
Hacker Retreat Berlin - urlwolf
http://hackerretreat.com
======
limist
In sum: this is a Berlin-based version of Hacker School NYC, with a few
twists: it's EU-based; part-time involvement is possible; and we'll
incorporate some quantified-self hacks to measure progress (exactly what and
how, TBD).

If you want to come hone your skills in one of the great cities of the world
alongside a small, friendly group of committed coders, be sure to apply.
Berlin has world-class culture, a blooming startup scene, high quality-of-
life, great public transit - and it's all quite affordable.

If you know of great coders who love teaching and sharing, please let us know
- we definitely want to get in touch with them as residents/mentors. Travel
and living expenses will be covered, of course. Thanks HN!

~~~
urlwolf
Yes, the increased flexibility is something to highlight...

\- We have an 'extended weekend' edition. That's weekend plus one day if you
can convince your employer; If not, then just do > 14 weekends.

\- We'll have a rolling release; you can pause the retreat, and come back. We
know life interferes sometimes.

\--- We also seem to have a bit of a functional/machine learning bent, at
least on this first batch. I'm a data scientist, and my network reflects that.
Limist is a more serious clojurean, he has a talk on euroclojure coming.

We also have a couple of people from the top 5 HN posters coming on this or
some future batch.

~~~
urlwolf
If you worry that your interests will not match machine learning/functional,
... Ed, one of us, is a kick-ass all-rounder (back-end and front-end). He also
designs. The entire site design is his idea. Berlin has huge JS and front-end
communities, too.

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pearjuice
>As any other placement service, we take 1/3 of the first year salary (paid by
the employer).

Wait, what? I don't know what the average salary is for junior-to-senior
programmers in Germany, but 1/3th of it can't be a little...

~~~
urlwolf
AFAIK, this is also how Hacker School NY works. I'm not a recruiter, nor want
to be one :). I've never been recruited either. It sounds like a lot of money
to me too, but it's the industry standard. On top of consuming all my free
time the last 2-3 months, flying/hosting residents, paying for office space,
etc is a significant cost. We hope that after the first batch, people are so
appreciative that they will find it criminally bad if there's no next edition
of the retreat. Making some money will give us the freedom to fly the best
people, and provide the best experience possible. This is not a non-profit,
but it's not run with the only intention of making money.

~~~
pearjuice
So where do the sponsors come in play?

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oscargrouch
Nice move guys! Once i've heard of Hacker School, i also dreamed about
creating something like it here in Brazil.. (at least, after bootstraping my
project, the one im stuck at right now)

So i know how you guys feel!

I hope more Hacker Schools like this start to pop all over the world..

We need to understand(and practice) education as something not monopolized
only by the academy, but shared all over, and continuously happening over the
lifespan of a human being

Knowledge wants to be free!

Kudos to you guys!

------
porous
Let me add that we're prepared to do a little handholding for those who feel
daunted by the prospect of moving to Berlin for three months. Berlin is a
really laid-back city (where they turned the airport into a public garden and
forgot to build a new one ...), and short-term integration is pretty
straightforward.

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urlwolf
Just a quick note with more details...

\- The starting date is Oct 1st.

\- We have some incredible residents already, and are looking for more.

\- Please contact us if you want to be a student or a resident, or know
someone who is a perfect match.

The story: This is inspired by Hacker School NY. When I saw they got Peter
Norvig as a resident, I almost jumped into a plane straight. But I have a
girlfriend, a dog, and a baby, so I cannot leave Berlin.

So, in the most unadulterated hacker spirit... I made my own :)

Berlin has some serious advantages over NY:

\- It's dirt cheap to live here. Maybe 1/3 of NY prices

\- There are plenty of talented people, and user groups.

\- There are some desirable startups, and a shortage of hires (as anywhere
else, really).

Edit: formatting

~~~
ashray
This looks really awesome. Funny enough I was just considering moving to
Berlin for some startup work when my wife said "Why don't you go to Hacker
School for a few months ?" (I had mentioned it earlier this year to her but
the timing wasn't right)

So now this gets added to our list of "Why we should consider moving to
Berlin". The only thing that has kept us off so far are the rather harsh
winters. Was in Berlin about 60 days ago and of course, the summer is amazing
and I totally loved the city for being so cheap and alternative... For New
Yorkers, it's like Williamsburg, but all over the place ;)

I'll be following this closely. Thanks for taking the initiative to create
this!

EDIT: Just told the wife, she says it's a sign - lol :P

~~~
limist
"harsh winters" is relative. :) There tends to be less snow accumulation in
Berlin than much of the Northeast US, and chances are you won't need a car,
nor need to shovel it (plus walkway and driveway) out. And besides, meh-
weather helps with productivity.

~~~
skrr
Come on! Winters are harsh, particularly the last one... The other thing you
want to investigate before making the move is taxes! Income Taxes are high,
the marginal rate is 45 pct.

~~~
limist
For me, the winters are _relatively better_ ; unlike where I grew up (the 51st
state), there's less snow on the ground, and walking everywhere keeps me warm.
:)

As for taxes: if you're just coming for 3 months, no tax worries. Beyond that:
1) you get a lot more services for the tax money, like health insurance,
university; 2) the treatment of capital gains taxes is very favorable for
entrepreneurs: [http://venturevillage.eu/gmbh-tax-
change](http://venturevillage.eu/gmbh-tax-change)

------
jacquesm
I just met with one of the people behind this and I can heartily recommend it,
very impressive and extremely nice. If you're in or around Berlin be sure to
make contact with them, you won't regret it.

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mailshanx
Do you plan to have batch 2 by early next year? I would absolutely love to
attend! I'm a grad student in Singapore, focussing on machine learning and
signal processing. I've long wanted to attend the NYC version, but american
visas are a biatch!:p.

~~~
limist
Yes, there is a 2nd batch planned for starting in early 2014, so stay in
touch!

Also, as a foreigner, I've found the German bureaucracy reasonable to deal
with: just read the rules twice and follow them to the letter. They generally
don't treat people as suspects/criminals. Advanced education/degrees also
brings additional respect and ease of visas/permits.

~~~
mailshanx
Thats awesome, thanks! I'll email you guys soon :)

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vijaykiran
From confirmation page:

"On tweeter, we are @hackerretreat, would be great if you could follow us
there."

\- Did you mean "twitter" ? \- The 't' at the end is out of the tag - <a
..>@hackerretrea</a>t

~~~
limist
Fixed, thanks!

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huma
Konstantin Haase of Sinatra/Ruby fame is based in Berlin and I would recommend
him for a mentor.

[https://github.com/rkh](https://github.com/rkh)

~~~
urlwolf
Thanks, will contact him.

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skrr
Sounds Cool! Who are the residents so far?

~~~
urlwolf
We'll post the details when everyone is ready. Some of them are coming back
from vacation, others want to test the waters first... and of course there are
some who have committed already. Some are in but don't know yet when and how
long they'll come.

All in all, very impressive people.

If you would like to be a resident...

We have sponsors, so we'll be able to pay travel and lodging given the right
circumstances.

The way it works is that we get some advanced people (residents) and invite
them to stay with us and share what they know. There's no structure; if you
come, you can work on whatever you want, as long as you help other people.
Maybe some would become contributors to some of your projects. Hacker School
NY managed to get Peter Norvig as a resident.

Weekends and Mondays are busier, because then the two editions are in the same
room. During the week it's only the fulltime people, who are just a handful,
but the most dedicated.

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DominikWro
Nice idea. Good luck! ;)

