Symphony.

Hostel does seem nice and cheap option though.. more beer money :)

Heheh, I don't drink very often, 1 a week really...

If it's a definite, I should be flying out on Thursday from Heathrow, and then flying back on Monday to Heathrow. It's under discussion at work, but it looks likely I'll be there... fingers crossed

For the Londoners who prefer traveling by train... The Deutsche Bahn has a special offer from London to Cologne starting at 49€ one way. It's a 4.5h ride and you'll arrive directly in the city centre in cologne. Directly like next to the cathedral.

I would much prefer that! I hate flying (ethically and physically)

Edit: whoops!

Not being a heavy coder and more of front end guy who loves the Symphony approach, would those involved welcome more of an observer at this point or is it more for the hands on core team kind of meet?

I guess I fit into that category too. I have been using and actively promoting Symphony a lot so far, but still find it difficult to get a grasp of the source code that actually powers Symphony. I feel that I am getting better at it though.

Maybe we can set up a subgroup called Symphony from Scratch or Symphony for Dummies ;-)

Stephen, reminds me of last summer when some mates and I drove from London to Croatia via Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. A fitting end for Fazal's old motor. How long are you planning for your trip?

@nickdunn, that sounds like it was a fun trip! I didn't know that was Fazal's old motor.

I was planning around 10 days. Michael is no longer able to join me on a road trip, so I'm considering the train. Then I could get a 3 country Eurail pass and be able to travel around Germany and still get to Italy. (They don't offer a one country pass for Germany, so I might as well spring for Austria and Italy as well.) Maybe I can do all my sleeping on the train and wake up in a new city each day.

I have been using and actively promoting Symphony a lot so far, but still find it difficult to get a grasp of the source code that actually powers Symphony.

Just to make this very clear: The Symposium is mainly about Symphony and not about Symphony's source code :)

This year I've decided to talk about search, mostly the Search Index extension, and the Publish Filtering extension, and how you add search to your site. So hopefully the talks will be practical and useful for everybody.

Just to make this very clear: The Symposium is mainly about Symphony and not about Symphony's source code :)

OK, I'm in then :-)

A Train from London, sweet, just the way Mr-T would travel!

i pity the fool who would miss out on symposium because of a fear of flying.

I ain't gettin on no train! ;)

I'm booking my flight now. So it looks like I'll be flying into Cologne on 29 September, staying at the art'otel from 29 September to 3 October, just so I have at least a day to spend in Cologne after the Symposium, then I'll either travel by train or rental car (I haven't quite decided yet) from Cologne to Munich via Braunschweig, Berlin, Dessau, Weimar and Erlangen. For accommodations for the rest of my tour I'll be winging it, except for a hotel in Munich the night before I fly out on 10 October.

Edit: My flight and hotels are booked. (Flying out on 10 October, not the 9th as I had mentioned earlier)

This is getting exciting! I am really looking forward to meeting you guys this fall. Stephen, a trip by train sounds great, although you won't get much of sleeping done traveling around Germany - it's just too small :) (Remember, it's just a 75 min drive by train from Braunschweig to Berlin!)

I booked the hotel from 29 September to 3 October. Really looking forward to this "Sümposium"! :-)

Excellent, 18 people on the definite list so far. What do we have to do to convert the other 30? ;-)

If you are attending then please remember to add your donation to cover venue hire and the other associated costs of putting something like this together.

Getting sign off for trip in work tomorrow. will update a.s.a.p as soon as all is confirmed. woop!

Thanks, Johanna. I am leaning more toward traveling by train, and seeing Germany from a train sounds like a great way to go. I found that traveling around London by train gave me a good feeling for the city and its surroundings. It's good to know that the train trips should be relatively short, the way I've divided up my trip.

I was hoping to make this a studio tour of Germany. Is the German Symphony Developers Network open to the idea of people coming to visit to see how people work and design in Germany?

Definitely! Speaking of our studio of two (and soon-to-be three), we would be happy to welcome anyone interested in stopping by. Not that we have any full-floor office space to show you around, but our small, yet mighty home headquarters in Braunschweig do offer a cup of tea and free internet access for friendly visitors. :)

And concerning your plans I would very much recommend touring Germany by train, Stephen - super convenient, flexible and a very relaxed way of getting around, too. The experience is not comparable to the Canadian one (at least what I know of from travelling around Ontario).

Woop! Im kommenden nach Köln

About to book art'otel, anyone wanna share a room to save costs, get in touch soon.