Shareware Beach

The 5th annual European Shareware Conference was a success. This year, the conference was held in Brussels, Belgium. This made it very easy for me to combine attending the conference with visiting relatives. My wife and I stayed at the Sofitel Astoria where the conference was held.

The hotel was built in 1909 and is a listed monument. This means that its owners have to maintain the building in its original style, which is very stylish and luxurious. It is situated within walking distance of Brussels central station and the grand place, making both travel and entertainment very convenient.

We arrived early Friday afternoon. We wouldn’t want to miss the sight seeing, beer tasting and dinner event sponsored by Digital River.

The conference started in earnest on Saturday morning, with just over 100 attendees. Like every year, the sessions were informative, covering a variety of topics, with plenty of interaction between the speakers and the audience.

Saturday night there was another beer tasting event, sponsored by the Association for Competitive Technology, an advocacy group of small and mid-sized technology companies. The event was far from redundant. With almost 400 breweries producing over 1400 beers, there are plenty of different tastes to sample.

On Sunday morning, one of the sessions was canceled to make room for a classical concert organized by the hotel. ESWC attendees were invited to attend this one-hour concert free of charge.

All in all, everybody seems to have had a great time, and we’re already looking forward to next year’s conference. Place and date are to be determined.

Pictures!