And that’s a wrap!

Done! PIDfest 2024 is finished. A year of preparation, stress, and organising has paid off with many people telling me how much they enjoyed it. Several people from several countries are interested in organising the next one (we’re recommending that they hold off until 2026 to give themselves lots of time to prepare).

Possibly the most stressful moment for me came when I was chairing a session. Three minutes before the session started, I learned that my doggo had been attacked. Then, during the session, there was a technical issue preventing the presenter’s slides from showing.

Thankfully the presenter took it all in stride - they knew their material very well as was able to keep going. I gave him a few more minutes to allow for the disruption, but then had to stay in the session to equalise the time penalty between all presenters! This meant that I wasn’t able to go to a session where I was listed as a presenter - but thankfully I was the second understudy and everything was well in hand.

All this while, I was furiously messaging my dog sitter to learn how my doggo was going.

So I wouldn’t recommend my experience to anyone else. Try to keep your stresses to just one at a time.

I’m looking forward to working out where the next PIDfest is, and also working out whether I’m allowed to go.