When I hosted the first HETMA Roadshow at Northwestern University in 2023, immediately following EDUCAUSE, I never imagined I would one day be writing about HETMA’s first Roadshow in Europe.
Back then, the concept was still new. We believed there was value in creating smaller regional events where higher education technology professionals could come together to learn from one another, tour innovative spaces, meet with sponsors, and build relationships without the cost and travel commitments associated with major industry conferences.
Last week, that idea crossed an ocean.
I had the privilege of attending HETMA’s first-ever European Roadshow at Thomas More University in Mechelen, Belgium.
For those of us who have been involved with HETMA for a while, the format was familiar. Sponsors sharing solutions and ideas. End users sharing challenges and successes. Campus tours. Networking. Good conversations. New relationships.
For many of our European colleagues, however, this was something entirely new.
Regional events like this have become commonplace in the United States. They are one of the ways HETMA helps bring our community together. Not everyone can travel to the large industry shows. Some institutions do not have the budget. Others have family obligations or staffing limitations that make extended travel difficult. Some professionals work at smaller institutions where every travel dollar has to be carefully justified.
Roadshows help solve that problem.
They bring education, networking, and collaboration directly to the people who need it. They create opportunities for local professionals to connect with peers facing many of the same challenges. They allow attendees to build relationships that often become just as valuable as any technology they see demonstrated.
In many cases, scholarships are available to help offset travel costs, including hotel accommodations, making participation even more accessible.
One of the things that struck me most during our time in Belgium was the passion attendees had for their institutions and their students. Despite being separated by an ocean, the conversations felt remarkably familiar. We talked about budgets, staffing, technology refresh cycles, sustainability, faculty expectations, and student experiences. The challenges may have had different accents or languages, but they were the same challenges many of us face every day.
More importantly, there was a genuine excitement about building community.
Many attendees were meeting peers from neighboring institutions for the first time. Connections were being formed that will continue long after the event ended. Watching that happen reminded me of the early days of HETMA. Communities do not appear overnight. They are built one conversation, one event, and one relationship at a time.
That is exactly what happened in Mechelen.
The event itself would not have been possible without our sponsors, whose support allows us to keep these events affordable and accessible for end users. Thank you to every sponsor who believed in the vision of bringing the Roadshow experience to Europe and helping us prove that the model works just as well overseas as it does here at home.
Likewise, thank you to every attendee who invested their time to join us. Community only works when people show up, share ideas, ask questions, and help one another grow.
A special thank you goes to Tom, Mia, Kenny, and Nico from Thomas More University. Their hospitality was incredible, but even more impressive was the vision they have for their institution and learning spaces.
Thomas More itself is a relatively young university, founded in 2012 through the merger of several institutions throughout the region. In many ways, that story felt fitting for a HETMA event. The university stands as an example of what can happen when organizations come together around a common purpose while preserving the strengths that made them successful in the first place.
One of the greatest benefits of Roadshows has always been the tours. It is one thing to hear someone describe a space. It is another thing entirely to stand inside it and understand the decisions, compromises, and innovations that brought it to life.
As Tom and Mia described the process of visiting institutions throughout Europe and beyond before designing their spaces, I was reminded of something we have seen repeatedly through Roadshows. Great learning environments rarely happen in isolation. The best ideas are borrowed, adapted, improved, and shared.
In many ways, that exchange of ideas is exactly why Roadshows exist.
That philosophy was evident throughout the Thomas More campus. From their innovative, divisible auditorium featuring a retractable dvLED wall to their collaborative, tiered learning spaces, every room reflected lessons gathered from other institutions and adapted to meet their own unique needs.
It was a powerful reminder that none of us are doing this work alone.
That spirit of collaboration extends to hosting Roadshows themselves.
One of the most common questions we receive is what it costs to host an event. The answer surprises many people. There is no cost to the host institution beyond the time required for planning, setup, and teardown. HETMA works with sponsors to cover event costs while providing a platform for institutions to showcase their campus, share their successes, and contribute to the broader higher education technology community.
If you are proud of what your institution is doing, hosting a Roadshow is one of the best ways to share those accomplishments while helping to strengthen the community around you.
Of course, not everything happened inside meeting rooms and auditoriums.
Mechelen itself was beautiful.
The city provided the perfect backdrop for the event, with its historic architecture, incredible chocolate, welcoming atmosphere, and some truly memorable Belgian beer. We stayed at Hotel Het Anker, adjacent to the brewery of the same name and home of Gouden Carolus, one of Belgium’s most celebrated beers.
One highlight of the trip was the climb to the top of St. Rumbold’s Tower. Alongside Joe, our significant others, and perhaps more determination than common sense, we tackled all 538 steps of the spiral staircase to reach the top. The views over Mechelen were spectacular.
The climb itself was significantly less enjoyable while it was happening.
Like many worthwhile experiences, it became much better immediately after it was over.
As I reflect on the event, I keep coming back to the same thought.
For perhaps the first time in a long time, I found myself surrounded by people attending their first HETMA event. Watching new connections form, seeing conversations continue long after the sessions ended, and hearing attendees discuss challenges that sounded remarkably similar to those we face at home reminded me of what made me fall in love with this community in the first place.
It was a reminder that while technology changes and our campuses may be separated by thousands of miles, the things that bring us together remain remarkably consistent.
The technology was great. The spaces were impressive. The city was beautiful.
But the people are what made it special.
The conversations. The relationships. The shared passion for improving the student experience through technology.
That is what HETMA has always been about.
Finally, I would be remiss if I did not thank our Regional Chair Jon Youse. While some of us were overseas, Jon was back home helping to keep everything moving forward. Like so much of what makes HETMA successful, many of those contributions happen behind the scenes. They are easy to overlook, but they are absolutely essential.
The first European Roadshow may be in the books, but it feels much more like the beginning of a new chapter than the end of a successful event.
And I cannot wait to see where the road takes us next.
Interested in hosting a HETMA Roadshow? Reach out to our Regional Chair.
Make sure you check out our next Road Show in Omaha, NE.
Curious how to participate as a sponsor, check out our sponsorship page here.
