Back in 2024, I had the opportunity to speak at BSides Prague. At the time, I had no idea how much this event would change my life — in the best possible way. Thanks to BSides Prague, I met so many amazing people from the Czech cybersecurity community, some of whom I’m now proud to call friends. A year later, I even had the chance to step into the role of co-organizer and help bring the whole event to life. In this post, I’d like to reflect on that journey and share a few behind-the-scenes fun facts and insights you might not have known about.
It all started back in 2023 when I first heard about BSides from Sharka. She knew I was passionate about cybersecurity communities and wanted to help support and grow one myself. I did some research and found that BSides Prague had been inactive for a while. It originally started before COVID-19 but had gone quiet during the pandemic. For a moment, I swallowed my disappointment and moved on.
Then in 2024, I noticed that BSides Prague had been revived by Martin Hron, a security researcher from SentinelOne with a long history at Avast. He’s known for some mischievous articles involving IoT and coffee machine ransomware. I was genuinely excited that the event was coming back to life in my country, and I decided that no matter what, I would submit a talk. And I did.
Unfortunately, my talk was rejected in the first round of selections. However, the organizers later decided to open a second track called “Balcony Talks,” and since my talk had received a high rating, I got my shot.
I hadn’t expected this turn of events, so I had already bought a ticket as an attendee. I was planning to attend no matter what. Still, I didn’t want to come empty-handed. Around that time, I had invested in a badge-making machine and came up with an idea. I would ask for permission to create BSides Prague 2024 badges and bring them as a gift for every attendee. I reached out directly to Martin, who immediately agreed. From there, my friends (the infamous Hungo Bros) and I got to work and began manufacturing.
During the event, I also tried to help out wherever I could. Afterwards, I had the chance to hang out with Martin and Zdeněk, another co-organizer and a friend of mine. About a month later, I received a message from Martin. He told me that he and the rest of the organizing team had discussed things internally and wanted to invite me to join them. I was honored by the offer and gladly accepted. I even visited Martin in his “cave” in our BSides Prague z.s. Headquarters in Želešice.
One of the things I’ve always admired about Martin is his craftsmanship and creativity. Creativity is something we both share. One of his ideas for BSides Prague 2025 was to build a wall. Not to keep immigrants out, of course, but to capture everyone’s attention. Since we partnered with Amity, a local company that makes lemonades and matcha, we came up with the idea to buy a bunch of LED lights and place them inside the emptied bottles. Unfortunately, with the rush of 2025 preparations, we weren’t able to bring it to life during the event. But the idea is ready — and we’re saving it for 2026!
We also had software that allowed us to change the colors of the LED lights and display custom text. You might notice that the bottles are wrapped in black paper. This was to block interference from the light emitted by other bottles nearby.
In the photo, you can also spot VHS cassettes. These were given as gifts to the most active attendees and contained all the recordings from BSides Prague 2024. It took several hours to transfer the recordings onto the tapes, but it was worth it.
The point is, if you’re going to run with a ridiculous idea, you have to do it properly.
I was originally tasked with two areas: social media and volunteers. Given my borderline influencer-level spamming on LinkedIn, and the fact that I was the youngest in the team (believe it or not), it felt like a natural choice to put me in charge of socials.
We expected BSides Prague 2025 to be about twice as big as the previous year, and organizing an event of that scale takes a lot of manpower to keep things running smoothly. As someone who does not mind leading and motivating others, I was also given the responsibility of assembling an ultimate team of volunteers to support us when needed.
I like to approach things from different angles whenever I can. Since the theme for BSides Prague 2025 was “Revolution to the Evolution,” we thought: why not take that literally? And if you’re wondering what the BSides Prague logo looks like printed on a historic printer… here it is:
When it comes to organizing a conference, there are usually two main challenges: finding the right venue and securing enough partners to support it financially. At BSides Prague, we believe that each venue should be unique. Since the event is international and our speakers and attendees come from all over the world, we want to share some of the most interesting places our beautiful country has to offer. And we want to introduce those places to locals too.
That’s why we set out to find the perfect venue for us. Given that the theme was “Evolution to the Revolution,” we knew something historic would be a great fit.
We visited over a dozen places before we finally stumbled upon something truly interesting — an old monastery called Gabriel Loci, located near Praha–Anděl. From the photos, it looked like an ancient castle, earning it the nickname “Czech Hogwarts.”
The venue looked amazing and, at first glance, seemed to fit our estimate of around 400 attendees (more on that later…).
Even just from the pictures, the venue looked stunning — and in person, it truly was. But we quickly realized that choosing this location would come with a number of challenges. The rooms and halls were completely empty, which meant we would need to bring in not only furniture, but also all the necessary tech and equipment to make the event happen.
It was a tough decision. We had found the perfect venue, but the additional costs could seriously strain our already limited budget.
It’s worth pointing out that everyone on the organizing team has a full-time job. We put this event together in our free time, which means we don’t have piles of money set aside to turn it into a flashy, over-the-top production. BSides has always been an event built by the community, for the community.
But as you can see, even when we’re facing difficult decisions, we try to keep our optimism and wear our happy faces. I have to admit that the time I spent before, during, and after the event was an emotional rollercoaster. There were moments when I felt completely drained, but there was always someone who stepped in and lifted me back up.
I’m incredibly lucky to have strong support in my personal life from my beloved girlfriend, as well as from the amazing people on the team.
Okay, let’s jump into BSides Prague 2025. This time, we had some exciting updates, including a new logo and some fresh tech. The circular display you see is courtesy of Martin. Now, I am going to share with you some of the behind-the-scenes from our preparation.
One of the new additions was the design of a brand-new badge. Inspired by old rotary telephones, Martin, Mr. Hi, and Marek (two other co-organizers) created a badge that not only resembles the classic look but also includes a slot for a new chip.
Yes, this year we introduced our very first generation of electronic badges.
Each attendee received a chip they could use for various activities throughout the event. We designed multiple challenges where participants could earn experience points, and those with the highest scores received a reward. The software on the chips was reversible, allowing curious attendees to dig deeper and uncover some of the secrets Marek had hidden for them!
One of the fun new additions was the interactive panels. They were used for a variety of activities, including signing up for the CTF, submitting answers, and displaying useful information from attendees’ Sched profiles — such as their nicknames, profile picture, and XP points. Now that these panels have been battle-tested, we’re planning to improve them even further for BSides Prague 2026.
After the badge gets assembled, it started blinking as well as displayed the nickname and some fancy stuff. Compared to the previous year, this electronic badge looks really snazzy.
Turns out that if you want to power up so many badges, it is required to have many batteries. The delivery drivers have visited our houses nonstop as they have delivered all the stuff needed for this year.
And when I say the deliveries were going around the clock, I really mean it. As I mentioned earlier, one disadvantage of an empty venue is that we have to bring in absolutely everything — including clothes hangers. It might sound funny, but it’s a real necessity, so I ordered 400 hangers to make sure attendees could hang their coats.
Logistically, it turned into quite a challenge, but thanks to Zdeněk, we managed to move everything in. And if anyone wants a free clothes hanger, let me know as I still have a few left.
One thing I really enjoyed during the preparation phase was creating new and creative swag, both for the attendees and for the organizers. This year, I arranged personalized hoodies for all the organizers, and they turned out great. I even wear mine to other events from time to time.
A new addition to the swag this year was a set of caps for the volunteers, along with a red one for our main conductor, Martin. If you’re wondering why we chose these colors, think about Santa and his elf helpers. We also figured no one would be wearing a green hat at the event, which meant attendees could easily spot the volunteers and ask for help if needed.
The volunteers did an amazing job this year. From setting up the venue, to running things smoothly in the background, to supporting us from start to finish. Thanks to various contacts and friends, we gathered a strong volunteer team. Some, like Rita Nemetz, even brought valuable insights from the international scene. And I am really happy that bunch of the Czechitas students of Digital Academy: Cybersecurity as well as the absolvents decided to join us as volunteers as well.
Same as last year, my team and I created a whole batch of badges. About 400, as that was our initial estimate for the number of attendees. After countless late nights, we managed to deliver. We also improved the manufacturing process, which allowed us to produce badges faster and with better quality. We even managed to fix some that had already been made but turned out malformed.
We originally planned for around 400 attendees. This number filled up quickly, and our Sched platform was set to stop registrations once we reached that limit. All our preparations were optimized and scaled for 400 people.
The thing is, having a plan is one thing and reality is another. Due to a design error and some late sign-ups, our numbers quickly jumped to 500. By the end, we had more than 550 attendees. This naturally raised concerns within our team. We had to upscale the event in a hurry, which we managed to do, but it came with a lot of stress.
In situations like this, you can’t help but start asking yourself questions. What if we run out of food? What if we run out of water? What if one of the toilets stops working? Luckily, none of these things happened. That last one, especially, would have been a pretty shitty situation. Literally.
One thing I should probably point out is that the venue was completely empty. We had to build the stage and set up all the chairs ourselves. Once we finished, it looked much better.
When we first saw the room called Garden of Eden, we immediately knew it would look epic, but we also realized there would be a problem with the screen because the ceiling was transparent. This issue was solved by using a large LED screen, which in the end allowed the presentations to be displayed properly. One adjustment we could have made would be to push the panel wall a bit higher.
And I have to admit that with the lightning, everything looks much better…
One moment that really stood out for me was when the opening scene of our trailer played, welcoming everyone to BSides Prague 2025. I do not want to sound melodramatic, but I even shed a tear. Creating videos is something we always approach with creativity.
With the lighting and everything else set up, we moved straight into the talks and the venue quickly filled up. Since we had multiple tracks, workshops, and extra activities, the attendees spread out across the entire space. A friend of mine, who was also attending, asked how many talks I had managed to see and which one I enjoyed the most. To their surprise, I replied that I had not seen any. I spent the whole time running around, putting out fires, and making sure everyone was having the time of their life. Fortunately, I had a great crew of volunteers to back me up.
After two days of presentations and workshops, we slowly transitioned into the afterparty, which featured a variety of activities and special talks. It was a great opportunity to connect with others and chat about more than just cybersecurity. As with most good afterparties, there were drinks and, of course, arcade games. Our partners from the Localhost Village organized a Hacker’s Jeopardy competition for the attendees, which was played at the end of the event.
These four months gave me time to look back at everything in retrospect and ask myself whether it was all worth it. I know that every member of our team asked themselves the same question. We put a lot of effort and energy into hosting the event and making sure it ran smoothly.
When I compare being an organizer to being an attendee a year earlier, there is a clear difference in how one views an event. As an attendee, I was in silent awe and enjoyed every small detail. Even when there were small hiccups or things that did not go exactly as planned, I still thought everything was fine. As an organizer, however, you tend to notice only what goes wrong, because you are the one dealing with it.
Whenever I walked around and saw attendees enjoying themselves, it reassured me that the event was a success. By the end, I felt truly proud of what we had put together. It motivated me to improve for the next year, and it confirmed my belief that the cybersecurity community in the Czech Republic is something special. And yes, we do plan to make BSides Prague 2025 even more epic. As one of the attendees said, “We are a tribe,” and I am happy to be part of it and support it.
