1) Book a room right now.

2) Book a flight after that.

3) Forget about renting a car. During CeBIT, there are no parking spaces in Germany. But the high-speed ICE trains are great, and the local transportation is decent.

4) Phone for cabs. When in Hanover, you must telephone for taxis, or else find a taxi stand. Drivers will stop if you flag them on the street, but only to explain patiently that they will get into a great deal of trouble if they pick you up, because they are on their way to get someone who called them. Hanover taxi drivers are very polite.

5) Learn some German, at least some nouns. Despite the fact that CeBIT is a global show, most of the seminars and printed materials are still in German.

6) Plan some breaks. I suggest taking in some of the hundreds of free lectures and industry seminars. If you get nothing else out of it, you fill have a comfortable place to sit, and most likely, free cookies and drinks.

7) Bring the data line converters you need to power your laptop. Six hundred thousand visitors arrive at CeBIT looking for them.

8) Never leave the show at 6 p.m.

9) Be patient, and wear comfortable shoes.

10) Find AOL. They have free online kiosks at the fair.

-- Janice Castro