We started the trip by meeting at the University at 3 am on Thursday morning; Adam, our minibus driver picked us up and packed our bags away. After the 3 hour journey to Manchester Airport, we got past through security and waited at the gate for our plane to arrive. The flight was delayed by 2 hours unfortunately but that didn’t dampen our spirits, as we were all excited to see Brussels.
On arriving, we took a one-hour shuttle journey to the city centre at Brussels Midi Train Station. Whilst at the station, we got a Travelcard which allows us to travel around the city using a bus, tram or metro. We then proceeded to get the Metro towards the hotel.
Despite our flight delays, we were still too early to check into the hotel so we decided to sightsee to pass the time. We visited the centre of Brussels and perused for a little while before check-in time. After we had checked in and freshened up a bit, we had the task of finding some food! We settled on burgers and they were very good!
As a group, we split up as some people had registered to volunteer and others not. The people who didn’t volunteer went to visit the Atomium.
The sightseeing group spent a good half a day there – the entire complex was made up of giant spheres which were shaped like an iron particle. It was very fascinating as there was a mix of vintage art, artefacts and interactive exhibits. There were also several rooms with light shows and they had posters available of them, which we took back for the Computer Science department.
Those who volunteered on Friday did tasks such as deploying networks and AV Equipment, furniture and signage. This was the necessary preparation before the event. During the event, tasks included heralding talks, running the cloakroom, and helping at the Info desks.
The city itself was beautiful and we took MANY pictures whilst exploring. The food was super tasty and I’m pretty sure we all ate our body weight in waffles! No regrets there! We spent a few evenings at networking events such as Delirium and the CodeThink event. It gave us an opportunity to meet other people and enjoy the beer of Brussels!
The actual conference was great because there was such a wide variety of talks going on at once – everyone split off and listened to what interested them. It was based at ULB, so it was all split into different buildings. The talks were also streamed so if the one you wanted to attend was full, you could watch the stream and no one would miss out.
There were various stalls active during the event, where companies could promote and share their product with the public. They also gave out various freebies such as stickers - many of us collected them! A wide range of open source software developers was present - even other companies like Amadeus who have a connection to some Aberystwyth students doing their Industrial year. As FOSDEM is a free event (in both senses of the word), we wanted to give back to the event. Everyone who attended from Aberystwyth helped to volunteer for the event at some part.
After the event, everyone helped with the cleanup, which included sweeping all of the floors and collecting rubbish, moving all of the furniture back, and reverting the university back to the state it was in before FOSDEM set foot. After the cleanup was completed, all the volunteers were rewarded with a meal consisting of sandwiches and drinks. Finally, as is customary every year, all of the Aberystwyth students, past and present, took a photo to commemorate the occasion.
Thanks has to be given to the Aberystwyth Computer Science department, who helped pay for our Transport within the UK
More photos can be found Here (Requires an Aber Login)