EUROPEAN
BEARS & BIG MEN'S CONVERGENCE 2008
Brussels,
Belgium - October 29th - November 3rd 2008
Frequently Asked
Questions about Ebmc
FAQ
MAIS JE NE PARLE PAS
ANGLAIS !!
Pour nos
amis francophones, un résumé du programme est disponible dans les
messages sur : http://groups.msn.com/EBMC
IS EBMC MORE EXPENSIVE THAN BEFORE ?
A little, but in case you haven’t
noticed, everything is a bit more expensive in the world. Aqualibi is more
expensive, the costs of food, drinks, etc is more expensive. On top of that,
the Belgian State has decided we had to pay VAT on Ebmc, so we had to add that,
and now a large % of your registration goes to the government. L Sorry ! Not my fault ! J Still, we tried to make
registrations as cheap as possible, and if you cut the cheapest registration in
6, it comes to only 34 Euros per day. Isn’t this what you’d spend
on a good evening in a fancy bar ? So here, considering the comfort of our
hospitality club and that you receive all your drinks free and snacks and music
and video, that it happens on the glamorous 25th floor of one of the
highest towers of the city, plus the dance party and Aqualibi that are
included, and that you’ll be surrounded by the most beautiful chubs &
chasers of the world, it is really a good deal !
IS AQUALIBI INCLUDED IN ALL THE PACKAGES ?
Yes, all packages can enter Aqualibi.
Fab, Cool and Fun package also include the bus
ride from the hotel to Aqualibi and return.
The bus ride
is NOT included in the E-Package and in the Daily passes. The reason for this
is that we will plan the number of busses on the basis of the total number of
our three main packages that will be booked. Since the E and Daily packages are
cheaper, we cannot afford to hire another big bus for just a few extra people.
So those who intend to participate only a few days or with a E package should
organize their own transportation to Aqualibi and back. If they can’t,
then holders of E-Packages and Daily packages will be allowed to board the
busses IF there are seats left, and for a fee of 20€ return trip, which
is even cheaper than what it would cost on public transportation.
WHEN DO I HAVE TO PAY ?
For the
Hotel, you don't have to pay ANYTHING before. When you book the hotel on www.hilton.com , you indicate a credit card
number, but the hotel will NOT bill your card for nothing now. Actually you
will only pay after the Ebmc event, when you check out of the hotel.
For the Registration, when you register, you must pay the registration
package (fun, cool or fab) completely. But you can also pay later, only the
price will be a few euro more expensive, no big deal...
HOW DO I KNOW I AM FULLY REGISTERED ?
If you receive the confirmation email, it means we have got your
registration AND your payment. If you paid by credit card, the receipt on your
credit card/bank statement will say which type of package you bought,
confirming your registration option.
IS THE HOTEL INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGES ?
No, the packages buy the events, the meals, the drinks, rentals,
personnel, and also costs of organization. The price for the hotel is a
separate transaction, you book your hotel room on www.hilton.com and pay your room to the hotel
directly.
DO I HAVE TO STAY AT THE HILTON ?
No, you are free to stay with private people in Brussels or to book
another hotel. But please be aware that hotels in Brussels are quite expensive,
if you want a decent quality. The rate the Hilton offers is VERY reasonable,
since normally their rack rate for one room is 345€ per night. Here you
pay 115€ in a single room, or if you share a double room, you pay only
75€ per night. And this is for 5 STARS quality, and a HUGE buffet
breakfast in the morning, that fills you up for the entire day.
Also there is the social and practical argument. It is much more fun to
be able to walk from your room to the Ebmc Club wearing no shoes, no socks, and
just a short and a t-shirt, to be able to stay up as long as you want, drink as
much as you want, and take people back to your room as much as you want. If you
stay at another hotel, you’ll have to come with your coat and stay up to
a certain hour where you’ll have to leave alone in the cold rainy
night…. L LOL. To give you an idea, even people who
live in Brussels prefer to book the Hilton to “live” the party at
100%. It’s the best way to enjoy it fully.
HOW CAN I SHARE A ROOM ?
We have a room sharing form on this website where you can add your name
by sending your offer or demand to us. It takes a few days to update it. The
link to it is at the bottom of the HOTEL page. Or you can click here to get to
it directly : Room
Sharing Page.
WHERE DO I GO WHEN I ARRIVE IN BRUSSELS ?
The address of the hotel is available on our web site, as well as a map
of the part of the city where the hotel is located. The Hilton is one of the
tallest buildings of that part of the city, and is located between Porte de
Namur and Porte Louise.
From the airport, you can reach the hotel by train and metro, train and
taxi or just taxi. A taxi from the airport will cost about 30 euro. You can
easily share one with 2 other persons that you'd meet at the airport. You can
make appointments thru an ad on the EBMC newsgroups.
There is a train (railway) station located right downstairs from the arrival
hall of the airport. There is a lift and also rolling staircases to reach it.
Walking distance is very short. Panels with pictogram’s showing a train
will lead you to it from the arrivals hall (when you exit arrivals, it's to the
far right). Trains leave from there every +-20 minutes, deserving every main
station of the city. The closest train stations to the Hilton are the MIDI/ZUID
station (south), located on the outside boulevards, and CENTRAL station, which
is smaller and right in the city center. From the Midi Station which you can
take the subway (it's a tram at first, it goes underground when it leaves the
station) to the station LOUISE which is right next to the hotel. From Central
station, you must take the subway line 1 to Arts/loi and then switch to the
other line to reach the Louise station. There are maps of the subway on the
walls and you can also get one when you buy your ticket. Public transport is
relatively safe in Brussels, but with luggage, it's of course easier to use
trains and taxis.
If you intend to take a train from the airport to the city, and then a
cab from the railway station to the hotel, get out at the CENTRAL station, and
take a cab from there. It's slightly shorter. But it has more stairs (two
floors thru rolling staircases and/or stairs, then small hall). Midi/Zuid
station is bigger but more flat (rolling staircase then long flat hall).
The Hilton does not have a private shuttle to the airport. According to
the hotel, the taxi ride from the airport cost about 30 Euros (if the taximan
would ask you much more than 35, then stop at the hotel, ask the doorman his
opinion, or go inside, talk to the concierge and ask him to deal with the
taximan for you).
We will be glad to welcome you in our Hospitality Club, that will open at
12pm noon on the Thursday, and will be located in the Baudouin Room on the 25th
floor. That is also where the registration desk will be, in the Fabiola Room.
HOW CAN I STAY UPDATED WITH ANY NEWS ABOUT THE EBMC
There are two free news groups to discuss the event and meet the
participants in advance, that you can join at : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebmc/ and http://groups.msn.com/ebmc/ Since
many ISP now block mass emails, it is difficult for us to keep everyone updated
through emails. Subscribing to one of the newsgroups is the best way for you to
get the updates and announcements about the event.
WARNING FOR AOL USERS
For some reason we truly ignore, AOL is, from time to time, blocking all
emails coming from our ISP. That means that any mail we send to AOL addresses
is being blocked by AOL and sent back. If you are an AOL user, we strongly
advise you to give us an alternate (non-aol) e-mail address so that we can be
sure that you'll receive your confirmation and further information we might
have to send you. Another way to stay up-to-date with the Ebmc info, is to
subscribe to one of the FREE ebmc news groups : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebmc/ or http://groups.msn.com/ebmc/
WHEN DOES IT ACTUALLY START, Wednesday or Thursday ?
The programme actually starts on Wednesday with a sauna party in the
evening ; as stated on the web site, and the Hospitality Club and Registration
desk will open on Thursday around noon. The hotel has extended the special Ebmc
rate to the two days before and after the event dates, so go ahead, come early
for more fun !!
WHAT'S THE AMOUNT BILLED TO MY CREDIT CARD ?
It is exactly the amount of the package you selected, plus the % charged
by the credit card company (Visa, Mastercard 3%, Amex 5%), which is added to
the total. We provide this extra service to our customers, which is to allow
them to pay by credit card, but we ask them to pay for the little extra cost
which is charged by the credit card companies. It is the same for the people
who pay by cheque and to which we ask to cover for the bank charges too. Our
packages prices are calculated very strictly to the real costs of the events,
therefore we must also charge the guests with a similar accuracy. The money we
get is exactly the price of the package. Note : we ask the same for people
who send payments thru paypal (the fee on receiving payments is around 5 euro
per 100 euro paid, that we ask you to add to every payment) and thru bank (we
ask that all bank costs are paid by the sender).
We bill in Euros, then the credit card company bills your bank, which
bills you in your local currency. It's your local bank that will calculate the
exchange rate. To have an idea of the price in your currency, you can use
online currency calculators, such as for example :
http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html
I PAID BEFORE THE PRICE DEADLINE, WHY DID I PAY MORE ?
It
happens every year to some participants. You probably waited too long to send
your registration. Rates indicated are valid UNTIL the day indicated, that day
not included, meaning if the price is "until April 30th", the next
price starts on April 30th at 0h01 CET. In the case of email or fax, the date
& time of sending will be taken into account. In the case of post,
the date of arrival will prevail. Indeed we've had people sending their
registrations dated of the 29th but arriving on the 10th and it is sometimes
impossible to read the actual date on the post stamp. So if you decide to send
it by post, or any other way, do not wait until the last minute. If you want to
save money by taking advantage the early cheaper rates, then make sure
to send your registration EARLY, way before the deadline, to make sure
not to miss it by a few minutes or hours. Every year we have people who
send it at the very last minute and miss it. It's always an argument. But we
have set rules, so we must follow them, and it's the same for every person.
WILL I HAVE FUN ?
Oh I'm sure you will !
;-)
EUROS ?? A LITTLE NOTE FOR OUR MANY NON-EUROPEAN VISITORS !
Yes, the currency in Belgium since 2001 is the EURO. There are 7 Euro
bank notes (5 grey, 10 brick red, 20 blue, 50 orange, 100 green, 200 yellow and
500 purple) and 8 coins (the 1, 2 and 5 cents coins are bronze ; the 10, 20 and
50 cents coins are golden, and then the 1 Euro and 2 Euro coins are gold and
silver).
The Euro is now the official currency in the most of Europe. So it does
not matter where you would "buy" some Euro cash, as they will be
equally valid in all the other "Euroland" countries. The bank notes
are all the same. The coins have one side the same in every country, and one
side personalized, but all are valid everywhere within the Euroland zone.
More info ? www.euro.ecb.int/ Exchange rates :
http://www.x-rates.com/calculator.html
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