📅 Date: 6 May 2025
📍 Location: Howest, Bruges
🎯 Type: PR Event – Professional Networking
Organising our own Tech & Meet session as part of Howest’s Professional Networking course was a unique challenge—and a rewarding one. Alongside Gavin, Vincent, and Serafim, we hosted an industry-focused talk on cyber deception and resilience, featuring speakers from Accenture Belgium.
🤝 From Concept to Reality
The event was born out of our shared goal to bridge the gap between students and cybersecurity professionals. With Gavin’s internship at Accenture, we reached out to two experts in the field:
- Stijn Tassenoy – Cyber Protection Specialist
- Sven Buse – Cyber Resilience Manager
Both were Howest alumni themselves, which helped make the collaboration feel more personal and relevant.
🛠️ Behind the Scenes
Our chosen date, May 6, aligned perfectly after a larger Artifhacking workshop. This let us ride the momentum of increased campus activity while still keeping our event focused and targeted.
We split roles for setup, speaker support, attendee guidance, and even managing the networking drinks afterward. The teamwork made everything feel smooth on the day, even when tech checks or last-minute adjustments were needed.
📣 Spreading the Word
We used different channels for promotion:
- LinkedIn to appeal to professionals and alumni
- WhatsApp to grab student attention with a more casual hook
- Posters & QR codes around campus (yes, we redesigned the QR after initial scanning issues!)
The campaign ran in two stages: one early teaser to generate awareness, then a push the week before to drive attendance. It worked—about half our attendees heard about it through social media.
💬 Outcome & Reflections
For many of us, this was our first taste of real event organisation—and it taught us a lot. It’s not just about logistics, but aligning the goals of students, companies, and the institution.
What stood out most for me? The atmosphere. Watching students chat with professionals, ask questions, and make connections made all the effort worth it.
Organising an event is like building a system: planning is your blueprint, collaboration is your infrastructure, and adaptability is your incident response. Without all three, nothing holds up.
A big thank-you to everyone who joined—and to my team for making it a success.