If you are visiting this page it means you are very very probably participating in the event, so first thank you for coming! Every year we welcome close to 700 persons coming from 35 countries, and the following information is here to make your trip and stay as enjoyable as possible. Click below on the section you are interested in, and remember that we always welcome tips and addresses from our community so please forward us any feedback about positive or negative experiences you might have had in Geneva.

• Participant Checklist
• Quick Facts
• Date & Location
• Travel
• Accomodation
• What to do After the Event
• Maps of Geneva
• Promote & Link
• Follow
• Contact

Participant Checklist

• • Book a flight and hotel. Try to arrive on the 24th and to leave on the 28th. See below for addresses.
• • Follow the conference news: join the mailing list, read the official blog, subscribe to our RSS feeds. More info.
• • Print the participant's guide and check out the printed program (no need to print it, you will get a copy when you register)
• • Signup for the workshops and birds of a feather sessions you would like to attend.
• • See if you want to propose a workshop, a talk or a BoF session Propositions now closed!
• • Fill in your profile so that others can know who you are and what you are up to. You will end up with better contacts, that's the main reason for coming to conferences right?

Quick Facts

• The conference happens in Geneva, Switzerland, on Feb 25-26-27, 2009
• If you are coming from abroad, you should land on the 24th or 25th (if you want to attend the morning workshops come on the 24th, but landing in Geneva early on the 25th also works) and fly back on February 28 if you are in a hurry, on March 1st if you can take a bit of time to visit the region.
• The whole conference is held in English. However, this year we will have french translator available, and some of our speakers will be presenting in french with an english translation.
• The weather in February is pretty cold
• The currency is the Swiss Franc (CHF). 1CHF is 0.86USD, 0.66EUR, 0.61GBP

Date & Location

The event happens at various locations. Read the information below very carefully!

Activity	Type	Location	Date	Time
Workshops	Open Program	CICG	Wed. 25	Morning: 10-12h Afternoon: 13:45 - 18h
Main conference	Official program	CICG	Thu. 26 & Fri 27.	Thu: 9-19h00 Fri: 8-18h00
Open Stage	Open Program	CICG	Thu. 25 & Fri 26.	Scheduled inside main program.
Birds of a Feather	Open Program	CICG	Thu. 25 & Fri 26.	Scheduled during breaks.
Fondue	Social event	Salle Plainpalais	Thu. 26	From 19h
Party	Social event	Location will be announced soon	Fri 27	20h to the morning

Here is how you will go through the program:
• arrive at CICG on Wednesday morning around 8am.
• the location for the traditional pre-conference drinks at the end of the workshops day will be announced soon.
• on Thursday, come back to the CICG again. At the end of the day, we will organize a bus service to take you to the Fondue.
• on Friday, come back to the CICG, then have diner in town and join us for the party (to be organized in a very central location).

Travel

From Switzerland: you would be crazy not to take the train, but if you persist get a map from mappy or google.

From France: try the TGV (click here to book your trip with the SNCF) or try to catch a plane if you come from Paris (click here to see a timetable of flights from Paris to Switzerland). Easyjet and Swiss have very cheap flights.

From Europe: we have a great airport in Geneva so you should easily find reasonably priced tickets.

Official Carrier of Lift09: Swiss International Airlines
Swiss International Air Lines is Lift's official carrier and offers special congress fares to all participants. These fares offer more flexibility for changes and cancellations and are up to 25% cheaper depending on the type, route and availability. Search for a flight on Swiss.com

If Swiss does not work for you check the amazing Kayak to find a fare. You will probably fly with Easyjet, Air France, British Airways, Fly Baboo or Virgin Express.

If you're flying into Geneva airport you're eligible for free public transport from the airport, valid 80 mins http://www.gva.ch/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-67/ (look at the bottom of this webpage). You have to pick the ticket up before you come through customs from a special machine in the baggage collection area in the arrivals section of the Airport.

Once in your hotel, ask for a Geneva UNIRESO Transport Card. That gives you a pass for free public transport during your entire stay. http://www.geneve-tourisme.ch/index.php?rubrique=0000000417&lang=_eng&PH....

For a complete schedule of flights going to/leaving from Geneva check the airport's page. This might be a good start to check who is flying to your place and then book your ticket directly from the airline.

Accomodation

Manôtel: Lift09 Partner Hotels
Manôtel offers three 3 star and three 4 star hotels in Geneva. The speakers will be hosted in the Hotel Auteuil. Lift participants get a special discount in all Manôtel hotels in Geneva by booking through this special link. We don't take any commission if you book your hotel there, it's just a lower price for particiapnts in some of the best hotels in town. Try it!

Other hotels

The city has a handy online hotel booking system that has really good prices. Another good way to get discounted prices is to go through agencies like GTA Hotels.

The hotels listed below are our recommendations as they are in the center of the city and be close to the conference. The prices shown are estimates, please call the hotels to get the current prices.

Youth hostel
City Hostel (newly renovated bathrooms, very clean and quiet, only 10 minutes from the CICG, recommended by Eleonore from the Lift team.)
• 1 Bed in a 3 bed dormitory 32CHF
• 1 Bed room (single) with tv 65CHF

Geneva Youth Hostel
• Bed in a dormitory 29CHF
• Double room with WC & shower 95CHF

Home Saint Pierre
• Single 46CHF
• Double 34CHF
• Dormitories (10 + 6 Beds) 29CHF
(prices do not include breakfeast, additional costs may apply)

1 star hotels
• Hotel St Gervais (From110CHF)
• Hotel Cloche (From 140CHF, nice situation close to the lake)

2 stars hotels
• Hotel Bernina (From 160CHF for a double, in front of the Train Station)

3 stars hotels
• Hotel Mon Repos, 178CHf, free wifi, mention LIFT CONFERENCE when booking.
• Hotel Cristal (177CHF, WIFI)
• Hotel Eden (180CHF, WIFI but not sure it is free)
• Hotel Strasbourg & Univers (150CHF, WIFI but not free)
• Hotel Kipling (Manôtel) 230CHF, just over the street from the Hôtel Auteuil where the speakers stay, Wifi included, located very close to Geneva main station and the tram which brings you to the conference center special Lift09 booking link
• Hotel Edelweiss (Manôtel) 230CHF, the hotel with the most swissness in Geneva ;) Wifi included, a 5-minutes walk away from the tram which brings you to the conference center special Lift09 booking link
• Hotel Jade (Manôtel) 230CHF, Wifi included, a 5-minutes walk away from the tram which brings you to the conference center special Lift09 booking link
• Hotel Suisse (190CHF single, 260CHF double, WIFI but not free)

4 stars hotels
• Hotel Auteuil (Manôtel) 230CHF, a very classy, lounge-style hotel, this is where the Lift09 speakers stay. Wifi included, located very close to Geneva main station and the tram which brings you to the conference center special Lift09 booking link
• Hotel Tiffany
• Hotel Novotel
• Royal Hotel (Manôtel) 290CHF, 4 stars superior, Wifi included, located very close to Geneva main station and the tram which brings you to the conference centerspecial Lift09 booking link
• Hotel Epsom (Manôtel) 290CHF, 4 stars superior, Wifi included, only a few steps away from the Lake of Geneva, a 5-minutes walk away from the tram which brings you to the conference center special Lift09 booking link
• Hotel Cornavin

5 stars hotels

• Hotel Intercontinental (from 270CHF, WIFI but not free, 5 minutes from the Conference Center)
• La Réserve, one of the world's best hotels and then the SPA... Amazing place a bit off center but sure to give you a nice moment.
• Four Season Hotel des Bergues, in the center, leading hotels of the world etc etc...

More hotels on the Geneva Wikipedia page.

What to do After the Event

We very very strongly encourage you to stay in Switzerland after LIFT to enjoy the mountains that are a few minutes away from Geneva. Here are some links to the greatest ski slopes around:
Les Diablerets, with its Glacier.
Verbier, nothing more to be said...
Zermatt, probably the most picturesque place in Europe (pictures here and here)
Villars, Nice and Cosy.
Crans-Montana, Glamorous and Sunny
La Clusaz, a 45 minutes car drive from Geneva. Be sure to eat at L'Arbé, one of our all-time favorite.
Chamonix, maybe the greatest ski of your life.
Courchevel and Megeve, for the jet-setters.
Grimentz/St-Jean, if you like quieter places with less people and still great ski.

All these places are easily accessible by train (for the Swiss stations), car or bus (for the French stations).

If you don't like ski go do a bit of thalasso at Leukerbad, visit the CERN, the UN, the waterfront, the old town, some museums, or drive to Annecy

Maps of Geneva

• Walking: map of Geneva showing pedestrian times
• Geneva public transports Route Maps
• Geneva public transports itinerary search (very handy)
• Maps: Google | Mappy | Search.ch
• Access Map to CICG

Promote

Here are some banners to promote the conference on your site:

Banners with tagline:

Follow

If you attend you should really read our blog because we use it a lot to communicate with conference attendees. We have various ways you can subscribes to updates about Lift, namely:

Conference blog: Email | RSS

Talks: Email | RSS

Groups:

Contact

If you need further assistance to organize your stay, contact the Geneva Tourism office or the LIFT team!