Recap: ContainerDays 2026

It took me a few weeks to properly process ContainerDays out of many reasons, but I finally want to share a little recap.

It was actually my third time at this conference, and the second time as a stage host & moderator. But this one was still a special one for me. Not only because ContainerDays gave me another good reason to travel to Hamburg - but also because I got to spend the conference on one of the coolest stages I have ever been on: the MS Bleichen .

And there was a very special guest this time: my son got to join me for a little while and see what this whole conference world I keep talking about actually looks like. ❤️

Hamburg always feels like home

Coming back to Hamburg always feels slightly different. There are still so many places that immediately feel familiar, even though I don’t live here anymore. Looks like I just visit it pretty regularly” 😇

So getting to spend a few days with my family in Hamburg for ContainerDays felt a little bit like combining several different parts of my life. Old home. Current work. Cloud Native community. Not a bad combination. :)

A stage on a ship

Let’s talk about that stage. The MS Bleichen was such a fantastic conference venue and the most unique stage I’ve been on. Only the quite long distance to the other conference stages within the “Schuppen 52” was a bit annoying - especially as a moderator being at the stage first and leaving it last. But I still got a very reasonable amount of hallway conversations - and food.

And then there was my very special conference guest

One of my personal highlights was actually seeing the conference through my son’s eyes for a little while.

He got to come along, see the ship, meet some of the people, and get a tiny glimpse into what his mum actually does when she disappears to conferences all the time.

I’m not sure he is ready to become a Kubernetes engineer just yet. ;) But I really loved having him there.

It made me realise once again how strange my career path looks from the outside: a few years ago I was working in HR and recruiting. Now I’m standing on stages at Cloud Native conferences on ships in Hamburg - and occasionally bringing my son along to see what that’s all about.

Final thoughts

So, ContainerDays Hamburg was a pretty special few days: An amazing conference venue. A stage I genuinely enjoyed being on. A lot of good conversations. And a little bit of family mixed into the whole thing.

Thanks to the ContainerDays team, all the speakers and volunteers, my wonderful MC buddies Melo & Alex - and everyone who stopped for a chat, said hello or made these few days what they were. It was just wonderful. ❤️