*preroll music*
*33c3 opening theme music*
*applause*
Anna: Hi, everyone and welcome to the 33rd Chaos Communication Congress.
It's great that you all made it here and joined us for this huge event.
Elisa: And of course we also want to say hi to everybody who is watching the stream
today whether you are at home with friends at your local Erfa or at the hackspace of
your choice. I've got a question to the people who are here in the room today.
*applause*
Like him, obviously. So, everybody in the room, also people in this wonderful police
box, who is at their first Chaos Communication Congress ever? Please wave.
Wow! That's a lot. Wow! Big applause! So they are the Chaos mentees Wow, welcome
to all of you it's great that you found your way here.
Anna: When I came to Congress first I had mixed feelings before like my first
feeling was nervousness. Like, it was like, wooo! What should I do here? And
there were many questions like the first question was like could I connect to
people or would I stand, like, in the corner hiding because I'm intimidated by
all the cool stuff people are doing. Will people look down on me because I'm not
like the leet hax0r or because I'm not fluent in Perl? But, like, yeah the
following years it was okay, but like, today, the nervousness came back because
like, something to do with the stage. But, yeah, we'll get better.
E: Before I came to my first Congress I had a similar feeling. But as soon as I
arrived, all my worries and fears were gone. I was so fascinated by all the
blinking lights by the awesome projects and by the openness with which people
talked to each other and worked together. I was really overwhelmed by how Congress
is an event that is shaped by all its participants that is made by all of us for
all of us.
A: First to mention... *applause*
First to mention the Angels like, all those volunteers who make Congress work
for us who work for us and who can't be thanked enough. Like, they do a lot of,
lot of tasks.
*applause*
They do a lot of tasks, and some of them you see some of them you don't. For
example, they collect bottles and you really help them by dropping your bottles
at the bottle drop points when you exit those halls through the exit.
E: In this hall, there are 16 emergency exits that are marked with a green exit
sign. There are 10 main doors, 4 left, 4 right, and 2 central. 6 doors at the
rear of the hall, 3 left and 3 right. Please note that the exit nearest to you
could maybe behind you.
*applause*
A: Angels do a lot of other tasks too, for example, they watch the doors so the halls
don't get overcrowded.
E: They announce speakers.
A: They do translations and subtitles.
This year, also in French, sometimes.
E: They help you if you should get lost.
A: And they care for a constant supply of ice cubes and limes behind the scenes at the
bar so there's always enough tschunk to go around.
*applause*
To list all their tasks would take us a lot of time. So let's thank all the Angels
even those we couldn't mention here with a thundering round of applause again.
*applause*
E: And, becoming an Angel is really easy all you have to do is register in the
angel system which is on the Internets. Go to Heaven, which is in this building,
and find a job that suits you. Even as a first-time attendee of Congress you can be
a part of it, with the positive side effect that you will get to know new
people. And if you are shy, maybe you should take the night shift and watch the
entrance because then you will have to talk to your co-Angels in order to avoid
falling asleep.
A: When I first went to Congress I was also fascinated by all the people who
seemed to be living in this Congress building for days to build up this huge
event. And to bring us all the infrastructure; for example, they brought
us the Internet.
*laughter*
*applause*
But they also bring us couches they bring us a DECT phone infrastructure and they
bring us a giant snow globe to dance in.
E: All this is only possible because people have incorporated one guiding
principle which of course all of you know "Be excellent to each other."
For sure.. *applause*
Yeah.
*applause*
For sure, Congress is not the island of the blessed. Conflicts exist here as they
do everywhere. But you and we and so many people in the past years and even decades
have been trying hard to make it work to make it better, step by step, and I think
we've come a long way in doing so. After only a few days at my first Congress,
I was sure, Congress works for me. This would not have been my last Congress.
A: But certainly, as every year, Congress was over, I left the building that was not
blinking anymore. I went to the train station and I got kind of sad. People
weren't excellent to each other anymore. People were just rushing into their
overcrowded trains. There was no mutual consideration. And I fell into kind of a
post-Congress depression, I think some people know that. And I asked myself,
where are all the people that are inspired
and enthusiastic, and where's like the respect towards each other not
considering, like anything, like features or appearance.
E: Any day that is not a day of Camp or Congress or another Chaos event leaves
something to be desired. I guess most of us will agree on that. But the last 12
months provided us with even more reasons to be subdued, and to yearn for another
world. For a few days, we will now have that. We can live another life in another
world. We can do what we love and share all this with like-minded people, which is
great. But when you take this year's motto, "Works For Me," there could not be
a stronger contrast to my feelings towards the world out there. There, nothing seems
to work. And I've got a lot of bug reports to file.
A: Not all of those bug reports are technical, and not all of them might be
ours to fix. But they all make the world out there not work for me. Do you think
it's not that bad? Then let's look at a few examples. Our freedoms are cut back
more and more. In the nineties, people fought the crypto wars to make strong
encryption accessible for everyone. Today, state actors call for laws that
- to build backdoors into products leaving every single person less secure.
E: Secret services all around the world infiltrate standards and software to get
access to the communication of simply everyone. Didn't we learn anything since
the groundbreaking revelations of Snowden? And now we rely on a few big corporations
to withstand these developments, which of course they only do to keep their unique
selling point? This doesn't work for me.
A: But it's not just about the digital world which might be a focus for many of
you. Violation of human's rights are the order of the day. People all around the
world face repression if they stand up against totalitarian systems and
injustice. Free speech is censored and persecuted. People are facing years in
prison face being tortured or worse if they speak up and stand up against the system.
E: All across the world, right-wing populists now dare to act in the open and
in some - in some places they even [?] seize power.
*applause*
From the idea of a connected world we now face a shift towards parochialism, towards
isolationism, and from there also to national supremacy. In this climate,
aggression and hate towards perceived minorities flourish. Houses burn, people
get chased through the streets, and people die.
A: These are only like a few prominent examples. Many people on this place face
existential threat every day. We don't see them or we don't feel them, yet. Droughts
caused by overexploitations causes wars and causes death. Just because a problem
doesn't happen in our backyard mean that it's not terrible or that it doesn't
affect us any more. But how long do we dare - and I include myself - to look away
and to ignore this? Does this really work for us? I know my answer, and I believe
many of you share the will to make things better step by step.
E: All those problems - and there are many - big and small, can easily make us
feel helpless. So, how can a single person change anything at all? Well, there's one
good message. There is no need to travel alone. Just take a moment and look around
you; look at your seat neighbours. There are 3,000 people in this room alone. And
there will be 12,000 people at Congress which is amazing. 12,000 people for you to
get to know to make friends with or to meet again. And all of you have unique
skills, big ideas, and all of you can do great stuff.
A: It's up to us not to just make Congress work for us but to use this Congress to
connect, to share ideas, skills, and knowledge to work on projects, start new
projects, and connect to people. It is up to us not to stay in the gated communities
that evolved and transport what we do here in Congress and what we start here to the
outside world. We cannot hide under a cozy blanket and wait until the world magically
gets better again. Now more than ever it's time to take action. This is not a game.
There is no game.
E: You can start right now. Gather into gangs and practice for the coming year.
After you got your wristbands, you have the opportunity to get - wait, where do I
have it - one of these cards. Who got one already? Yeah, that's a few, that can be
improved. Okay, you know what to do. So, maybe those of you already got one, named
yourself and selected your special skill that is your own. If you did not grab a
card, don't worry, you can still get one. To start, no game, but action, you need to
form a gang with other people with different skills. 9 skills, which you can
combine to solve tasks and to succeed. You can move and act together. You don't have
to travel alone.
A: There is no game. There is action. And now let Congress begin! Work, have fun,
enjoy, get to know each other, and try to make the next year a bit better than this
year. And, by the way, don't forget to wash your hands.
*laughter*
*applause*
Wash your hands, take a shower from time to time, and don't forget to sleep and eat.
Thank you!
*applause*
*postroll music*