Practical information
Everything you need to know about attending TICTeC 2025
Everything you need to know about attending TICTeC 2025
Attend TICTeC 2025 in person, and you’ll have access to all conference sessions including main plenaries, presentations, Q&As, workshops, networking, lunches and the drinks reception.
As an online attendee, you’ll have access to all main plenaries and some breakout presentation/Q&A sessions. Either way, it is essential to register via Eventbrite beforehand.
TICTeC 2025 will be hosted at the Lamot Congress and Heritage Centre, right on the beautiful waterways in the historical centre of Mechelen, a small picturesque city close to Brussels and Antwerp.
Mechelen is a small and cosy city, which lends itself brilliantly to post-conference networking as delegates will easily find each other along the quaint pedestrian streets and city squares.
Belgium is a European Union member state and part of the Schengen zone.
For European citizens, a national identity card or passport is usually sufficient. In case of doubt, please check which travel documents you need for travelling to Belgium with your home country foreign office.
Citizens of these countries are required to have a visa to enter Belgium. It is advised to apply for visas as soon as possible, and ideally at least four months ahead of the conference.
Citizens of these countries are not required to have a visa to enter Belgium.
The TICTeC 2025 organisers, on request, provide an invitation letter to conference participants who need to obtain a visa. Please register for the conference (which includes the payment of the registration fee) and then request an invitation letter by sending your request to tictec@mysociety.org, together with:
a) a copy of your passport,
b) your full affiliation,
c) full professional address.
If for some reason you cannot obtain a visa, we will refund your ticket.
The TICTeC 2025 venue is fully accessible for wheelchair users. If you plan to attend TICTeC with a personal care attendant/assistant, their conference fee will be waived. Please contact tictec@mysociety.org to arrange the fee waiver/registration.
If you have special requirements such as hearing loops, sign language interpreters, specific accommodation or sensory needs, handouts in advance and/or in alternative formats such as Braille or large print etc, please contact tictec@mysociety.org with your request by close of business on 16 May 2025 so that arrangements, where possible, can be made. We will do our best to fulfil your requirements to allow you to fully participate in this event.
We will provide a wellbeing/quiet room at TICTeC 2025, where delegates can go to get away from the hustle and bustle of the conference.
The TICTeC 2025 venue has gender-neutral toilets.
mySociety is able to provide a small number of discounted or free tickets to those who otherwise would not be able to attend. To enquire about this, please email tictec@mysociety.org.
Arriving by rail: We’d love to see as many attendees as possible travelling to TICTeC by train – it’s the most sustainable option and the reason we chose Mechelen.
Mechelen is a well connected city by rail, and is only 20-25 minutes from Midi/Zuid/South, Brussels’ main station. This station is used by all mainline trains including Eurostar to London, Thalys to Paris, Amsterdam & Cologne, German Railways ICEs to Cologne & Frankfurt, Intercity trains to Luxembourg and Belgian domestic trains to Bruges, Ghent, Antwerp & so on.
As an example, travel time from London to Mechelen by rail is just under three hours.
Arriving by plane: For those with no other option, Brussels Airport (BRU) is the nearest international airport and it takes only 11 minutes by direct train to reach Mechelen. The airport train station is directly under the Departure and Arrival Halls of the airport (level -1).
From Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL), there is a shuttle bus to Mechelen train station. Travel time from Charleroi is 1-2 hours.
There are several hotels and B&Bs within very close walking distance from the TICTeC 2025 venue. We advise you to book accommodation as soon as possible as it can fill up quickly.
Recommended hotels include:
For more accommodation options, it is possible to stay in Brussels and travel by train to Mechelen (20-25 minutes).
All attendees, speakers and sponsors at TICTeC 2025 (online or in-person) are required to agree with our code of conduct. By registering for TICTeC 2025, you commit to abide by this code of conduct. Organisers will enforce this code throughout the event. We expect cooperation from all participants to help ensure a safe environment for everybody.
Registering for TICTeC 2025 means that we will process some of your personal data. Please read our Privacy Policy for a rundown of what we do with it, what that means for you, and what rights you have.
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Image credits: De Duivel en Het Paradijs by Wernervc, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons;
Vismarkt by Luc Mercelis CC BY-NC-ND/2.0.
