Dear ECAS2023 delegate,

This email aims to help you reach the University of Cologne, or Universität zu Köln, to understand where things are in the buildings the conference is using and reminds you what you’ve forgotten to pack.

What to bring to Cologne (or get on the spot)

If visiting from abroad, remember to bring an adaptor for European standard electrical sockets.

If you plan to show a PowerPoint or other presentation file(s) during your paper presentation, bring those on a USB or a portable device. Panels utilising a Mac or Mac users wishing to present from their own laptops should bring their video adapter (HDMI adapter).

An umbrella for when it rains, a sunhat for when it doesn’t. The timetable this year is rich in receptions; while none of those require formal wear, you may enjoy dressing up for the occasion, so pack something pretty to wear!

And don't forget your own reusable water bottle -  tap water in Cologne is fine for drinking. 

If your phone plan does not have roaming in the EU, or if it is very expensive, give some thought to how you’ll navigate Cologne. There are offline map apps (some free, some for a reasonable price), including a Cologne-specific map app. The printed programme has some location maps and travel instructions, but you will only receive that on arrival, so you may want to print or download those from here. 

Internet access at University of Cologne

Those with Eduroam credentials should be able to connect automatically at the University of Cologne. For those without, use the network ‘Conference@University of Cologne’ using day-specific codes:
31 May 2023: afcjs001;xV2N6JRa
1 June 2023: afcxa001;6T2W42vXfha
2 June 2023: afcyr001;rGVh4SV64
3 June 2023: afcrh001;Vm3944ydrB

Conference programme and timetable

ECAS2023 will not offer a full printed book of abstracts but a succinct booklet giving a full chronological timetable stating event/meeting/panel titles and locations, along with a set of maps. For full data (paper details, abstracts, etc) and search functionality, we recommend using your mobile device to view the ECAS2023 website. The timetable page gives the when and where of a panel or event (including how many sessions it has); you can also see the date/times/location of any panel when viewing that panel or lab page from the All panels view. As the timetable has a timezone ‘switch’ double-check this is set to Europe/Berlin for the actual start time in Cologne.

Please take time now to browse and plan. Note the wealth of events besides the usual list of panels and plenaries: including activities on the day before the conference, the opening roundtable on the Wednesday, CRG network meetings, the conference opening and City of Cologne reception, keynotes, journal events, public roundtables in the evening at other venues in the city, closing event, and much more. The City of Cologne, the African Communities in and around Cologne as well as diverse cooperation partners are very much awaiting you and have created an amazing public programme: see https://african-futures.koeln/ 

PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO LOCATIONS INDICATED ON THE TIMETABLE PAGE AND THE PROGRAMME PRINTOUT. It is very important to pay attention to locations - not everything will happen on campus. The conference will take you to other parts of Cologne on several occasions: notably for the City of Cologne Reception on Thursday evening, the public roundtables and the farewell event.

How to get to the University of Cologne?

The Reception desk and all panel sessions are situated in the University of Cologne campus, while events are happening in various places all over town. Comprehensive information of how to get to Cologne and to the university is provided on our Travel page, which has been updated to include maps of how to get to the university from the tram station, and where the buildings are within it. Or access our maps book here.

As part of your conference registration, we are providing you with a Cologne public transport/KVB pass for the week, from 30 May until 5 June. This will allow you to travel the Cologne public transport system (buses, trams) for free. Even the ride between Cologne/Bonn airport and the city centre is included. The email with personalised codes to obtain your ticket will be sent out in the afternoon of 23rd May (tomorrow) from admin@ecasconference.org. If you do not received that email, please check your spam box. If not there either, please contact us for a resend. 

The university has a detailed venue page which, although in German only, is easy to understand. Each building has a name and a number, if you click through, you will see a list of rooms; once you click on the room name you can then select Lage des Hörsaals im Gebäude which is a building-plan map.

The buildings we are using for the conference are:
Hörsaalgebäude (105) Hörsaalgebäude, 50931 Köln - RECEPTION DESK is here!
Seminargebäude (106) Universitätsstraße 37, 50931 Köln
Hauptgebäude (100) 50931 Köln
Philosophikum (103) Universitätsstraße 41, 50931 Köln

The boat trip departure time (for those with tickets!)

N.B. The boat will leave EXACTLY as announced. Please be at Köln am Dom/main station, Landebrücke 11 at 19:10 on the dot .

Using your Acceptance Letter to avoid Tourist Tax

Hotels charge tourists an additional tax per night. As conference delegates you are not required to pay this - but you must prove that you are a delegate. We suggest showing them this email (if not presenting/convening) and/or your ‘acceptance letter’ (if you are presenting/convening). You can download the latter from the website: log in, click on conferences, scroll down to your accepted panel/paper, look on the right side for an “A” icon, click to download as a PDF.

Reception desk 

On reaching the University, aim for the building Hörsaalgebäude (105), 50931 Köln where the reception/registration desk is located. The desk is organised alphabetically by family name and is staffed by ECAS2023 volunteers wearing white T-shirts with the ECAS2023 logo (the outline of Africa.

On arrival at the Reception desk, identify yourself to receive your nametag (badge) and be checked in. If you want the programme print-out you can take one. If you bought a ticket for the boat trip and buffet when you registered, this is indicated on your badge with a boat icon (sadly the tickets are now sold out so you won't be able to buy one during the conference). You can then go on to enjoy the conference.

Reception desk will be open: Wed 12:00-19:00, Thu 08:30-16:30, Fri 09:00-18:00 and Sat 09:00-15:00.

IF YOU ARE YET TO SETTLE YOUR FEES

If possible, please try to do this prior to arrival (at least by 30 May) via card. If you know for sure that you can only pay in cash at the conference, but you are yet to inform us about that, please let us know now, so we know you are coming. While considerate to your dedicated admin, this also helps us predict catering numbers, reducing waste.

If paying on arrival, it must be in cash euros at the NomadIT office located near the Reception desk in Hörsaalgebäude, Seminarraum F. We cannot take card payments directly. NomadIT office opening hours: Wed 10:00-19:00, Thu 08:30-16:30, Fri 09:00-18:00 and Sat 09:00-14:00.

Printing

If you need to print your conference paper, or a boarding pass or other short text-based document, this can be done at various places around campus, please see here for the university info page. There are also various printing shops near the university, though these are closed on Saturday, when there will instead be a printer available in the NomadIT office in Hörsaalgebäude, Seminarraum F for delegate use.

Certificates of attendance, Receipts of payment

Some funding bodies/institutions require proof of attendance from the delegate they have funded. We do not automatically print these for all delegates, but will email a signed, headed PDF certificate to all delegates after the conference is over. This may be preferable as papers easily crumple or get lost on the homeward journey. Each attending delegate can also download this certificate directly, stating their involvement (panels convened, papers presented) from the login environment on our website, after the event is over. Once logged in, click Conference, find your registration and click on the "C" icon there. 
If such a PDF really is not acceptable to your administration, please come to the NomadIT office during a quieter moment to request a printed and pen-signed certificate, and we will be happy to supply one. Same goes for Receipts of payment.

Catering

Registration includes an opening drinks reception, three lunches, six coffee breaks and a farewell drink. Remember to wear/carry your conference badge at all times to avail of ECAS2023 catering. 

Lunch takes place on campus in the canteen Mensa Zülpicher Straße (Zülpicher Str. 70, 50937) which is just around the corner from the main venue - see the map on the travel page. Coffee and tea during the refreshment breaks will be served in the foyer spaces of the Hörsaalgebäude, the Philosophikum and Seminargebäude.

N.B. The other conference

On May 31 and June 1 another conference (COIMBRA) will be sharing some of the premises with ECAS2023. Please pay attention to signage to not gatecrash the other event by accident and if in doubt, ask volunteers/administrators to confirm which events/locations are used by us and which by others. 

Those presenting

The main thing is not to worry - nobody knows your research as well as you do and everyone will want to hear about it! Have your files ready on a USB stick or other portable device. Try to go to your panel rooms 10 minutes before the session starts, to upload/download and check your files. There will be a student volunteer team member present to assist you with the technology and to assure you that all will be well. Mac users wishing to use their own computers should remember to bring the special Mac adaptor along!

If you need to discuss your paper presentation time, how long your presentation should be, or any other questions that are panel-specific, please get in touch with your convenors directly. You can do this via the programme, if you’re logged in, and clicking on the ‘Send message to convenors’ button or other email icons.

If you fail to get a response, your next point of call should be the conference admin email address, admin@ecasconference.org, where we will be able to deal with any queries your convenors can’t. 

Those convening/chairing

Convenors: it is a good idea to go to your panel room 15-20 minutes before your panel starts, meet the student volunteer helping with technology and all your authors - some will be old conference hands, others will be newbies, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. They will all appreciate some catch-up time before the session, along with advice and reassurance. To save session time, it is preferable to have all presentations uploaded to the computer you’ll be using before the panel starts.

Please ensure each presenter gets their fair share of time, and do not overrun into the breaks. Your session may be over, but other sessions or meetings may be scheduled to use your room next. You might like to refer to these helpful convenor guidelines.

Remember that although the logic of the sessions is maximum five papers per 105-minute session, withdrawals may have changed the initial plan of your panel so that the printed programme may not reflect reality. The updated presentation order will be placed on the panel doors; if further late changes occur during the day, please edit by hand! If you have access to the internet, please update your panel via Cocoa, so those referring to the website during the event will have accurate information.

All convenors should bring their own laptops (the rooms do not have computers) - let us know if you are unable to do so, as soon as possible.

Book Exhibit & book launches

An amazing Book Exhibit will be located in the Hörsaalgebäude building in the busy hallways of the first floor and near the Reception Desk on the ground floor. We encourage delegates to head there to browse books and meet the exhibitor staff. The publishers attending are:

Africa Multiple
African Studies Centre Leiden
Basler Afrika Bibliographien
Boydell & Brewer
Brill
Cambridge University Press
CAP
Clarke’s Bookshop
Coherent Digital
De Gruyter
Georgetown University Press
Hogarth Representation Ltd.
HSRC Publishing
Hurst
Leuven University Press
LIT Verlag & Frobenius Institute
MIASA
The Nordic Africa Institute
Wits University Press

Also please consider attending the many book launches on Thursday and Friday lunchtimes.

Starring programme items (not just panels)

Under the Programme heading, you can find the conference timetable. After an upgrade yesterday, you can now "star" any event on the timetable - not just panels. This makes it easier to find again later. Please note that you need to be logged in, to do this. (If the page is misbehaving, you'll need to hard reload a couple of times to clear your cache. Hit Ctrl + Refresh twice and it should then work.)

Clicking on the star next to the button for participants, then filters the day's view to show just things you've starred! If you wish to add such items to your calendar, so as to get reminders, you can do that using the blue calendar icons on the right side.

EMERGENCIES

During the conference, emergency messages should be sent to admin@ecasconference.org. NomadIT can be contacted at all times on this emergency number: +49 1575 4175351 but please only call outside of conference hours if it’s an emergency.

999 and 112 are emergency numbers, 110 for fire emergencies - calls are always free.

Making use of your portable device

As withdrawals continue up to the opening day, we advise using your portable device to check the conference website/timetable, checking the information on the panel you're thinking of heading to, in case someone's dropped out or a convenor has rearranged things. 

Conference news will be posted on the ECAS twitter hashtag, make sure you follow that. The conference hashtag is #ECAS2023 

Travel safely!
Yours as ever
Triinu, with Carlotta, Kristjan, Winnie, Johann Sander, Sebastian and Rohan