Archives for November 2009

At TechEd in the US, there are normally dozens of “Official” hotels, and a bus line that is dedicated to your hotel. Just wake up, exit your hotel, get on the bus, snooze for a while, and wake up (again??) at the convention center. Not this year, or at least, not at our hotel. I’m not sure if this was a TechEd decision, or a city of Berlin decision. It doesn’t look like the convention center is setup the same as LAX, or Orlando, where dozens of Bus queues could be handled. Then again, this place is huge so it’s possible (probable) that I missed it.

There is a train that is pretty convenient between the hotel and the convention center, but for my first trip, I was a little confused, so I thought this would be helpful for others, trying to get between the two places. Particularly for those that might not be familiar with trains/tubes in Europe. Not all the signs are in English, and virtually none of the announcements are, so again, I hope this will be helpful.

First, as a speaker I received an email to print that is a weekly transportation pass. The email says the pass needs to be printed, and then validated, but when I went to the train station ticket booth, they said it does not need to be validated, just keep it with you, and if you’re asked for your train pass, just show it. So it’s on the honor system – but have your pass with you. The station isn’t like NY where you need a pass to enter the station, or the train, you just have to have it with you if you’re asked to present it. Mine looks like this …

 

 

I should have printed it with a color printer, so it looks more official, but … it’s too late for that 🙂

OK, now that you have your pass, here is a map of the Hotel Berlin, Berlin, and the closest two train stations … it’ll be an extra stop on the train (while you’re sitting) but I recommend the Lollendorf station. The only reason I’m showing both is that the original directions talk about taking the Wittenberg station, but this one is closer, and the directions are easier. Literally exit the front of the hotel, and make a right down Einemst (Which in my mind is Em-In-Em street – although I know that isn’t correct 🙂 If you look down this street two or three small block, you’ll actually see the train overpass, so you know you’ll be walking in the right direction.

 

 

If you’re not familiar with trains/tube lines, here is a quick lesson. Every train has two names. The train itself has a Line that it’s on, like U1, U2, U3, and second, it has a destination. The train literally runs on a line, and it just goes back and forth. The line that you’re looking for is the U2 line. So when you enter a train station, look for U2, this is the platform that you need. Now you might be confused that there are two U2 platforms, one for each direction of the train. When you are going to the convention center from the hotel, you want to get on the U2-Ruhleben. I think it is 7 or 8 stops, and you want to exit at the Theodor-Heuss-Platz station.

 

 

One thing to note is that the doors don’t open automatically like most trains in the states, so don’t just stand there, press the green circular open button, and the door will open for you.

 

 

When you come up from the station, street side, you’ll be a little confused because there is very little direction. Look across the street and you’ll see a big blue structure, and beyond that, you’ll see a Sky Needle that is very similar to the Needle in Seattle. It’s very large, and tall, probably 50 stories. Even with it’s size, you might miss it based on the trees that are blocking your view. On your tube map, you’ll see this listed as Funk-Turm. Walk towards it walking down the Masuren allee Neue street.

 

 

This actually takes you to the back of the convention center, and TechEd registration is on the Entrance South. Once you see the convention center, simply head towards it. The signs here are in both German and English, so you’ll be able to find your way.

 

One final tip … if you have an iPhone – there is a free application you can download that has all the Berlin tubes on it. It’s named “Berlin City” and has an icon of the likes to the London Tube. You know the famous red circle with the blue line through it. Here is a snap shot of the app running, showing the line you need to be on.

 

 

Or you could just take a taxi 🙂 I’m not sure of the price, since my rail pass was free, the taxi will be more expensive, and you won’t get the exercise. The one pro of a taxi would be eliminating the walk from to/from the stations, but hey … it’s Europe … They want you to walk.

[UPDATE]

It turns out – this is the longer way (in the post below). Ugg. Sorry. I don’ t have images for this, but I have another set of directions. You’re basically doing the same thing as my directions below, but if you make a train connection, then you end up with a shorter walk to the Entrance South.

Here are the updated notes … In order to get closer to the Entrance South, exit the train at the Zoologischer Garten station and change onto the S Bahn line S9(Spandau) or S75(Olympiastadion) and exit at Messe Süd.

This is a just a quick rant – and maybe, just maybe, there is a solution out there that I’m not aware of. I’m a fan of several Google services. But I cringe every time I have to log in to a service, because I can’t remember which one of the now three accounts I have.

It all started with Gmail. When Gmail was announced – I signed up with ScottCate@ Gmail.com – which was my first Google account. With this account, I started using most Google services, logging in with my ScottCate@ account.

Then months (or years???) later, Google announced Applications, and I signed up for Scott.Cate@ myKB.com which was my second account. To my knowledge – there is no way to merge or link the Gmail account, and my applications account, so now if I see a service to play with like Google Wave, or Google Voice, I have to decide which account to use.

So when Google Voice was announced, I was lucky enough to already have a CentralStation.com account, so it was migrated. And the Applications email didn’t let me log in, so I “Linked” my Google Voice account to my Gmail account. Then months later, Voice announced support for your own number, but I couldn’t see a way to do that with an exiting account, so I setup a new account under Scott.Cate@ myKB.com. Oh wait – That email is now setup as a Google account. Not an applications account.

See my confusion? Now I have a Google Account, and a Google Apps Account – with the same name – Scott.Cate@ myKB.com. I’m sure this whole thing it my fault – and I did it all wrong. But I know I’m not alone, just searching online, I can see a lot of others having this same problem.

The core problem here is that Google treats Application accounts separate than Google accounts. Two totally different and unrelated entities. I’m sure this is a great technical problem, but it’s painful for their consumers.

My simple request from Google.

Please offer a Merge between Gmail and Google App accounts feature.

Thank you!