Practical information

Venue

Brno University of Technology
Faculty of Information Technology
Bozetechova 2
612 66 Brno
Czech Republic

Lecture complex E

• E112 “Kurt Gödel” room – main conference venue.
• E104 room – audiovisual feed from E112, ready to host you if you want to follow the presentation, but in the same time have a conversation with a colleague or chew your snack.
• E105 room – a quiet room ready to host you in case you want to work on your emails. E105 is also the place to check whether your presentation can be properly displayed.

Getting to Conference Venue (Faculty of Information Technology, BUT)

• From the main train station (Hlavni nadrazi): take tram No. 1 in front of the station, direction Reckovice. Get off at Semilasso stop. Then walk to the Faculty of Information Technology, Brno University of Technology.
• From the Hotel Continental: walk to Antoninska stop, get on tram No. 1 (direction Reckovice) or 6 (direction Kralovo Pole nadrazi). Get off at Semilasso stop and walk.
• Tickets for the public transport in Brno: get 22 CZK tickets in a Tobacco shop (Tabak) or yellow vending machines at stops - they are good for almost all travels within Brno. Stamp them once in a tram, bus or trolleybus. Tickets can be bought also from drivers but you need exact change and they're a bit more expensive.

Map of Faculty of Information Technology, Brno University of Technology

Aerial view of Faculty of Information Technology, Brno University of Technology

Parking

The underground parking of FIT BUT is available to Odyssey participants for free. The parking is located under the steel and glass building ‘Bozetechova 1’, and can be entered from the bottom of ‘Metodejova’ street. Ring the bell ‘VRATNICE’, say that you go to Odyssey conference and the guard will open the gate. The way from the parking to the conference venue will be marked, in case you can’t find the way, just exit the parking on foot (press the white button in case the gate is closed) and cross ‘Bozetechova’ street. To get back to the parking, ask the guard or any local participant of Odyssey. To exit the parking, simply press the white button at the exit. Remember, that ‘Metodejova’ is a one-way street, turn to the left when leaving the parking.

Hotel Continental

If you stay at the Hotel Continental, here you can find some useful information.

• Address:
  • Hotel Continental
    Kounicova 6
    602 00 Brno
    Czech Republic
• Telephone: +420 541 519 111
• The Hotel Continental is conveniently located near the center of the city.
• From the Conference Venue (Faculty of Information Technology, BUT) to the Hotel Continental: walk to Palackeho street and then 300m towards the city center to Husitska stop. Take tram No. 1 or 6, direction city center. Get off at Antoninska stop. To reach the hotel, take the street Antoninska, and go uphill ~300 m. When you reach a small park, turn left. The hotel is in front of you.
• From the Main train station (Hlavni nadrazi) to the Hotel Continental: take tram No. 1 in front of the station, direction Reckovice. Get off at Antoninska stop and follow the information in the previous point.
• From the Bus station (autobusove nadrazi, hotel Grand): go ~200m to the main train station (you'll see it from the bus station), proceed according to the previous point.

Registration desk

The registration desk will be opened on Monday from 09:00 until 09:30, and then every day half an hour before the technical program starts. Do not hesitate to ask local BUT people in case you need anything from the registration desk in the mean-time – they will be happy to call our administrative staff.

The registration desk accepts payments in EUR, CZK and major credit cards.

Presentations

All presentations at Odyssey 2010 are oral. The time allocated for one presentation is 30 minutes. Your talk should fit in 20-25 minutes to allow for a discussion. The computer presentations can be prepared in the following two ways:

• Preparing a PDF or PowerPoint presentation on a USB memory stick. We are sorry not to support any other formats.
• Bringing your own laptop computer. In this case, make sure that your output is standard VGA/SVGA, we would like to remind especially Mac users to bring the necessary adaptors.

The presentations must be available in the pause preceding your session: please contact the session chair and technician.

The presentation preview room is E105 – you can use this room to check if your presentation is properly displayed.

Wifi

Wifi is available for free to all Odyssey 2010 participants. Log on to the ‘VUTBRNO’ wireless network and run a browser. You will be asked for login and password, use:

Login: odyssey
Password: brno

Badges

Badges should be worn by all participants AT ALL TIMES during the event. Badges should also be worn when attending the events of the social programme. Only participants or accompanying persons wearing their badges will be admitted to the scientific sessions, and the social events. Please make sure your name on the badge is visible at all times, so that you could be identified by the colleagues that might want to speak to you.

Lunches

The lunches are provided by BUT’s Administration of Dining and Dorms (SKM) on FIT BUT campus in the “Starý Pivovar” (old brewery) building. Arrows will mark the way from the conference venue to the dining hall. The meal includes soup, main dish, and one soft drink.

Beer help-line

The Czech Republic is reputed for its excellent lagers and in case the weather is good, there is nothing better than taking ‘one’ (the joke says, that ‘going for one beer’ is the most frequent lie in the Czech Republic) and a dinner in one of the open-air beer gardens. The following are easily accessible from the conference venue:

• Bavorská pivnice - get back to Palackého street and walk some 400m away from the center.
• Plzeňský dvůr and Šelepka: take tramway No. 1 towards the city center, get off at stop ‘Šumavská’, take street ‘Šumavská’ to the right, walk some 400m uphill, then take ‘Chlupova’ to the right. The park with Plzeňský dvůr and Šelepka will be in front of you.
• Starobrno brewery restaurant – take bus No. 44 from Semilasso and go to Mendlovo náměstí. You’ll enjoy beer 200 meters from the monastery where Johann Mendel did his famous experiments in genetics.

Beer vocabulary

Czech is a Slavic language with rich morphology, so remember, that you ask for

• 1 PIVO
• 2, 3, 4 PIVA
• 5 and more PIV (pronounce ‘p ih f’)

Desítka (10°) – light beer with 3-4% of alcohol. Good for lunch if you don’t want to be sleepy in the afternoon.
Dvanáctka (12°) – regular beer with 4-5% of alcohol.
Světlé – lager (pale) beer – this is the default beer.
Tmavé – dark beer – note, that Czech dark beer is sweeter than Irish or Scottish dark beers
Řezané or řezák – mixed ‘Světlé’ and ‘Tmavé’ – this is the option preferred by many local connoisseurs.

Beer unit

In the Czech Republic, beer is served in 0.5L glasses. Ask for “malé pivo“ (small beer) if you want a 0.3L glass. If you are however a healthy looking male that obviously does not have to drive, you will be regarded with a bit of despect while asking for a small beer.

Shops

• ‘Albert’ at the corner of Palackého and Kosmova streets (200m from FIT) offers basic grocery.
• If you want to buy good wine, we recommend ‘Moravská vinotéka’ at the corner of Kollárova and Božetěchova streets (just next to FIT campus).
• The closest shopping center is ‘Nákupní centrum Královo Pole’, some 2km from FIT on Cimburkova street. Shuttle buses are leaving from Semilasso bus stop every hour.
• Brno center offers a variety of boutiques.
• For fashion lovers, the closest shopping center is Vaňkovka – the easiest to get there is to take tramway No. 1, get off at Hlavní nádraží (main station), take the underground passage and go straight to the south – Vaňkovka is some 400m from the main station.

Security

Brno is a safe city and it is safe to walk its streets even late in the night. Take basic precautions concerning your personal belongings as in any other European city – i.e. do not left them unattended and have an eye and hand contact with them especially when in a busy street or boarding a crowded tramway.

Unlike Prague, Brno taxi-drivers have quite a good reputation and should take you where you want to go for a fair price. Contact the registration desk or local BUT people in case you need to call a cab.

Communicating with the locals

Czech people are generally helpful, so don’t hesitate to ask help in the streets of Brno. Young people will probably speak some degree of English, while with older generation, the probability is lower (you might find excellent German speakers though). In case you are looking for a place, make sure you have it written or printed – English pronunciation of Czech words can lead to confusion.

Currency

Foreign currency is generally not accepted in the Czech Republic, get some cash at the airport (there are change machines and ATMs in the arrival hall). Credit cards are accepted except for small shops.

Emergency number

In need of emergency assistance, whether it's fire, police or medical services, the number to call is 112.