Work
Operations, products and programmes shaped around real people, processes and constraints.
Catalogue
International conference operations and a connected nonprofit platform covering discovery, submission, review, registration, payment and publication.
Read case studyA professional photography portfolio designed for ownership, simple editing and subscription-free growth.
Read case studyA teacher-supported learning application designed around practical Romanian, dyslexia, ADHD and repeated use.
Read case studyConversational and professional English designed around the real communication needs of data engineers and technical teams.
View programme01 · Flagship case study
Nonprofit operations and academic platform architecture
I run the Society’s international conference operation and administer the complete digital environment behind it, connecting conference delivery, academic publishing, communications and infrastructure. This includes administration of the Hostinger environment, VPS and the individual services that support ILS. Earlier conference-operations work at EXLING/ISEL preceded the current ILS role.
Operational ownership
I manage conference delivery across onsite, online and hybrid formats, including six international conferences in 2026. In Paris and Athens I was onsite, managing delivery while running online sessions for remote presenters and participants.
I configure and manage Pretalx and Pretix, manage Open Journal Systems, administer WordPress and Google Workspace for Nonprofits, manage the Hostinger Linux VPS (nginx, PostgreSQL, Redis), domains and SSL, monitor services through Uptime Kuma, and maintain social media and YouTube conference content.
I connect operational requirements to platform decisions, conduct user testing, and validate presenter, reviewer, registration, participant, organiser and publication journeys before expanding automation and researcher services.
Operational lifecycle
The ecosystem covers conference discovery, abstract submission, peer review, registration, payments, programmes, presenter and participant workflows, academic publication, proceedings, organisational documents, conference media, monitoring, automation and future researcher services.
Supporting services
Future services
Why this architecture
The International Linguistic Society is a non-profit organisation. The ecosystem maintains organisational ownership, retains control of data, reduces dependence on recurring software subscriptions, avoids vendor lock-in, and uses mature open-source applications with one clear responsibility per system.
The strategy is to select mature open-source applications, self-host and administer them, configure them around ILS requirements, connect them into one operational ecosystem, validate the complete process, and extend the platform only when real operational requirements justify it.
Validate the complete process before expanding the feature set.
Pretalx for conference management, Pretix for registration and payments, Open Journal Systems for publication, WordPress for discovery, Uptime Kuma for monitoring, and n8n for developing automation. These were selected for mature specialist capabilities while retaining control over infrastructure, data and workflows.
One platform composed of specialist services. One responsibility per system. One source of truth for each type of data. Modular, maintainable and upgrade-safe. Evidence-led development with user testing before expansion.
Pretalx, Pretix and Open Journal Systems are operational. Complete user journeys are being tested across presenter, reviewer, registrant, participant, organiser and publication workflows.
System status
Researchers, reviewers, presenters and organisers should experience the International Linguistic Society Platform as one coherent process, not a collection of unrelated applications.
Conference management, abstract submission, peer review, programmes and presenter workflows.
Registration and payment workflows connected to the conference process.
Proceedings, publication workflows, DOI structures and the academic archive.
Public website, conference discovery and published conference information.
Organisational email, documents and nonprofit administration.
Availability monitoring, production checks and infrastructure visibility.
Hostinger Linux environment: nginx, PostgreSQL, Redis, domains and SSL.
Administrative automation for reminders, publishing support and operational workflows.
Future attendance, recordings and connected event experience.
Future unified researcher services and single sign-on.
02 · Product case study
Production release · v1.0.1
A professional photography portfolio with true client ownership, no permanent website-builder subscription, and a deliberately uncomplicated editing interface that can grow with the business.
Joe needs to add work, replace images, update his CV and change details as his photography business grows. He should not need Git, code or developer support for routine updates.
React, TinaCMS, GitHub and Cloudflare Pages create a Git-backed publishing system with version history, automated deployment, and no database administration.
I hid technical fields, protected system settings, added plain-English guidance and changed Save to Update My Website to match his mental model.
True client ownership, version-controlled content, automated deployment, and a deliberately uncomplicated editing interface that can grow without permanent website-builder subscription.
03 · Product case study
Stable architecture · active content
A mobile-first learning platform built because conventional language apps did not fit how I learn, or how my teacher and I actually work together.
Teacher collaboration · local QR · no accounts
Learning design
Dyslexia and ADHD-informed learning design shapes an audio-first, practical product designed for repeated weekly learning. Weekly Topics carry language through vocabulary, reading, grammar, exercises, conversation and review.
Mihaela validates the Romanian. Review and progress move through local QR exchange with no accounts or central database. Offline-first, privacy-focused, with local progress storage and PWA capability. Learner and teacher feedback continues to shape development.
04 · Professional programme
Current · English communication
Professional and conversational English designed around the real communication needs of data engineers and technical teams, alongside broader English education work with private learners, schools and professionals.
Conversation, meetings, presentations, interview practice and communication across professional and cultural contexts.
Programme and session development shaped around technical teams and learners who need English that works in real professional settings.
Part of broader English communication work spanning private learners, schools, proofreading, interview preparation and professional communication.
Skills and applications
Current capability in context
Professional English, lesson development, proofreading, interview preparation and communication coaching.
International conference delivery, hybrid events, documentation, social media and YouTube conference content. Tools include Pretalx, Pretix, Canva where appropriate.
Open Journal Systems, WordPress, Google Workspace for Nonprofits and proceedings workflows.
Hostinger, Linux VPS, nginx, PostgreSQL, Redis, Uptime Kuma, n8n (installed and developing).
Salesforce administration, configuration, Flows, reporting, access, implementation and user support.
React, TypeScript, Vite, TinaCMS, GitHub, Cloudflare and PWA delivery.
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