FAQ

We do not offer cancellations, allow the resale of tickets or offer refunds in general.

However, we will do our best to forward your ticket to the next person and to negotiate a lower fee for your hotel stay, which may result in a full or at least partial refund, should you not be able to attend the conference.

Usually, we have a significant surplus of applicants and are able to forward any tickets to another happy attendee. If you can not attend, please let us know as soon as possible at info@socrates-conference.de and we will try our best.

Registrations open and the first lottery runs after some time to give people enough time to register. When you register during this period doesn't affect your chances - all entries have equal opportunity.

The lottery isn't run immediately when registration numbers equal the seat count, but after at least that many people have registered. Registration continues as before. Those not selected remain in the pool for the next lottery round.

Important note: The more lottery draws you're included in, the better your overall odds of getting a seat. So someone who registers before the first lottery does have increased probability overall compared to someone who registers after it, simply because they'll be included in more draws.

Example: Someone who registered before you has no advantage in any single lottery draw. If you both register before a lottery draw, you have equal chances in that specific draw. If you register after the first lottery, you miss that initial opportunity. However, if the earlier registrant wasn't selected in the first round either, you both enter the next lottery with equal chances.

This approach prevents the rush to register to get a seat before the person behind you and makes the process fair for everyone.

Great question, thank you! We're very happy for participants to attend with their family.

All adults attending need to sign up for the lottery. Once you are drawn in the lottery, we will ask for your room requirements. We have a number of connecting rooms which can be used by families with kids who sleep separately.

We will also ask for your requirements regarding professional childcare after the lottery. We are prepared to accommodate parents who need childcare at the conference days, but we'll decide on the specifics based on the number of requests we get. Please reach out to us if this is a major concern to you.

Conference starts at ~5pm. In order to enjoy a relaxed start into the conference, it's best to arrive early enough to check-in, leave your luggage in your room, get a cold drink and start having some interesting conversations all before 5pm.

However, be aware that the evening's buffet will be served from 6pm to 7.30pm and that the official World Cafe will kick off the conference at 7.30pm.

You can ask your questions by sending an e-mail to info@socrates-conference.de.

Another option is to use our Discord channel: https://discord.gg/tXkcRDysr2

If you didn't get invited yet, just email us: info@socrates-conference.de

You can find information about visa regulations on the website of the  Federal Foreign Office.

As a registered participant you can ask the organisers to write a visa invitation letter.

For requesting a letter, write an e-mail to info@socrates-conference.de and submit the following information: your name and passport number, your country of residence, address, e-mail and phone number, the name of the Embassy, the address and the phone number of the Embassy.

Please use our Discord channel. There you can talk to other participants about all sorts of topics. For example, to find a roommate or share a ride by train, car or taxi on your way to SoCraTes or back home.

If you didn't get invited yet, just email us: info@socrates-conference.de

SoCraTes takes place at  Hotel Park Soltau (website only in German).
Click here for translated English version.

Need some help finding the way? Check out the location page for the details about the conference's venue.

Although COVID-19 has now largely disappeared from the news, and statistics are no longer maintained properly, there are still a noticeable number of infections in Germany every day. We intend to keep attendees safe during the conference and have decided to keep in place our COVID measures:

• Attendees are kindly requested to take a provided lateral flow test upon arrival. You will not be allowed on the premise otherwise and will be charged a night's stay as per hotel policy.
• Additionally, attendees will receive one lateral flow test for each day. We trust you to inform the organisers in case you test positive.
• We recommend attendees bring and wear FFP2 masks indoors, but we will not enforce the wearing of masks.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Please inform yourself about the current regulations before traveling to Germany

About COVID-19: As of 11 July 2022 all COVID-19 related restrictions regarding entry to Germany have been dropped.

We aim to make the conference affordable for all, recognizing that financial constraints can be a barrier. While we keep costs low, we understand it can still be significant for some attendees. Therefore, we offer financial aid to help reduce these costs for those in need.

If you require support, please indicate your need during profile completion once you secure a seat via lottery. This helps us gauge the need and allocate our budget to assist as many participants as possible. The option to request financial aid will be available in your profile after securing a seat.

It is possible to bring a dog or a cat and have them around you while attending SoCraTes at Hotel Park Soltau. However, the number of rooms that the Hotel Park can offer to accommodate a dog or a cat is limited, which is why we ask you to contact us in case you want to bring a pet, so that we can make sure that a suitable room is available for you and your pet. Please note that we (and also Hotel Park Soltau) have no previous experience with accommodating pets other than dogs or cats at the time of this writing and that such a request will have to be clarified with Hotel Park staff well in advance of your arrival.

Please also note that the Hotel Park will ask for a surcharge on your booking of currently 30 Euros flat (not per night) for extra cleaning of your room. This is to make sure that all hairs are removed as other guests might be allergic to them. It is also expected that a cat toilet, in case you bring one, is adequately disposed off by you and not left behind to be disposed off by hotel staff.