IEM Cologne Major 2026 arena stage with crowd, broadcast lighting and trophy installation.
// THE DAY JOB
EVENT RECORD · 2022—NOW

Event IT

The events I have worked, in order — starting with the one that convinced me to leave Corporate IT and do this properly.

Photo: Adela Sznajder / ESL FACEIT Group IEM Cologne Major 2026
// WHY THIS STARTS IN 2022

How I got here

IEM Cologne 2022 was my first event. I was still in Corporate IT, went in to help, and came out knowing I wanted to move into Event IT. The record after that is a personal history of the events and assignments I have worked since making that move.

These are assignment windows, not public tournament dates. They can include setup, show days, teardown and remote support. This is deliberately a record of where I worked, not a map of private event infrastructure.

Completed events
11
Countries
08
Continents
03
Est. return travel from Leipzig
~42,200 KM
Recorded years
2022—26
Assignment modes
ON-SITE + REMOTE
// THE ASSIGNMENT RECORD

Every event, in order

11 completed assignments. The next one gets added after it happens.

  1. 01 Corporate IT · On-site

    IEM Cologne 2022

    JUL 2022 Cologne, Germany

    I came to Cologne from Corporate IT and spent most of the build doing the unglamorous work events depend on: placing switches and access points, pulling cables and generally providing another pair of hands wherever one was needed. I also helped stress-test the on-stage PCs. Sitting at a player desk in an empty arena was already a strange experience; seeing that same arena full for the show was the moment it clicked for me. I wanted more of the people, the pressure, the environment and the completely different problems that came with event work.

    THE ONE THAT CHANGED THE JOB
    A wide view across the packed IEM Cologne 2022 arena, stage and lighting rig.
    Copyright: Helena Kristiansson, ESL FACEIT Group IEM Cologne 2022
  2. 02 On-site · 19 days

    IEM Cologne 2023

    21 JUL—08 AUG 2023 Cologne, Germany

    My second Cologne was also my first event as part of Event IT, which makes it doubly special. I was there for the entire event, from the group stage through the finals. I had much more responsibility this time, deploying firewalls and switches while getting up to speed with Junos, pfSense and our monitoring tooling quickly enough to be useful. I'd reached the goal I'd set after Cologne 2022, but joining the team hadn't made the arena feel any less impressive. Nineteen days is a very long time to be away from home, and while I prefer shorter trips, this was my first event in the new role. I needed to soak up every bit of information I could from start to finish. I was still learning—although, to be honest, that part hasn't changed.

    The IEM Cologne 2023 champions lifting the trophy amid sparks and a packed arena crowd.
    Copyright: Helena Kristiansson, ESL FACEIT Group IEM Cologne 2023
  3. 03 On-site · 8 days

    ESL Impact League Season 4 Global Finals

    04—11 DEC 2023 DreamHack Valencia · Valencia, Spain

    Valencia was my first event outside Germany and my first that wasn't an IEM. It was on a much smaller scale: we built the network, kept it running through the show and provided support on stage. After Cologne, it was useful to see the same basic work compressed into a very different kind of event. It made me realize how many shapes and sizes these productions come in—and made me want to see more of them. After nineteen days in Cologne, eight days in Valencia almost felt like a weekend trip.

    Two competitors at their stations during ESL Impact Valencia 2023.
    Copyright: Luc Bouchon, ESL FACEIT Group ESL Impact Valencia 2023
  4. 04 On-site · 9 days

    ESL Pro League Season 19

    28 APR—06 MAY 2024 Malta

    I joined Pro League Season 19 midway through and was there for the production rather than the full event. In scale, it sat somewhere between Valencia and Cologne. At one point, the ceiling started leaking onto a collection of PCs in the IT office, which was slightly alarming, although thankfully nothing was damaged. The event itself was otherwise fairly uneventful from the IT side—which is generally a good result. Malta was a lot of fun outside the venue too; I spent the free time I had walking around the city and finding no shortage of places to eat.

    The ESL Pro League Season 19 champions crossing the stage with the trophy.
    Copyright: Helena Kristiansson, ESL FACEIT Group ESL Pro League Season 19
  5. 05 On-site · 15 days

    Esports World Cup 2024

    16—30 JUL 2024 Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

    EWC 2024 put me on the network team rather than stage support. We were responsible for operating the network across the entire event: multiple stages, side stages and separate production areas supporting an enormous number of games. The scale makes it difficult to compare with anything else I'd worked on; it wasn't simply a larger version of a familiar event. There are plenty of details best kept within the team, but technically it taught us a lot about operating a network of that size. Those lessons directly shaped how we approached the next EWC assignment.

    The Esports World Cup 2024 opening show in Riyadh, with the trophy installation, crowd, lights and fireworks.
    Copyright: Brandon Dowling, Esports World Cup Esports World Cup 2024 · Riyadh
  6. 06 On-site · 11 days

    IEM Cologne 2024

    10—20 AUG 2024 Cologne, Germany

    By my third Cologne, the work felt familiar and the event ran smoothly. Coming straight from EWC didn't make it feel smaller; the two events were different enough that comparing them wouldn't mean much. What hadn't changed was the arena. Seeing it full was still every bit as impressive as it had been the first time. I don't have a particular technical problem or defining story from this one—the eleven days have mostly merged into the blur of builds, show days and teardown—but it was still Cologne, and still just as awesome to be part of.

    A full arena view of IEM Cologne 2024 under red stage lighting.
    Copyright: Michal Konkol, ESL FACEIT Group IEM Cologne 2024
  7. 07 On-site · 9 days

    IEM Rio 2024

    03—11 OCT 2024 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Rio was both my first event and my first visit to South America. Getting there was an event in itself: the flight took about twelve and a half hours, but the full door-to-door journey was closer to twenty-three. The event ran without any major technical problems, and the Brazilian crowd was among the most passionate I'd ever seen. I managed to experience a little of Rio outside work too, although my most persistent memory is the frankly ridiculous garlic bread at Fogo de Chão. Of everything I could have taken away from my first trip to Brazil, apparently it was the garlic bread.

    The IEM Rio 2024 champions lifting the trophy under blue and yellow lights.
    Copyright: Helena Kristiansson, ESL FACEIT Group IEM Rio 2024
  8. 08 On-site · 9 days

    IEM Katowice 2025

    03—11 FEB 2025 Katowice, Poland

    Katowice was my first visit to both the city and Poland. The Spodek is a genuinely interesting arena, and the event ran smoothly without any particular technical drama. I don't have a grand story from this one. It was a good event in a new place, with enough time outside production to find some restaurants and bars and hang out with my colleagues.

    The IEM Katowice 2025 champions celebrating with the trophy and confetti.
    Copyright: Helena Kristiansson, ESL FACEIT Group IEM Katowice 2025
  9. 09 On-site · 10 days

    DreamHack Stockholm 2025

    22 NOV—01 DEC 2025 Stockholm, Sweden

    Stockholm wasn't an assignment with the main DreamHack tech crew; our team was responsible for four stages within the larger event. With multiple games happening at once, it felt more like a miniature EWC than a normal single-tournament assignment. We were effectively handling IT for four events at the same time, so although nothing went badly wrong, the scale kept us moving and made it more challenging than usual. It was my first time in Stockholm and my second in Sweden. I didn't see much of the city—we mostly ordered food and hung out together at the hotel when we weren't working.

    DreamHack Stockholm 2025 winners celebrating with the trophy under gold confetti.
    Copyright: Wojciech Wandzel, DreamHack DreamHack Stockholm 2025
  10. 10 Remote + 9 days on-site

    IEM Cologne Major 2026

    29 MAY—01 JUN REMOTE · 14—22 JUN ON-SITE Cologne, Germany

    The remote phase was mostly planned firewall configuration and checklist work, taking care of tasks from home so the on-site team could concentrate on the physical deployment. Once I arrived, the work was familiar, but the pressure wasn't. Being a Major meant far more eyes on the event and very little tolerance for anything going wrong. The arena had even more people packed into it than before, which somehow made it more impressive again. The pressure was enormous, but we pulled it off.

    The IEM Cologne Major 2026 arena stage, crowd and trophy installation.
    Copyright: Adela Sznajder, ESL FACEIT Group IEM Cologne Major 2026
  11. 11 Remote + 15 days on-site

    Esports World Cup 2026

    25—30 JUN REMOTE · 18 JUL—01 AUG ON-SITE Paris, France

    The remote phase involved the now-familiar firewall work, configuration and checklists—lots of checklists. Once on-site, I worked entirely on the network. This deployment was vastly different from 2024: we rolled out EVPN/VXLAN, because manually extending Layer 2 across a network of this size becomes challenging very quickly. The event had also moved to Paris at short notice, which made the scale of what everyone achieved slightly absurd. Different venue, different network and a completely different set of pressures, but the fact that all the teams involved managed to make the event happen is a success story in itself. I came away with far stronger Juniper knowledge and a lot of practical lessons about EVPN/VXLAN. I even had one day off to walk around Paris and eat extremely well, although the catacombs were sold out.

    Walking through the Esports World Cup 2026 venue in Paris beneath EWC banners and illuminated event architecture.
    Video still: Jubaleth Esports World Cup 2026 · Paris