Useful Information

Useful information about the venue and practical tips for your trip to Helsinki. You can download the conference area map in PDF format below:

We will also supply you with a paper copy of the conference map in the registration package.

About the venue

Our conference venue, the Consistorium Hall in the Main Building, is an old-fashioned meeting room, as seen in the photographs. There are two screens near that podium that show the same view, so audience members can see presentation from different locations in the room. There are tall, south-facing windows, so light could be an issue; you may wish to plan accordingly with your presentation (for example by using a dark background on your slides, although slides normally do show up fine in this room).

The room is equipped with an HP laptop where you can load your presentation from a memory stick. There is a VGA adapter available, and we will equip other standard adapters, for example HDMI for Macintosh.

The room is equipped for audio.

You will be given a wifi code when you pick up your registration package. If your devices are equipped with Eduroam, you will be connected automatically.

Please contact the organizers if you have any questions about the facilities.

Practical tips

Practical tips for your trip to Helsinki
--compiled by your DiPVaC4 hosts

Pretty much everyone in the urban areas speaks English. Street signs and other public signage is in Finnish, then Swedish, and sometimes in English.
At the grocery store: You have to weigh any fruits and veg and put a price sticker on them before you go to the cash register to pay (except at Lidl). You have to bag your own groceries. You have to pay for plastic bags at the grocery store. Put the bag on the conveyor belt along with your other groceries.
Bank card/credit cards are accepted pretty much anywhere; this is a cashless society.
You don’t need to tip at restaurants/bars, but if you do, make it a small tip. Restaurant workers make a decent wage here; they don’t expect to be tipped.
You can drink the tap water. Finland’s water is some of the cleanest in the world!
If you have time for an excursion, make a visit to the “real” (=not so touristy) market hall at Hakaniemi. The market hall itself is under renovation, but the temporary building has all the same wares as the normal hall. There is another traditional market hall in Hietalahti which is the second oldest market hall in Helsinki.
Suomenlinna, the Sea Fortress island, is a UNESCO site. It’s a 10-minute ferry ride from Helsinki’s market square. The ticket price for the ferry is the price of a normal Helsinki transit ticket, 2.50 euros each way. Wear walking shoes, take a camera, and be sure to try out the island’s brewery.
If you are an architecture buff, the Katajanokka neighborhood of Helsinki offers the city’s finest examples of Jugendstil houses. Keep your eyes open for animal and nature motifs.
If you use local transportation, be sure to buy your ticket before you enter the bus, tram, train, etc. You can buy tickets from a machine at the platform, or from any of the numerous R-Kioskis (=Finnish version of 7-Eleven).
Helsinki is a safe city to walk around in. It is possible to run into pickpockets in the more touristic areas, but in general, you should feel perfectly safe to make your way around on foot.
You probably know that Finland is the sauna capital of the world. If you would to experience a Finnish sauna, you can do that and enjoy a swim at the same time -- right in the heart of Helsinki. The Allas Sea Pool, next to the main market square (Kauppatori), has saunas, a warm water pool, and a seawater pool. It’s also a lovely place to sit on the sundeck and have a drink.
For an indoor sauna and swimming experience in the downtown area, try to the Yrjönkatu swimming hall. This art deco building is the real thing when it comes to a public bath house. https://www.allasseapool.com/front-page.html

For more tips, check out https://www.myhelsinki.fi/en.

You can find more information in the City of Helsinki leaflet: