From a brainstorming idea in 2008 to the first conference in 2009

The idea of the Summer Solstice Conference series was conceived in the lively discussions and musing at Automata 2008, in Bristol, UK. The passionate discussions on what should be the focus of the series of Automata conferences brought some participants to the conclusion that there was merit in creating a conference venue in which the main focus of the conference would be “discrete models of complex systems”. The integral role in these discussions and mussing, among others, to name a few, was played by, Danuta Makowiec, Anna Lawniczak, Bruno Di Stefano, and Nino Boccara, who unfortunately is no longer with us, but whose book on “Modeling Complex Systems” is inspiring and will inspire new generations of future modellers for a long time. Besides wanting to create a friendly and welcoming home for scientific exchanges and discussions for modellers of complex systems using different discrete methodologies, matters that have been close to the heart of many discussants, Danuta felt that having a conference on the longest day of the year would bring some magic of the day and additional inspiration to the meetings. Bruno said to Danuta that this day is the Summer Solstice and this is how the “Summer Solstice, International Conference on Discrete Models of Complex Systems” was conceived, during the discussions and musing under the sun in Bristol in 2008.

For the following year Danuta, Anna and Bruno worked tirelessly on bringing the musings into reality and making sure that the conference would materialize in Gdansk, Poland, on June 22-24, 2009. The actual Summer Solstice in Gdansk was on Sunday, June 21, 2009, at 11:15 AM. However, the organizer considered the Conference dates “to be close enough”. This type of approximation was applied also in subsequent years. For instance, in Nancy, France, the Conference took place on June 16-18, 2010. These approximations were due to practicalities related to booking meeting rooms or avoiding conflicts with other conferences.