Lightning Tools at ECS2026
After a packed start to 2026 that had already taken us to events in New Zealand, Bosnia and Florida, next up was ECS. It feels like a home fixture for us now because, since 2024, Lightning Tools has been both co-organiser and sponsor.
Back in January, Brett and Matt headed to Cologne with Zoe Watson from 365Tribe to meet the core ECS team (Adis & Margit Jugo, Mustafa & Aza Toroman, Elena Kovačević and Inela Subašić, amongst others) at the new Confex venue. A quick tour confirmed just how new and how large the space was. Later that day, Isidora Katanic from Experts Inside and EasyLife 365 joined us to review potential venues for the party, and Watersaal Am Dom stood out immediately. We also booked a covers band after a visit to Papa Joe’s Jazz Lokal.
January was also when we started discussing booth ideas. We always try to do something memorable at ECS and ESPC, especially when driving means we can bring extra kit. This year we landed on a live art wall, and before long Ery Burns had agreed to take it on.
The Hohenzollern Bridge as viewed in January, and inspiration for our 2026 ECS booth.
Thursday 30th April – New Van Day
Our trusty Ford Transit has carried us to plenty of conferences, but this was the day we finally said goodbye to the silver van and welcomed a new steel-blue replacement. The windy weather made applying the graphics a challenge, made even more memorable by my son helping out despite a recently broken collarbone.
Matt’s son Oscar single handedly helping Brett with the new van graphics. The epitome of last minute!
Sunday 3rd May – Road Trippin’
By 07:30, big blue was loaded with our long-time road-trip teammate Kira Comerford and her camera gear. Kira films a lot of ECS content and, being local to us, usually makes the journey with us. The trip was smooth, we grabbed our snacks at the FlexiPass tunnel kiosk, and after a quick AI rendering of the underwater sea-life view, we were into Europe. The Sunday traffic had certainly woken up by the time we were skirting around Brussels, which seems to get us every time we drive East. Once in Cologne, we met with Adis & Margit Jugo, Mustafa, Elena and the wider ECS crew. Meanwhile Kat and Zoe had flown in, and we all ate dinner in the Old Town, with a mix of excitement and trepidation of what was to come.
Kira marvelling at the view from the tunnel!
Monday 4th May – Venue Setup
Monday was all about ECS setup. That meant the less glamorous jobs: positioning banners and signs, and helping pack around 3,000 attendee bags. Once things quietened down, some of us found a back room for a quick musical rehearsal. More about that later…We ended the day with dinner at the local L’Osteria, where the pizzas were as enormous as ever.
Despite the advances of M365 Copilot, 3,000 bags still get stuffed by hand.
Tuesday 5th May – Sponsor Setup
Tuesday was the day Ery, our artist, flew in. After the odd stress dream about her not making it, I was very relieved to get a 4:45am message from Manchester airport and another by 8am confirming she had landed safely in Cologne.
Our only ECS team duty that morning was scanning delegates into their full-day tutorials, and by 9:30 we were finished and ready to switch hats.
From that point on, we went from ECS helpers to Lightning Tools the sponsor. As often happens, we had to wait for the booth builder to finish the structure before we could complete our setup, and there was some delay because the same team was also handling the keynote staging, lighting and sound. Even so, by late afternoon we got everything to a good place, with only a little swag layout left for the next morning.
That evening we headed to the Skybow drinks party. Skybow has been a long-term partner of ours, and their pre-show social has become a bit of a tradition. Thanks to Sarah, Sebastian, Matthias and the Skybow team for hosting us.
Skybow Cocktails
Wednesday 6th May – Expo Day 1 and the Party
Wednesday was always going to be a long one: 11 hours in the expo hall followed by the evening party. After an early breakfast and the ECS battle-plan meeting, the doors opened and it was finally time to see whether all the planning would pay off. Our booth centred on a simple idea: start with a blank canvas and let it evolve into a live artwork over two days. The day itself ran smoothly, and by 18:00 we were ready to leave the hall and head to the appreciation event for sponsors and speakers. It was brilliant to see the venue we had first visited in January now full of people, lights, food, drinks and a stage ready for live music.
Ery realising the scale of the job awaiting her. 2 days on her comfort pens coming up…
The ECS Band – One of those throwaway ideas somehow became reality in 2026. We realised the wider ECS crew had enough musicians to form a band, and despite living in five different countries, we made it work by agreeing on a song, learning our parts separately and squeezing in a half-hour rehearsal on Monday behind the keynote room.
For all involved, it went surprisingly well. Thomas Vochten had been the most vocal about his concerns, which in turn led to him becoming the band’s leader and namesake. And so, The Thomas Vochten Experience was born. We played just one song, (Seven Nation Army) but it landed well.
After our appearance, Krause On The Road, whom we had met and booked back in January, played a 40-minute set of rock, pop and blues. They were excellent musicians and clearly knew each other’s playing inside out.
The drinks kept flowing, with cocktails courtesy of EasyLife 365, and the final act of the night was the Opera House Band, who returned from Sarajevo for a second year. Band leaders Nixon and Jenny had plenty of party favourites ready, and the dance floor stayed busy well past midnight.
After run.events hours, Anto fronts a doom metal band, Chorosia. Tonight he joined the Thomas Vochten Experience. Scroll for more pics!
Thursday 7th May – Expo Day 2
Running on very little sleep, we headed back to the expo hall. Compared with setup and the previous night’s party, Thursday felt calmer. At the end of the day we held the expo drinks party and gave away our Lego IDEAS Grand Piano. Ery kept drawing until after 5 o’clock, then signed the finished wall and celebrated with an LT-branded tinny. Pack-down went smoothly, and special thanks go to Michael, one of the photographers, who insisted on helping us dismantle the stage and load the van. We rounded things off with one final team meal, and for some, “one” last stop at the local sports bar.
How we felt at the end of day 2…
Friday 8th May – Heading Home
A final hotel breakfast gave us the chance to piece together the previous night and remind ourselves why we do this. ECS is hard work, but it is also one of those rare events where a group from all over can build something together and still find time to laugh properly at the end of the day.
Before setting off in big blue, the LT crew joined Inela and Elena from ECS for a final walk through the Old Town, including a stop at the cathedral. Even after seeing it in January, its scale was still striking.
Ery & Kira travelled back with us, and aside from some fairly random conversations, the long drive home was thankfully uneventful.
ECS returns to Düsseldorf in 2027, and as one of the highlights of our calendar, we hope to see you there.
