20/09/2026
There is a first time for everything, and this week I moderaten my first conference.
I had prepared for it for weeks: reading papers, speaking to the speakers beforehand, making notes, changing questions and, knowing myself, probably overpreparing slightly. 😆 What I hadn’t anticipated was how much I would enjoy it.
Three sessions, a pre-conference workshop and many conversations later, I am going home with much more than a new experience.
There were dinners that lasted longer than planned, lots of laughter, old friends and new ones, and some wonderfully direct conversations with American delegates who became new buddies very quickly.
There was also Auschwitz. It feels almost strange to mention that in the same post, but it was part of this week too. One day laughing around a dinner table, the next standing in a place where words become very small. I am still processing that visit and probably will be for some time.
And then there was the feedback from the speakers.
That genuinely touched me. Several told me they could see how much I had invested in understanding their work, and that they appreciated the questions and the conversations we created together. When you are moderating people whose work you respect (and doing it for the first time) that means a lot.
Perhaps the nicest discovery was that moderating didn’t feel like playing a new role at all. I could bring exactly what I love doing anyway: being curious about people, preparing properly, listening closely, following what becomes interesting in the moment and adding some humor along the way.
Apparently, I didn’t have to become a moderator. I could just be An.
So I am going home tired, full of ideas, very grateful, probably slightly underfed during the days, but overfed on the last evening 😂, and with one unexpected conclusion:
I would very much like to do this again.
Thank you to the speakers, colleagues, friends and all the new people I met this week. You made my first experience as a moderator one I will remember.
