I submitted multiple talks for this year’s Devoxx Greece, and, happily, the reviewers selected Demonolithing The Monolith? Forget It! to be presented. I’ve given this talk previously (including other Devoxx-branded conferences), and inevitably it generates hallway conversations about the arguments made against attempting a demonolithing initiative. Perhaps more exciting is the opportunity to travel to Greece for the first time.
Travel Challenges
My original itinerary departed Minneapolis-St. Paul Tuesday and arrived at Athens Wednesday, with my talk scheduled for Thursday. Unforeseen was the one-day Greek air traffic controller strike which closed Greek airspace Wednesday: expectations were that the threats would result in changes and the strike would be canceled. Whoops. Delta rebooked me on flights departing Wednesday and arriving Thursday early morning (with a long layover at JFK). I would arrive in time for my talk if the new itinerary went according to plan.
Ultimately, the itinerary held and everything fell into place as hoped for:
- Wheels down at 8:30am;
- Found my scheduled ride whom got me to the hotel at 10:00am to check-in;
- Eating a hotel breakfast by 10:30am – the site of the Acropolis from the hotel restaurant is an eye-opener – followed by a shower and change of clothes;
- Found the Athens Metro, bought a ticket, and arrived at the conference by 11:30.
After registering and receiving my badge, I found a table to sit at. Bad decision, as I realized I was fading, so I got up and found the cafe where I could buy a Coca-Cola and other sugary goods. Just an hour to walk around until my talk.
It’s Showtime!
Sleep-deprived, running on adrenaline, caffeine and sugar, I ascended the stage at 12:50pm.
The conference is staged at the Megaron Event Centre, which I later learned its larger spaces are typically concert venues for classical music and opera. I presented in Banquet, which holds approximately 650 people. It was almost completely filled for my talk, to-date my largest audience. Wow.
Having given the talk previously, less mental processing is needed – very helpful when one’s tired – and I quickly got into the zone where the talk just flows. My concern that I would suddenly go mute as I forgot everything was unfounded, the only glitch being a persistent cough picked up while traveling. Otherwise, the 40 minutes flew by and suddenly I’m concluding things!
[The day’s only fail was forgetting my clicker at the hotel, which is definitely not a deal breaker.]
It’s Showtime, Again?!?
Some presenters canceled due to the strike when replacement flights could not be arranged, leaving some gaps in the agenda. I volunteered my Data Modeling for Software Engineers talk, a intended to debut at NDC Oslo, as a substitute: Devoxx Greece talks are 40 minutes, NC Oslo 60 minutes, and I was 85% complete. The organizers immediately said yes, so I spent Friday completing the slides, tightening up the flow, uploading the presentation, etc.
And that’s how I found myself on the Banquet stage at 10am Saturday morning, giving this new talk to an audience of about 200. The talk had evolved after getting feedback from friends/peers, so only my cat had heard this version. With fake confidence, I jumped in and gave it everything I had.
Despite uncertainty on whether I (or the talk) was ready, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. I spent over 30 minutes with multiple people discussing the content, answering questions, etc..
And guess what: Tech Talks Weekly listed it as a top talk for that week. Needless to say, I am very happy with the outcome.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I enjoyed attending at Devoxx Greece 2025. Another well-run, Devoxx conference, met some incredible people, had incredible conversations. Megaron is centrally-located and, at least from my hotel, easy to reach via public transport. The rooms were large, airy, bright, comfortable and excellent for presenting. The only negative vibe I had was the lack of hang-out spaces for speakers and attendees: vendor booths shrunk the hallway spaces where everyone circulated, and too few tables/chairs/benches are available for people to sit and collaborate.
Overall, I enjoyed myself and am pleased with my talks, and plan to submit for next year’s conference as well!
Image Credits
- “Acropolis” © 2025 Scott C. Sosna
- Other images © 2025 Devoxx Greece
