COLLEGE INFO PACK

GETTING TO THE COLLEGE

The castle doors open at 16.00 on Monday, September 23, 2024.
If you arrive before this, we may ask you to go for a stroll in the surrounding park land. More arrival details will be released closer to the experience dates.

The buses will leave from Berlin Airport (BER) starting at around 13.00 on Monday (23.09.2024).

We will place a group reservation at a hotel in Berlin for all interested participants, where the buses will start at approximately 12:15 of September 23rd. From there, the buses will continue to the airport. More details about which hotel will be shared approximately four months before the castle experience.

The bus journey from Berlin to the castle can take up to four hours in heavy traffic. We recommend you eat something before boarding the bus. There will be finger food in the castle upon your arrival.

The buses arrive back at BER Airport on Friday (27.09.2024) by 16.00 at the latest.
If you plan on heading to the city from the airport, there are fast train connections available.

PRACTICALITIES ONSITE

The food is 100% vegetarian and prepared by the Extraordinary Chefs of the castle.
If you want to bring meat snacks, you’re welcome to, but there’ll be no meat products of any kind from us. Even though our menu is meat-free, the food contains plenty of protein, so you don’t have to worry. However, if you have cross-allergies, you may want to take extra precautions, just in case.

The castle experience will be alcohol-free. This will give space for us to explore the universe of what drinks can be if we’re removing alcohol.
The College is a sober experience, so we will not be serving any alcohol from our side. Also, by Polish law most recreational drugs are illegal. However, should you feel that a glass of Chateau Margaux ’89 wine is an essential part of your castle experience, we will not stand in the way of that. We just ask you to enjoy the said glass (or can or bottle or crystal tumbler!) in moderation with a small group in your room and respect the general non-alcoholic rule of the castle.

Rooms are shared unless you’ve specifically asked for a single room.
We have a limited number of single rooms, but if you need one (e.g. for medical reasons), we’ll try to make that happen. Since the College is a place for meeting new people, the default room arrangement is in a shared room with two people.

The WiFi at the castle is not good. And the phone signal can be terrible.
The reliability appears to depend on weather conditions. There’s several spots in the castle where there’s decent connectivity, so if you need to get work done, you can ask us for a suitable spot, but in general, don’t count on it being good. If you really desperately need to be online, going on a brisk walk gets you on the 4G network, and a 5G expansion is underway.

Our documentation team will be taking both pictures and video throughout the event.
If you – for whatever reason – do not want to be in pictures or in the video material, that is possible – you just need to let us know on site, so we can brief the appropriate camera people.

CONTENT

The event is full of amazing people from many different industries and walks of life.
Bringing an open mind is vital, and leaving judgment at home is something that enriches the experience. We ask participants to bring their most tolerant and forgiving self to the experience, and remember that what is seen as outrageous in one culture can be completely normal in another.

PACKING RECOMMENDATIONS

Please also consider bringing:
Layers to accommodate the range of temperatures – both inside and outside – such as: Long pants or jeans, Light sweater, Warm jacket or wind breaker, Warm socks, Swimming Clothes (the castle has a swimming pool!)

AFTER THE EVENT

We recommend setting aside a little time to rest once you’re back home.
While some go home after the event and feel perfectly balanced and ready to go back to their normal lives, we also have many who find that they need a bit of time readjusting. A bit of rest, grounding and integration of the experience goes a long way here.

PRICE AND PAYMENT POLICY

Since the College is a highly curated event, it also has a bit of an unusual price structure.
The reason we have this multi-tiered price structure is to make sure we have a good mix of people from different backgrounds and walks of life. To make sure that no one gets an unexpected surprise, we’re quite transparent about how our pricing works. Also, please note that these prices are excl. VAT. This means that while those outside the EU don’t have to pay VAT, EU citizens have to pay through a VAT registered company to avoid it. If you want to go as a private person without any organization mentioned on the invoice, you can, but 20% will be added to the price. We know this kind of sucks, but we are not in a position to change the EU taxation laws 😉

The College has a total of 108 participants. The participation fee for each individual is determined on a sliding scale.

Supporter (100% – 8100 EUR): For corporations and well funded companies. This tier directly influences the availability of the lower tiers.
Standard (67% – 5400 EUR): For academic institutions and start-ups, as well as affluent individuals.
Subsidized (33% – 2700 EUR): For those with limited financial means.
Fate (0 EUR): This category only contains limited tickets and is for those who cannot afford any of the above.

Invitations include: Roundtrip transportation from Berlin Brandenburg Airport. Locally sourced food, award-winning drinks, castle accommodation, and all extraordinary experiences offered at the College. You need to get yourself to BER Airport by midday on the 23rd of September.

We require a 50% deposit to consider your application (unless you are applying for a fate ticket 😉). Payment is due at the end of our onboarding survey. After receiving payment, we will invite you to an interview within seven days to make sure the College is a good fit. In case either you or we decide that there isn’t a good fit, we will of course fully refund your deposit. Should you get accepted (which we of course hope!), you have 30 days to pay the remaining 50%.

CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICY

The College of Extraordinary Experiences has a money-back guarantee.
This means that if you went to the College, and didn’t feel the experience was worth what you paid for it, you can ask for a partial or full refund, and we will give it to you with no questions asked.

However, if you end up not going to the castle experience because you need to cancel beforehand, that is a different matter.
To make sure you know what you’re signing up for, please note our cancellation policy.

Cancellation prior to April 1, 2024: Full refund, minus 1600 EUR for already incurred costs.
Cancellation prior to June 1, 2024: Full refund, minus 2400 EUR for already incurred costs.
If you cancel after June 1, 2024: No refund is possible, because we will have already incurred the full costs for your participation. Polish castles require large up-front payments 😉

Refunds will be issued within 14 days after we receive the cancellation request. Invitations are non-transferable, but in case you have someone else who could possibly take over your spot, let us know. No guarantees, but we might be able to find a solution!

In case you are unavailable to join due to circumstances beyond your control and still have a desire to join us at the College, there is an option for us to move your participation to the next year. It is possible to move tickets up until June 1st, 2024. As soon as a ticket has been moved, it becomes non-refundable (but we’ve had people defer for half a decade and end up going😉).

GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS / GDPR POLICY / CODE OF CONDUCT

The College of Extraordinary Experiences 2023