Tuesday, 11 February 2025
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3 days out of my life, drove almost 2000km and spent almost a day in the car. All this to go for the first time to one of the biggest diving events in our southern neighbours – International Techmeeting 2015, held in Bratislava. Despite all the tiredness it must be noted at the very beginning – it was worth it!
We arrived in the Slovakian capital on Friday evening. Three people, who are responsible for the proper functioning of the portal, although exhausted, full of curiosity and enthusiasm entered the lobby of the “Bratislava” hotel. Already at the entrance we met a few familiar faces, who showed up a bit earlier and gave us some tips on where to take care of all the formalities related to our arrival.
Already at the start there were a few problems. First, it turned out that there was a problem with one of the rooms we’d booked, and then we ended up at the end of a huge queue waiting for the festival registration. The organizers could certainly learn something from the organizers of the biggest Polish events in this respect. Fortunately, we didn’t have to work in such conditions and we accepted everything with a smile on our face.
Friday evening was devoted to issues and presentations related to closed circuits. Each of the speakers had 10-20 minutes to present issues related to the topic they had prepared. The whole event lasted from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Altogether, the guests could get acquainted with 12 issues connected with rebreathers.
At this point it was time for integration. More and more people were gathering in the hotel lobby. Some had just arrived, others had let go of closed circuit topics and had been building up the atmosphere for a couple of hours already. A lot of acquaintances, a lot of unfamiliar faces with whom one quickly made friends. The atmosphere was very relaxed and full of humour, and the general hustle and bustle was cut short by bursts of laughter every now and then.
The next day started early. It was scheduled to start at 8.00 a.m. and the panel with lectures was to last simultaneously in two halls from 9.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. (in practice it turned out a bit longer). There were several interesting items on the menu, for which it was really worth coming to Bratislava. Among the most popular were:
Krzysztof Starnawski’s presentation on the exploration of the Czech cave Hranicka Propast was very popular that day. Unfortunately, due to long delays, he presented only one of the two prepared topics. Herbert Nitsch, on the other hand, received after his lecture probably the longest and largest ovation of all the speakers at this year’s Techmeeting. For the fans of the Austrian we have a surprise! After all, we managed to exchange a few sentences with him, which we will present soon in the form of an interview.
The evening culminated with the official party, which, due to the huge number of guests, had a few weaker moments in the form of sizeable queues. Fortunately, we easily retreated to our pre-selected positions (the evening before), where, once again in the hotel lobby, the party continued at its best.
Sunday was the last day of Techmeeting 2015. Everything, just like the day before, started at 8.00 a.m. Lectures and presentations were again conducted simultaneously in two rooms, with the difference that they were scheduled to end at 5.00 p.m. An hour later, a raffle was scheduled, with valuable prizes to be won, including dive computers and a Suex X-Joy scooter. Unfortunately, due to not the easiest logistics, we had to evacuate at 1.30 p.m., because we had a hard way to Gdańsk and Giżycko ahead of us.
Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning some interesting presentations that took place on the last day of the conference:
Overall impressions after our first Techmeeting are very positive. Of course, there were a few mistakes, but only those who do nothing make mistakes. Things like more efficient registration of participants or organizing more competent (in terms of diving) people to conduct translations are things that can be easily improved for the next edition. From what we have been informed, the situation with occupying stands in the fair part was also strange, but we do not have more knowledge about it, so apart from noting the situation we will refrain from comment.
The organisers certainly deserve a big applause for preparing a great event with a very well varied programme. Thanks to this everyone could find something for themselves and the general perception of the event among the people they met was very good. Another plus should be given for the very relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. There were many nice people from many countries, with whom it was nice to exchange a few sentences and impressions. Hotel “Bratislava”, despite minor shortcomings (hardly anyone was indifferent to the meals), fulfilled its role, and the situation, where from the place of accommodation we had a few dozen meters to the lecture halls, was very comfortable.
Let’s hope that next year it will be even better and we will see you again in Bratislava!
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