So the event is over. I think I can say for all three organizers, Mladen Prajdić, Matija Lah, and me, that we are tired now. However, we are extremely satisfied. It was a great event. First few numbers and comparison with SQL Saturday #274, the first SQL Saturday Slovenia event that took place last year.
|
SQL Saturday #274 |
SQL Saturday #356 |
People |
135 |
220 |
Show rate |
~87% |
~95% |
Proposed sessions |
40 |
82 |
Selected sessions |
15 |
24 |
Selected speakers |
14 |
23 |
Countries |
12 |
16 |
The numbers nearly doubled. We are especially proud of the show rate; with 95%, this is much better than average for a free event, and probably the highest so far for a SQL Saturday. We asked registered attendees to be fair and to unregister if they know they can’t attend the event in order to make room for those from the waiting list. An old Slovenian proverb says “A nice word finds a nice place”, and it works. 36 registered attendees unregistered. Therefore, we have to thank to both, the attendees of the event and those who unregistered.
Of course, as always, we also need to thank to all of the speakers, sponsors and volunteers. All volunteers were very helpful; however, I would like to especially point out Saša Mašič. Her work goes well beyond simple volunteering. I must mention also the FRI, the Faculty of Computer and Information Science, where the event was hosted for free. It is also worth mentioning that we are lucky to live in Ljubljana, such a beautiful city with extremely nice inhabitants who like to enjoy good food, hanging around and mingling, and long parties. Because of that we could be sure in advance that both speakers and attendees from other countries would enjoy spending time here also outside the event, that they would feel safe, and get help whenever they would need it.
From the organizational perspective, we tried to do our best, and we hope that everything was OK for speakers, sponsors, volunteers, and attendees. Thank you all!