Chaos Constructions 2014, August 29th to 31st
category: parties [glöplog]
randomi, thank yoou!
then the prods will be upload to scene.org? I want 256b prods too:)
then the prods will be upload to scene.org? I want 256b prods too:)
Amazing party, kudos to orgaz for excellent organization this year and thanks to all the participants & guests! It was a really great crowd. Slightly weird that it ended at 5 in the afternoon instead of midnight.
i want prods on scene.org aswell for batch download :)
some prods avail at link, but "Kpacku" missed;(
got the prods :)
Back home!
Good party and a wonderful experience to be back there again.
+ Better use of the venue compared to 2013
+ Good execution of the many competitions
+ Was great to see some of the Russian sceners again (and we hopefully convinced some of them to come to a central european demoparty at some point)
+ Nice and deep conversations and discussions during the nights
- Some organizational problems like a closed bar on friday night (which was a fuckup from the venue owners). But since we're self sufficient, we managed to prevail at a pub around the corner ;)
Special thanks to draugven, random and the rest of the CC team for organizing this thing. Trying to be back in 2015!
Good party and a wonderful experience to be back there again.
+ Better use of the venue compared to 2013
+ Good execution of the many competitions
+ Was great to see some of the Russian sceners again (and we hopefully convinced some of them to come to a central european demoparty at some point)
+ Nice and deep conversations and discussions during the nights
- Some organizational problems like a closed bar on friday night (which was a fuckup from the venue owners). But since we're self sufficient, we managed to prevail at a pub around the corner ;)
Special thanks to draugven, random and the rest of the CC team for organizing this thing. Trying to be back in 2015!
I'll write a report later, but first very important thing:
Thank you Saga for making quite an awesome jingle in such a short notice! For some reason it sounded fresh each time I was hearing it, even on Sunday :) I'd change my ringtone to it, but I can't give up Doctor Who sounds, sorry :D
Thank you DFox, v3nom and havoc for making this party truly international, for giving an opportunity to express deep emotions in the middle of the night in the dark back yard of the club, which felt really surrealistic :) I hope that next year we won't only have foreign sceners, but foreign sceners with prods ;) ah, and thanks for feeding me, too, otherwise I would forget to eat :D
Thank you random, I think we did a great job together celebrating 15 years of Chaos, despite the known global fuckups from you-know-who ;) Also I promise, I'll do my best to help you find more people for the compo team, so you'll be less stressed during the party :)
Thank you Max, I know for sure, the infoteam is the most hard working during the party. Without your devotion and drive this party wouldn't happen.
Last but not least, thanks to our private sponsors which asked to stay anonymous and all the people who donated. This is to not sitting on your money, but helping something you care about to live. And seeing that these people exist fills me with hope :)
Yours, sitting at home with a sick leave, draugven
Thank you Saga for making quite an awesome jingle in such a short notice! For some reason it sounded fresh each time I was hearing it, even on Sunday :) I'd change my ringtone to it, but I can't give up Doctor Who sounds, sorry :D
Thank you DFox, v3nom and havoc for making this party truly international, for giving an opportunity to express deep emotions in the middle of the night in the dark back yard of the club, which felt really surrealistic :) I hope that next year we won't only have foreign sceners, but foreign sceners with prods ;) ah, and thanks for feeding me, too, otherwise I would forget to eat :D
Thank you random, I think we did a great job together celebrating 15 years of Chaos, despite the known global fuckups from you-know-who ;) Also I promise, I'll do my best to help you find more people for the compo team, so you'll be less stressed during the party :)
Thank you Max, I know for sure, the infoteam is the most hard working during the party. Without your devotion and drive this party wouldn't happen.
Last but not least, thanks to our private sponsors which asked to stay anonymous and all the people who donated. This is to not sitting on your money, but helping something you care about to live. And seeing that these people exist fills me with hope :)
Yours, sitting at home with a sick leave, draugven
Getting the visum: Total pain in the ass, had to drive 3 hours twice because I refuse to put my passport in the mail to some visa service. If you're less paranoid about such things than me it's not such a big deal I guess.
Travelling to the party: Flight from Dusseldorf was eventless. Customs process not the fastest ever but could be far worse. Public bus system is a bit underorganised, even at big intersections (Airport, Moskovskaya) there's just a basic sign on the side of the street with many different types of vehicles servicing the same line numbers which is slightly confusing. Subway ride to Petrogradskaya station (300m to the partyplace) was fast and efficient, unfortunately with even scarier/deeper escalator rides than in Helsinki (and Russians look just as strange at you as the Finns do when you stand the other way round in an attempt to avoid vertigo). Partyplace and hotel were 1,5 block from the subway station so no problems finding those.
Practical issues: The language barrier is real, it helps a lot to know at least the cyrillic alphabet. But it's not that much more of an issue in Russia compared to other countries. I had a harder time finding my way in Portugal and Hungary for example, it was a bit easier to find English/German/French speakers there but the cities are older and have a much more complex street pattern so I got lost a lot quicker.
Hotel: I stayed in nearby hotel "Amsterdam", which was not the most modern place but it was fine in all other aspects, and true to their name they're on the side of the canal and they offer free bicycles :) Price was 60eur/night, you can find cheaper options but those can come with disadvantages like longer distance and Russian-only reception staff (hi v3nom!). DFox' had a room in "Stoner Island" which looked a bit more modern and was at a similar distance for pretty much the same price.
Partyplace: A2 club is a concert/club style venue. The venue is quite large and could easily host a party with 2-3 times the amount of visitors. In some corners of the hall it could feel a bit empty, but by putting the (active) computer museum, visitor tables and seats for the big screen side by side the organisers created a clear centre of the party and that was mostly feeling quite lively.
Around the partyplace: Restaurants, pubs and shops in abundance. 24h Subway restaurant was practical, MIKC burgerjoint the nearest and most frequently visited (who says demosceners are lazy? :)). Prices generally lower than in the west, not ultracheap but quite affordable, except for tobacco which appears almost untaxed.
Outside the partyplace: The best conversations were had where the real party takes place, as usual. The weather was not the greatest for late August, otherwise this side of the party would have been even more enjoyable.
Topic that cannot be avoided: Politics. Almost any Russian will tell you not to trust mainstream media. But at the same time, most if not all people I spoke with seem to support the general view of the Russian mainstream media (Russia Today in particular) which I perceive as an odd contradiction. Another assumption that seems to be shared by many Russians is that the US government somehow controls all media sources inside NATO territory. Suggesting that most media companies in the West are privately owned businesses, in many cases traded on stockmarkets, and usually competing for viewership numbers and advertising budgets rather than correct depiction of world events (which explains most if not all of their inaccuracies) is met with skepticism. I will admit I've changed my view on Russia Today though, before the visit I thought they were mostly a propaganda vehicle, but now it seems more logical to me that they are not as strictly state controlled as assumed before but simply inaccurate for exactly the same reason Western media are.
Travelling back: All smooth sailing except for wasting 15 minutes on finding the right busstop to wait at on the other side of the street at Moskovskaya (hint: it's about 300m behind the subway exit in the direction of the airport). Passage through Russian customs at the new airport is really optimized, some Western airports could definitely learn a trick or two here. Also props to the German customs and public transport system for getting my ass back to the border in under 100 minutes after landing, keep this up and I'll probably never use Schiphol again :)
People to thank: CC organising staff for all the hard work and staying hospitable all the time, ze Germans for hanging out, the Russian visitors of the party for being a wild collection of interesting characters to meet, the HP employee and his wife who changed my 5000 rubles for smaller bills so I wouldn't be thrown off the bus en route to Moskovskaya station, James Cook, the lady who unjammed the token coin from the subway gate (just kick it!), Dusseldorf Airport customs for not checking people with only hand luggage as per usual & Russian government for low tobacco duties (already earned 80eur back and counting), the driver on the local volunteer bus service for putting the radio on full blast on the last 5km ride from Germany to my home village.
Conclusion: St. Petersburg in general and Chaos Constructions in particular are well worth a visit. There are some practicalities to overcome (the visum and the language) but that shouldn't hold anyone from visiting the party, imho. I'm planning to visit again and hope more foreign sceners will do the same.
Travelling to the party: Flight from Dusseldorf was eventless. Customs process not the fastest ever but could be far worse. Public bus system is a bit underorganised, even at big intersections (Airport, Moskovskaya) there's just a basic sign on the side of the street with many different types of vehicles servicing the same line numbers which is slightly confusing. Subway ride to Petrogradskaya station (300m to the partyplace) was fast and efficient, unfortunately with even scarier/deeper escalator rides than in Helsinki (and Russians look just as strange at you as the Finns do when you stand the other way round in an attempt to avoid vertigo). Partyplace and hotel were 1,5 block from the subway station so no problems finding those.
Practical issues: The language barrier is real, it helps a lot to know at least the cyrillic alphabet. But it's not that much more of an issue in Russia compared to other countries. I had a harder time finding my way in Portugal and Hungary for example, it was a bit easier to find English/German/French speakers there but the cities are older and have a much more complex street pattern so I got lost a lot quicker.
Hotel: I stayed in nearby hotel "Amsterdam", which was not the most modern place but it was fine in all other aspects, and true to their name they're on the side of the canal and they offer free bicycles :) Price was 60eur/night, you can find cheaper options but those can come with disadvantages like longer distance and Russian-only reception staff (hi v3nom!). DFox' had a room in "Stoner Island" which looked a bit more modern and was at a similar distance for pretty much the same price.
Partyplace: A2 club is a concert/club style venue. The venue is quite large and could easily host a party with 2-3 times the amount of visitors. In some corners of the hall it could feel a bit empty, but by putting the (active) computer museum, visitor tables and seats for the big screen side by side the organisers created a clear centre of the party and that was mostly feeling quite lively.
Around the partyplace: Restaurants, pubs and shops in abundance. 24h Subway restaurant was practical, MIKC burgerjoint the nearest and most frequently visited (who says demosceners are lazy? :)). Prices generally lower than in the west, not ultracheap but quite affordable, except for tobacco which appears almost untaxed.
Outside the partyplace: The best conversations were had where the real party takes place, as usual. The weather was not the greatest for late August, otherwise this side of the party would have been even more enjoyable.
Topic that cannot be avoided: Politics. Almost any Russian will tell you not to trust mainstream media. But at the same time, most if not all people I spoke with seem to support the general view of the Russian mainstream media (Russia Today in particular) which I perceive as an odd contradiction. Another assumption that seems to be shared by many Russians is that the US government somehow controls all media sources inside NATO territory. Suggesting that most media companies in the West are privately owned businesses, in many cases traded on stockmarkets, and usually competing for viewership numbers and advertising budgets rather than correct depiction of world events (which explains most if not all of their inaccuracies) is met with skepticism. I will admit I've changed my view on Russia Today though, before the visit I thought they were mostly a propaganda vehicle, but now it seems more logical to me that they are not as strictly state controlled as assumed before but simply inaccurate for exactly the same reason Western media are.
Travelling back: All smooth sailing except for wasting 15 minutes on finding the right busstop to wait at on the other side of the street at Moskovskaya (hint: it's about 300m behind the subway exit in the direction of the airport). Passage through Russian customs at the new airport is really optimized, some Western airports could definitely learn a trick or two here. Also props to the German customs and public transport system for getting my ass back to the border in under 100 minutes after landing, keep this up and I'll probably never use Schiphol again :)
People to thank: CC organising staff for all the hard work and staying hospitable all the time, ze Germans for hanging out, the Russian visitors of the party for being a wild collection of interesting characters to meet, the HP employee and his wife who changed my 5000 rubles for smaller bills so I wouldn't be thrown off the bus en route to Moskovskaya station, James Cook, the lady who unjammed the token coin from the subway gate (just kick it!), Dusseldorf Airport customs for not checking people with only hand luggage as per usual & Russian government for low tobacco duties (already earned 80eur back and counting), the driver on the local volunteer bus service for putting the radio on full blast on the last 5km ride from Germany to my home village.
Conclusion: St. Petersburg in general and Chaos Constructions in particular are well worth a visit. There are some practicalities to overcome (the visum and the language) but that shouldn't hold anyone from visiting the party, imho. I'm planning to visit again and hope more foreign sceners will do the same.
Releases and results now available on scene.org
https://www.scene.org/dir.php?dir=%2Fparties%2F2014%2Fchaosconstructions14/
https://www.scene.org/dir.php?dir=%2Fparties%2F2014%2Fchaosconstructions14/
