If you thought there was something “fishy” about CERN Showers, then you were right. Indeed, it’s not a new service, just an April Fools’ joke from the Indico Team!

It seems like we’ve managed to fool many of you! Throughout the day, we got all kinds of reactions to the announcement of CERN Showers: those who believed in it, those who were in doubt as well as those who understood it was a joke and even decided to play along!
Some called it a “well-crafted” April Fools’ joke, others thought that it seemed too “intricate”, so it had to be true. We also know there are people who didn't find it funny at all. Whatever your opinion is, we are happy that CERN Showers landed just on the border between plausibility and the absurd.

Here are some facts about this joke:

• The source code is basically copy-paste from another Indico (non-joke) module we have developed over the last few months (Burotel), with some small adaptations. It’s available on GitHub;
• You will be able to use this UI to book meeting rooms very soon, when Indico 2.2 comes out!
• The data about the showers and their location is true (as well as the photos), except for the number of showers available (we didn’t have time to find the exact values, so just randomized them);
• We launched the site by the end of the 31st of March (Geneva time), which created some confusion. We did that in order to maximize the number of timezones that were covered;
• Around 750 users had created an account at CERN Showers by the end of the day;
• You have managed to come up with very creative reasons for your bookings. Here are our favourites:
  • This is SOOOO great ! With the recurring booking feature, I’ll never forget a monthly shower anymore !
  • IR-ECO-CO team building event including foam party etc.
  • Test of my new dinghy boat. Catastrophic flooding expected.
  • Not allowed to wash walrus in office.
  •  Hadronic shower collaboration meeting. Bubble chamber section after coffee break. Vidyo not available, bring your own soap
  • Rubber duck collaboration meeting 🦆🦆🦆
  • J’aimerais garder les idées fraîches…
  • Need to test my new armrests in a safe environment
  • I’ll be using it with a friend (Note: we're pretty sure this would break a few CERN rules)
• No showers 🚿 were harmed in the making of this joke.