What would you like to see/do?

Berlin Worlds will be about going out. To get the best WUDC experience, you should consider our tournament one that takes place in city, not at a university.

So, what would you like to see and do? Participant Affairs is about to make plans for outings on January 1st but would like to consult with you before doing so. If you have something in particular in mind (like German art of the 19th century) or if you just want to let us know that the ideal excursion would be by bike (despite the potential snow) or if you require advice in planning your own thing (so you can sleep a little longer after break night), please get in touch.

You can comment below, or on Facebook or Google+, or email Filip Bubenheimer. We are looking forward to your input.

[Update: the list of excursions is now available on our website]

Berlin Worlds registration update IX

Participant Affairs has updated the Berlin Worlds waiting list according to the original list of allocations from April 12th and the entries made by institution representatives on our online registration platform. It reflects the current situation, which is after institutions have either made a non-refundable down payment of 50% of the registration fee or handed down their slots to institutions on the waiting list that then did make the down payment. That means that further significant movement on the waiting list is unlikely.

The updated list can be viewed here.

The first team on the waiting list was on waiting position 160 of the original list of allocations from April 12th.

Berlin Worlds registration update VIII

Participant Affairs is letting you know that invoice requests are surprisingly difficult to deal with and take a little longer thank expected as we need to make them out in accordance with Germany's legendary tax code. Our legal team is on the case.

By the way: an updated waiting list is coming up shortly...

Berlin Worlds newspaper is seeking writing staff

This is an opportunity for everyone joining Berlin Worlds to do something interesting in their spare time. If you are, for instance, an observer who would like to write down some of their observations on real paper, our printed daily, a major Worlds tournament newspaper, will give you the chance to do so.

Interested? Get in touch with Press Secretary Annette Kirste soon.

Berlin Worlds Observer Policy

The representatives of the registered institutions have been informed by email about the technicalities of the registration process for observers. The deadline for registrations is August 4th, the deadline for full payment September 4th. If your representative has not received the message or if you are interested but not part of a registered institution, please get in touch with Participant Affairs.

Observers are able to fully take part in Berlin Worlds but will not be speaking or judging in the tournament. That means they get accommodation for the duration of the tournament (December 27th to January 4th), though probably not at the Hotel Berlin, Berlin due to limited capacity; they also get three meals a day; they may participate in all socials and, of course, observe all preliminary and break rounds. To cover all costs the observer fee is 850 EUR per person.

Eligible are all persons who are at least 18 years old and able to enjoy an exciting 9-day tournament among more than a thousand students from all over the world. You do not have to be a student or a supervisor at any registered institution, not even a debater.

[Update, Sep 24th: Registration may still be possible. Please email Head of Registrations Teresa Widlok if you are interested.]

[Update, Oct 27: The registration for observers is now closed]

Berlin Worlds registration update VII

Your institution representative has received the following email from Participant Affairs:

Dear institution reps, 

We are currently in the process of sorting out payments and calculating the amount of teams and adjudicators that will be allocated to institutions on the waiting list.

For institutions that have paid:

We will be confirming payment in the FastRego System by Friday. If you have paid but do not receive an automatic email from FastRego by Friday midnight Berlin time, please contact us immediately. If you do not receive an email by then, we have not received your proof of payment. Institutions that have not been granted a rare exception and from whom we have not received proof of payment will be cut and their team and adjudicator spots allocated to institutions on the waiting list.

For institutions on the waiting list:

We will begin granting free team and adjudicator spots to institutions on Saturday according to the published order of registration. We can only grant team and adjudicator spots to institutions that have created an account with FastRego. If there are any institutions seeking team spots who have not registered with FastRego, these institutions should do so immediately. To do this please click on “Sign up”, enter your personal data and manually add your institution to the institution register (there is a link at the bottom of the institution list!).

Institutions not registered with FastRego by Saturday will forfeit their place on the list of allocations.

Institutions allocated spots in this phase of registration are expected to make the down payment and upload their screenshot of the proof of payment by June 2nd 2012. Bank data can be found in a previous post. Special requests or concerns should be addressed in a timely manner to info@wudcberlin.com.

Best,

John and Dessislava

Berlin Worlds registration update VI

Do not forget to pay! 
The deadline for down payments is next Tuesday, May 22nd. Make sure your institution representative has uploaded the required screenshot by then onto FastRego. Otherwise you lose your ticket to Berlin.

Expect further slots! 
Judging by the number of institutions that have signed up on FastRego, it looks like we will be able to allocate further team slots to quite a few institutions on Wednesday, May 23rd. So, please, stay tuned, make sure someone check the mailbox of your contact address and be ready to make a second down payment within a week.

Observe the observer policy! 
Our observer policy will be published after the down-payments phase. Those of you who are required to have an observer accompanying you will be granted at least one observer slot. Most likely we will be able to accommodate all prospective observers.

Travel note: Berlin airports

Some of you may be thinking about taking an airplane to Berlin. And so, some of you may be wondering how many airports we have, how many of them are in operation, and which ones those are. Valid questions.

We were supposed to get the new "Berlin Brandenburg Airport Willy Brandt" (BER) by 2011, then June 2012, and now, according to latest statements, March 2013. That means BER will not be a WUDC airport after all.

Tegel (TXL) and Schönefeld (SXF), the two international airports currently in operation, will therefore stay open a little longer than planned before they get replaced by BER on SXF grounds eventually. They are both marked on our Berlin debate map.

One Berlin newspaper considers Tegel, the airport of the old West Berlin, a dump, which may not make it another year, but it's actually a nice one, comfortably close to the centre of the city. Schönefeld, the airport of the old East, is located in Brandenburg, directly at the southern border of Berlin. The merger of the two airports has been described as a last piece in the puzzle that is the German reunification.

[Update from October 2012: the BER opening is now scheduled for October 2013. The planning as a whole is on track to become a legendary scandal.]