🎓 Reflections on DisCoTec 2025: Volunteering, Presenting, and Connecting

🌟 A Double Privilege

I recently had the incredible privilege of participating in DisCoTec 2025 right here in Lille — and in not just one, but two capacities:

• As a volunteer helping organize and run the conference
• As a researcher presenting my paper at the WACA workshop

This dual role gave me a unique perspective on how international research conferences work — both from behind the scenes and from the spotlight of the presentation stage.

🎭 Behind the Scenes

Being a volunteer at an academic conference is like being a stagehand at a theater production. You see everything that makes the magic happen:

Registration & Welcome

Greeting researchers from around the world as they arrive. Seeing the excitement in their eyes. Helping them navigate the venue. Small interactions that set the tone for the entire conference.

Session Management

Making sure presentations run smoothly. Managing Q&A timing. Troubleshooting tech issues. Every smooth talk has a team making it happen behind the curtain.

Networking Facilitation

Coffee breaks aren't just about coffee — they're about connections. Helping people find each other. Introducing researchers with common interests. The real magic often happens between sessions.

"The best conferences aren't just about the talks — they're about the conversations that happen in the hallways."

🎤 The Presentation Experience

Stepping up to present my own research was... exhilarating. And terrifying. And deeply rewarding.

There's something uniquely vulnerable about sharing your work with a room full of experts. Every slide, every word, every diagram represents months of thinking, coding, experimenting, and writing.

The Nerves

Heart pounding. Palms sweating. The audience waiting. That moment before you speak feels like standing on the edge of a cliff.

The Flow

And then you start talking about something you care deeply about. The nerves transform into energy. The audience becomes collaborators, not judges. Questions become opportunities to dive deeper.

The Feedback

The Q&A session was gold. Insightful questions that made me think differently about my own work. Suggestions I hadn't considered. Connections to other research I didn't know about.

🤝 The Power of Connection

Beyond the formal sessions, the real treasure of DisCoTec was the people.

I had conversations that will shape my research for years to come. Met potential collaborators. Found kindred spirits wrestling with similar problems. Discovered new perspectives that challenged my assumptions.

🔮 Looking Forward

DisCoTec 2025 reinforced something I already believed: the challenges in building autonomous, resilient systems are exciting, and we can make meaningful progress through shared knowledge and cooperation.

To everyone I met at the conference — thank you for the conversations, the questions, the coffee, and the inspiration. See you at the next one! 👋

And to anyone considering attending or volunteering at an academic conference: do it. The experience is invaluable.