As I sit writing this article, I’m thinking about the jobs that I have on at the moment. There are quite a few. I can honestly say that around 50% of them would not be mine (or at least not in the way they are being done) without previous GeekMoots. In those previous GeekMoots I have found customers, forged and solidified relationships with suppliers, plus I have learned a great deal about CMSMS on the way. Oh, and I joined the Dev team!

Geekmoot is a fun weekend attended by serious people. For most attendees it will at least mean travelling over one border. For many it will mean a long journey through sea and air to get to Ghent. People don’t come to GeekMoot on a whim. People come to get something serious out of it.

There’s an atmosphere at the GeekMoot. It’s hard to put one’s finger on. An eagerness to share, that’s part of it. So is respect, both for ones fellow delegates and for the work and modules they have created. Regularly, between presentations, you’ll see small groups of geeks in huddles, throwing ideas at one another.Â

It’s hard not to get caught up in the atmosphere. After my first GeekMoot in Sheffield back in 2009, I was sure that unless there was absolutely no other choice, I would be using CMSMS for all my future web projects. By the time we got to Amsterdam in 2010, I was giving a presentation. When we reached 2012, I was on the Dev team and the GeekMoot organizer.Â

Come to GeekMoot with your questions. We welcome all levels of experience. Whether you are a web builder, creating sites in CMSMS (like me) who wishes to grow their knowledge further, or an experienced module developer who wants to swap concepts with other experts, you’ll find what you are looking for.Â

Be prepared to make new friends. GeekMoot is a social affair, too. After they have worked hard, the geeks play hard! In the three GeekMoots I have been to there have been so many memorable moments. Staying far too late enjoying an Italian meal with Ted Kulp back in Sheffield, talking geek, the staff standing around waiting for us to leave. The tour of Amsterdam’s red light district, where Ronny K, a local, walked an international group of attendees down the well-trodden tourist trail. Watching the difference between the Americans in the group who had likely never seen anything quite like it, and the far cooler mainland Europeans was far more entertaining than anyone standing in a ‘shop window’. Seeing the state of a Dev who had (somewhat foolhardily) tried to keep pace through the evening with the frankly 'cast-iron' Calguy in Northampton. Genuinely the greenest person I have ever seen. When the presentations are over, a huge amount of fun is had by all.

Yet, each and every time, no matter how long they stayed up chatting and debating, everyone is there for the first presentation the following day. Everything in the weekend is simply too valuable to miss.

I am impatient for GeekMoot to be here already. I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I’m looking forward to asking questions and answering them. I hope I will be looking forward to seeing you.Â