you drink it. It's a rite of passage. Quite possibly the most disgusting tasting beverage I've ever consumed. Some people claim to like it.
5) If you've been to DEFCON before, CCC is IMO a very different vibe. DEFCON seems a lot more about the parties whereas CCC seems a lot more about the hacking. (People stay hacking in the venue 24 hours a day.)
6) If someone invites you to go to Vienna and visit Metalab say yes. And if they don't, invite yourself--it's awesome and they're a great bunch of people.
As some from Metalab in Austria, I can only agree. Feel free to visit!
Club Mate is definitely an acquired taste, but it grows on you - I really like it now.
That said, you should definitely come - C3 is an amazing event, there are always great talks and sessions. If you need some help with German, just ask me ;)
Flora Power is made in Hamburg, during your visit you can go visit Ludger and Hans-Werner at http://www.reineckes.com/ they are really welcoming people :)
Having attended 28C3 last December I'm really disappointed I'll not be able to make it this year. These events are always incredibly interesting and packed with great people and ideas.
Chaos Communications Congress, an annual hacker convention in Germany run by CCC (Chaos Computer Club). Usually notoriously hard to get tickets to, but this year they switched venues (and cities) so hopefully it won't be an issue this time around.
It's the 29th annual "Chaos Communication Congress (CCC)" [1],
a symposium organized by the largest german hacker organization "Chaos Computer Club (ambiguiously also CCC)" [2] founded by Wau Holland [3] in 1981
Some thoughts if you're considering going:
1) You should go. :)
2) Being only able to speak English (aside from picking up helpful words like "ein" and "bitte" :) ) was fine. Talks are listed as being in English or German so you know which ones you'll be able to follow. (And I think the majority are in English--it tends to be the more "local issues" talks that are in German.)
3) Arrive the day before and volunteer to help set up. It's a good way to get to meet some people. (The network help desk was where I ended up much of the time--I learned that the only German word I needed to know was "Neustart". :D )
4) When a local offers you a Club Mate to drink, accept it. Then try not to spit it out when you drink it. It's a rite of passage. Quite possibly the most disgusting tasting beverage I've ever consumed. Some people claim to like it.
5) If you've been to DEFCON before, CCC is IMO a very different vibe. DEFCON seems a lot more about the parties whereas CCC seems a lot more about the hacking. (People stay hacking in the venue 24 hours a day.)
6) If someone invites you to go to Vienna and visit Metalab say yes. And if they don't, invite yourself--it's awesome and they're a great bunch of people.
7) You should go. :)