diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index d6ec707..4b1b848 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ source 'https://rubygems.org'
 
 gem 'rails', '~> 4.2.11'
 
-gem 'sqlite3'
+gem 'sqlite3', '~> 1.3.6'
 gem 'pg'
 
 gem 'sass-rails'
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ gem 'devise-i18n'
 gem 'simple_form'
 
 # Phone validation
+gem 'phony', '~> 2.15.11'
 gem 'phony_rails'
 
 # Picture uploads
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ gem "refile-mini_magick"
 
 gem 'puma', group: :production
 
-gem 'globalize'
+gem 'globalize', '~> 5.0.1'
 
 gem 'yaml_db'
 
@@ -42,7 +43,7 @@ gem 'bootstrap-sass'
 gem 'bootstrap-sass-extras'
 gem 'bootswatch-rails'
 gem 'autoprefixer-rails'
-gem 'font-awesome-sass'
+gem 'font-awesome-sass', '~> 4.6.2'
 
 gem 'nested_form'
 gem 'jquery-datatables-rails'
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 7c71a3c..f1c2b37 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,82 +1,80 @@
 GEM
   remote: https://rubygems.org/
   specs:
-    actionmailer (4.2.11)
-      actionpack (= 4.2.11)
-      actionview (= 4.2.11)
-      activejob (= 4.2.11)
+    actionmailer (4.2.11.1)
+      actionpack (= 4.2.11.1)
+      actionview (= 4.2.11.1)
+      activejob (= 4.2.11.1)
       mail (~> 2.5, >= 2.5.4)
       rails-dom-testing (~> 1.0, >= 1.0.5)
-    actionpack (4.2.11)
-      actionview (= 4.2.11)
-      activesupport (= 4.2.11)
+    actionpack (4.2.11.1)
+      actionview (= 4.2.11.1)
+      activesupport (= 4.2.11.1)
       rack (~> 1.6)
       rack-test (~> 0.6.2)
       rails-dom-testing (~> 1.0, >= 1.0.5)
       rails-html-sanitizer (~> 1.0, >= 1.0.2)
-    actionview (4.2.11)
-      activesupport (= 4.2.11)
+    actionview (4.2.11.1)
+      activesupport (= 4.2.11.1)
       builder (~> 3.1)
       erubis (~> 2.7.0)
       rails-dom-testing (~> 1.0, >= 1.0.5)
       rails-html-sanitizer (~> 1.0, >= 1.0.3)
-    activejob (4.2.11)
-      activesupport (= 4.2.11)
+    activejob (4.2.11.1)
+      activesupport (= 4.2.11.1)
       globalid (>= 0.3.0)
-    activemodel (4.2.11)
-      activesupport (= 4.2.11)
+    activemodel (4.2.11.1)
+      activesupport (= 4.2.11.1)
       builder (~> 3.1)
-    activerecord (4.2.11)
-      activemodel (= 4.2.11)
-      activesupport (= 4.2.11)
+    activerecord (4.2.11.1)
+      activemodel (= 4.2.11.1)
+      activesupport (= 4.2.11.1)
       arel (~> 6.0)
-    activesupport (4.2.11)
+    activesupport (4.2.11.1)
       i18n (~> 0.7)
       minitest (~> 5.1)
       thread_safe (~> 0.3, >= 0.3.4)
       tzinfo (~> 1.1)
-    addressable (2.5.2)
+    addressable (2.6.0)
       public_suffix (>= 2.0.2, < 4.0)
-    airbrussh (1.1.1)
+    airbrussh (1.3.1)
       sshkit (>= 1.6.1, != 1.7.0)
     arel (6.0.4)
-    ast (2.3.0)
-    autoprefixer-rails (6.5.1)
+    ast (2.4.0)
+    autoprefixer-rails (9.5.1)
       execjs
-    awesome_print (1.7.0)
-    bcrypt (3.1.11)
-    better_errors (2.1.1)
+    awesome_print (1.8.0)
+    bcrypt (3.1.12)
+    better_errors (2.5.1)
       coderay (>= 1.0.0)
-      erubis (>= 2.6.6)
+      erubi (>= 1.0.0)
       rack (>= 0.9.0)
-    binding_of_caller (0.7.2)
+    binding_of_caller (0.8.0)
       debug_inspector (>= 0.0.1)
-    bootstrap-sass (3.3.7)
+    bootstrap-sass (3.4.1)
       autoprefixer-rails (>= 5.2.1)
-      sass (>= 3.3.4)
+      sassc (>= 2.0.0)
     bootstrap-sass-extras (0.0.7)
       rails (>= 3.1.0)
     bootswatch-rails (3.3.5)
       railties (>= 3.1)
     builder (3.2.3)
-    byebug (10.0.2)
-    capistrano (3.6.1)
+    byebug (11.0.1)
+    capistrano (3.11.0)
       airbrussh (>= 1.0.0)
-      capistrano-harrow
       i18n
       rake (>= 10.0.0)
       sshkit (>= 1.9.0)
-    capistrano-bundler (1.2.0)
+    capistrano-bundler (1.5.0)
       capistrano (~> 3.1)
-      sshkit (~> 1.2)
-    capistrano-harrow (0.5.3)
-    capistrano-rails (1.1.8)
+    capistrano-rails (1.4.0)
       capistrano (~> 3.1)
       capistrano-bundler (~> 1.1)
-    capistrano3-puma (1.2.1)
-      capistrano (~> 3.0)
-      puma (>= 2.6)
-    capybara (3.10.1)
+    capistrano3-puma (3.1.1)
+      capistrano (~> 3.7)
+      capistrano-bundler
+      puma (~> 3.4)
+    capybara (3.18.0)
       addressable
       mini_mime (>= 0.1.3)
       nokogiri (~> 1.8)
@@ -84,72 +82,68 @@ GEM
       rack-test (>= 0.6.3)
       regexp_parser (~> 1.2)
       xpath (~> 3.2)
-    carrierwave (0.11.2)
-      activemodel (>= 3.2.0)
-      activesupport (>= 3.2.0)
-      json (>= 1.7)
+    carrierwave (1.3.1)
+      activemodel (>= 4.0.0)
+      activesupport (>= 4.0.0)
       mime-types (>= 1.16)
-      mimemagic (>= 0.3.0)
-    childprocess (0.9.0)
-      ffi (~> 1.0, >= 1.0.11)
+    childprocess (1.0.1)
+      rake (< 13.0)
     choice (0.2.0)
     chronic (0.10.2)
-    chunky_png (1.3.8)
-    coderay (1.1.1)
-    coffee-rails (4.2.1)
+    chunky_png (1.3.11)
+    coderay (1.1.2)
+    coffee-rails (4.2.2)
       coffee-script (>= 2.2.0)
-      railties (>= 4.0.0, < 5.2.x)
+      railties (>= 4.0.0)
     coffee-script (2.4.1)
       coffee-script-source
       execjs
-    coffee-script-source (1.10.0)
-    concurrent-ruby (1.1.4)
+    coffee-script-source (1.12.2)
+    concurrent-ruby (1.1.5)
     copy_carrierwave_file (1.3.0)
       carrierwave (>= 0.9)
     crass (1.0.4)
     database_cleaner (1.7.0)
-    debug_inspector (0.0.2)
+    debug_inspector (0.0.3)
     delorean (2.1.0)
       chronic
-    devise (4.2.0)
+    devise (4.6.2)
       bcrypt (~> 3.0)
       orm_adapter (~> 0.1)
-      railties (>= 4.1.0, < 5.1)
+      railties (>= 4.1.0, < 6.0)
       responders
       warden (~> 1.2.3)
-    devise-i18n (1.1.0)
+    devise-i18n (1.8.0)
+      devise (>= 4.6)
     diff-lcs (1.3)
-    docile (1.1.5)
-    domain_name (0.5.20160826)
+    docile (1.3.1)
+    domain_name (0.5.20180417)
       unf (>= 0.0.5, < 1.0.0)
-    easy_translate (0.5.0)
-      json
-      thread
-      thread_safe
+    erubi (1.8.0)
     erubis (2.7.0)
     execjs (2.7.0)
-    factory_girl (4.7.0)
+    factory_girl (4.9.0)
       activesupport (>= 3.0.0)
-    factory_girl_rails (4.7.0)
-      factory_girl (~> 4.7.0)
+    factory_girl_rails (4.9.0)
+      factory_girl (~> 4.9.0)
       railties (>= 3.0.0)
-    faker (1.6.6)
-      i18n (~> 0.5)
-    faraday (0.9.2)
+    faker (1.9.3)
+      i18n (>= 0.7)
+    faraday (0.15.4)
       multipart-post (>= 1.2, < 3)
     ffi (1.10.0)
     font-awesome-sass (4.6.2)
       sass (>= 3.2)
     formatador (0.2.5)
-    globalid (0.4.1)
+    globalid (0.4.2)
       activesupport (>= 4.2.0)
     globalize (5.0.1)
       activemodel (>= 4.2.0, < 4.3)
       activerecord (>= 4.2.0, < 4.3)
-    guard (2.14.0)
+    guard (2.15.0)
       formatador (>= 0.2.4)
       listen (>= 2.7, < 4.0)
-      lumberjack (~> 1.0)
+      lumberjack (>= 1.0.12, < 2.0)
       nenv (~> 0.1)
       notiffany (~> 0.0)
       pry (>= 0.9.12)
@@ -160,35 +154,35 @@ GEM
       guard (~> 2.1)
       guard-compat (~> 1.1)
       rspec (>= 2.99.0, < 4.0)
-    highline (1.7.8)
+    highline (2.0.2)
     http-cookie (1.0.3)
       domain_name (~> 0.5)
     i18n (0.9.5)
       concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0)
-    i18n-tasks (0.9.5)
+    i18n-tasks (0.9.29)
       activesupport (>= 4.0.2)
       ast (>= 2.1.0)
-      easy_translate (>= 0.5.0)
-      erubis
-      highline (>= 1.7.3)
+      erubi
+      highline (>= 2.0.0)
       i18n
       parser (>= 2.2.3.0)
-      term-ansicolor (>= 1.3.2)
+      rails-i18n
+      rainbow (>= 2.2.2, < 4.0)
       terminal-table (>= 1.5.1)
-    jbuilder (2.6.0)
-      activesupport (>= 3.0.0, < 5.1)
-      multi_json (~> 1.2)
+    jbuilder (2.8.0)
+      activesupport (>= 4.2.0)
+      multi_json (>= 1.2)
     jquery-datatables-rails (3.4.0)
       actionpack (>= 3.1)
       jquery-rails
       railties (>= 3.1)
       sass-rails
-    jquery-rails (4.2.1)
+    jquery-rails (4.3.3)
       rails-dom-testing (>= 1, < 3)
       railties (>= 4.2.0)
       thor (>= 0.14, < 2.0)
-    json (2.1.0)
-    libv8 (6.7.288.46.1)
+    json (2.2.0)
+    libv8 (7.3.492.27.1)
     listen (3.1.5)
       rb-fsevent (~> 0.9, >= 0.9.4)
       rb-inotify (~> 0.9, >= 0.9.7)
@@ -196,49 +190,49 @@ GEM
     loofah (2.2.3)
       crass (~> 1.0.2)
       nokogiri (>= 1.5.9)
-    lumberjack (1.0.10)
+    lumberjack (1.0.13)
     mail (2.7.1)
       mini_mime (>= 0.1.1)
-    method_source (0.8.2)
+    method_source (0.9.2)
     mime-types (2.99.3)
-    mimemagic (0.3.2)
-    mini_magick (4.5.1)
+    mini_magick (4.9.3)
     mini_mime (1.0.1)
     mini_portile2 (2.4.0)
-    mini_racer (0.2.4)
-      libv8 (>= 6.3)
+    mini_racer (0.2.5)
+      libv8 (>= 6.9.411)
     minitest (5.11.3)
-    morrisjs-rails (0.5.1)
-      railties (> 3.1, < 5)
-    multi_json (1.12.1)
+    morrisjs-rails (0.5.1.2)
+      railties (> 3.1, < 6)
+    multi_json (1.13.1)
     multipart-post (2.0.0)
     nenv (0.3.0)
     nested_form (0.3.2)
-    net-scp (1.2.1)
-      net-ssh (>= 2.6.5)
-    net-ssh (3.2.0)
+    net-scp (2.0.0)
+      net-ssh (>= 2.6.5, < 6.0.0)
+    net-ssh (5.2.0)
     netrc (0.11.0)
-    nokogiri (1.10.0)
+    nokogiri (1.10.3)
       mini_portile2 (~> 2.4.0)
     notiffany (0.1.1)
       nenv (~> 0.1)
       shellany (~> 0.0)
     orm_adapter (0.5.0)
-    parser (2.3.1.4)
-      ast (~> 2.2)
-    pg (0.19.0)
-    phony (2.15.32)
-    phony_rails (0.14.4)
+    parser (2.6.2.1)
+      ast (~> 2.4.0)
+    pg (1.1.4)
       activesupport (>= 3.0)
-      phony (~> 2.15)
-    pry (0.10.4)
+      phony (> 2.15)
+    phony (2.15.49)
+    phony_rails (0.14.11)
+      activesupport (>= 3.0)
+      phony (> 2.15)
+    pry (0.12.2)
       coderay (~> 1.1.0)
-      method_source (~> 0.8.1)
-      slop (~> 3.4)
-    pry-rails (0.3.4)
-      pry (>= 0.9.10)
+      method_source (~> 0.9.0)
+    pry-rails (0.3.9)
+      pry (>= 0.10.4)
     public_suffix (3.0.3)
-    puma (3.10.0)
+    puma (3.12.1)
     quiet_assets (1.1.0)
       railties (>= 3.1, < 5.0)
     rack (1.6.11)
@@ -246,16 +240,16 @@ GEM
       rack
     rack-test (0.6.3)
       rack (>= 1.0)
-    rails (4.2.11)
-      actionmailer (= 4.2.11)
-      actionpack (= 4.2.11)
-      actionview (= 4.2.11)
-      activejob (= 4.2.11)
-      activemodel (= 4.2.11)
-      activerecord (= 4.2.11)
-      activesupport (= 4.2.11)
+    rails (4.2.11.1)
+      actionmailer (= 4.2.11.1)
+      actionpack (= 4.2.11.1)
+      actionview (= 4.2.11.1)
+      activejob (= 4.2.11.1)
+      activemodel (= 4.2.11.1)
+      activerecord (= 4.2.11.1)
+      activesupport (= 4.2.11.1)
       bundler (>= 1.3.0, < 2.0)
-      railties (= 4.2.11)
+      railties (= 4.2.11.1)
       sprockets-rails
     rails-deprecated_sanitizer (1.0.3)
       activesupport (>= 4.2.0.alpha)
@@ -263,7 +257,7 @@ GEM
       activesupport (>= 4.2.0, < 5.0)
       nokogiri (~> 1.6)
       rails-deprecated_sanitizer (>= 1.0.1)
-    rails-erd (1.5.0)
+    rails-erd (1.5.2)
       activerecord (>= 3.2)
       activesupport (>= 3.2)
       choice (~> 0.2.0)
@@ -273,16 +267,17 @@ GEM
     rails-i18n (4.0.9)
       i18n (~> 0.7)
       railties (~> 4.0)
-    railties (4.2.11)
-      actionpack (= 4.2.11)
-      activesupport (= 4.2.11)
+    railties (4.2.11.1)
+      actionpack (= 4.2.11.1)
+      activesupport (= 4.2.11.1)
       rake (>= 0.8.7)
       thor (>= 0.18.1, < 2.0)
+    rainbow (3.0.0)
     rake (12.3.2)
     raphael-rails (2.1.2)
-    rb-fsevent (0.9.7)
-    rb-inotify (0.9.7)
-      ffi (>= 0.5.0)
+    rb-fsevent (0.10.3)
+    rb-inotify (0.10.0)
+      ffi (~> 1.0)
     refile (0.6.2)
       mime-types
       rest-client (~> 1.8)
@@ -290,72 +285,79 @@ GEM
     refile-mini_magick (0.2.0)
       mini_magick (~> 4.0)
       refile (~> 0.5)
-    regexp_parser (1.2.0)
-    responders (2.3.0)
-      railties (>= 4.2.0, < 5.1)
+    regexp_parser (1.4.0)
+    responders (2.4.1)
+      actionpack (>= 4.2.0, < 6.0)
+      railties (>= 4.2.0, < 6.0)
     rest-client (1.8.0)
       http-cookie (>= 1.0.2, < 2.0)
       mime-types (>= 1.16, < 3.0)
       netrc (~> 0.7)
     rqrcode (0.10.1)
       chunky_png (~> 1.0)
-    rspec (3.5.0)
-      rspec-core (~> 3.5.0)
-      rspec-expectations (~> 3.5.0)
-      rspec-mocks (~> 3.5.0)
-    rspec-core (3.5.4)
-      rspec-support (~> 3.5.0)
-    rspec-expectations (3.5.0)
+    rspec (3.8.0)
+      rspec-core (~> 3.8.0)
+      rspec-expectations (~> 3.8.0)
+      rspec-mocks (~> 3.8.0)
+    rspec-core (3.8.0)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.8.0)
+    rspec-expectations (3.8.3)
       diff-lcs (>= 1.2.0, < 2.0)
-      rspec-support (~> 3.5.0)
-    rspec-mocks (3.5.0)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.8.0)
+    rspec-mocks (3.8.0)
       diff-lcs (>= 1.2.0, < 2.0)
-      rspec-support (~> 3.5.0)
-    rspec-rails (3.5.2)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.8.0)
+    rspec-rails (3.8.2)
       actionpack (>= 3.0)
       activesupport (>= 3.0)
       railties (>= 3.0)
-      rspec-core (~> 3.5.0)
-      rspec-expectations (~> 3.5.0)
-      rspec-mocks (~> 3.5.0)
-      rspec-support (~> 3.5.0)
-    rspec-support (3.5.0)
-    ruby-graphviz (1.2.2)
+      rspec-core (~> 3.8.0)
+      rspec-expectations (~> 3.8.0)
+      rspec-mocks (~> 3.8.0)
+      rspec-support (~> 3.8.0)
+    rspec-support (3.8.0)
+    ruby-graphviz (1.2.4)
     ruby_dep (1.5.0)
     rubyzip (1.2.2)
-    sass (3.4.22)
-    sass-rails (5.0.6)
+    sass (3.7.4)
+      sass-listen (~> 4.0.0)
+    sass-listen (4.0.0)
+      rb-fsevent (~> 0.9, >= 0.9.4)
+      rb-inotify (~> 0.9, >= 0.9.7)
+    sass-rails (5.0.7)
       railties (>= 4.0.0, < 6)
       sass (~> 3.1)
       sprockets (>= 2.8, < 4.0)
       sprockets-rails (>= 2.0, < 4.0)
       tilt (>= 1.1, < 3)
-    search_object (1.1.1)
-    selenium-webdriver (3.141.0)
-      childprocess (~> 0.5)
+    sassc (2.0.1)
+      ffi (~> 1.9)
+      rake
+    search_object (1.2.1)
+    selenium-webdriver (3.142.0)
+      childprocess (>= 0.5, < 2.0)
       rubyzip (~> 1.2, >= 1.2.2)
     shellany (0.0.1)
-    simple_form (3.3.1)
-      actionpack (> 4, < 5.1)
-      activemodel (> 4, < 5.1)
-    simplecov (0.12.0)
-      docile (~> 1.1.0)
+    simple_form (4.0.0)
+      actionpack (> 4)
+      activemodel (> 4)
+    simplecov (0.16.1)
+      docile (~> 1.1)
       json (>= 1.8, < 3)
       simplecov-html (~> 0.10.0)
-    simplecov-html (0.10.0)
-    sinatra (1.4.7)
+    simplecov-html (0.10.2)
+    sinatra (1.4.8)
       rack (~> 1.5)
       rack-protection (~> 1.4)
       tilt (>= 1.3, < 3)
-    slim (3.0.7)
-      temple (~> 0.7.6)
-      tilt (>= 1.3.3, < 2.1)
-    slim-rails (3.1.1)
+    slim (4.0.1)
+      temple (>= 0.7.6, < 0.9)
+      tilt (>= 2.0.6, < 2.1)
+    slim-rails (3.2.0)
       actionpack (>= 3.1)
       railties (>= 3.1)
-      slim (~> 3.0)
-    slop (3.6.0)
-    spring (2.0.0)
+      slim (>= 3.0, < 5.0)
+    spring (2.0.2)
       activesupport (>= 4.2)
     spring-commands-rspec (1.0.4)
       spring (>= 0.9.1)
@@ -367,33 +369,29 @@ GEM
       activesupport (>= 4.0)
       sprockets (>= 3.0.0)
     sqlite3 (1.3.13)
-    sshkit (1.11.3)
+    sshkit (1.18.2)
       net-scp (>= 1.1.2)
       net-ssh (>= 2.8.0)
-    temple (0.7.7)
-    term-ansicolor (1.4.0)
-      tins (~> 1.0)
-    terminal-table (1.7.3)
-      unicode-display_width (~> 1.1.1)
+    temple (0.8.1)
+    terminal-table (1.8.0)
+      unicode-display_width (~> 1.1, >= 1.1.1)
     thor (0.20.3)
-    thread (0.2.2)
     thread_safe (0.3.6)
-    tilt (2.0.5)
-    tins (1.12.0)
+    tilt (2.0.9)
     tzinfo (1.2.5)
       thread_safe (~> 0.1)
-    uglifier (3.0.2)
+    uglifier (4.1.20)
       execjs (>= 0.3.0, < 3)
     unf (0.1.4)
       unf_ext
-    unf_ext (0.0.7.2)
-    unicode-display_width (1.1.1)
-    warden (1.2.6)
+    unf_ext (0.0.7.6)
+    unicode-display_width (1.5.0)
+    warden (1.2.7)
       rack (>= 1.0)
     xpath (3.2.0)
       nokogiri (~> 1.8)
-    yaml_db (0.4.2)
-      rails (>= 3.0, < 5.1)
+    yaml_db (0.7.0)
+      rails (>= 3.0)
       rake (>= 0.8.7)
 
 PLATFORMS
@@ -422,8 +420,8 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   factory_girl_rails
   faker
   faraday
-  font-awesome-sass
-  globalize
+  font-awesome-sass (~> 4.6.2)
+  globalize (~> 5.0.1)
   guard-rspec
   i18n-tasks
   jbuilder
@@ -434,6 +432,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   morrisjs-rails
   nested_form
   pg
+  phony (~> 2.15.11)
   phony_rails
   pry-rails
   puma
@@ -454,7 +453,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   slim-rails
   spring
   spring-commands-rspec
-  sqlite3
+  sqlite3 (~> 1.3.6)
   uglifier
   yaml_db
 
diff --git a/spec/features/management_interface_spec.rb b/spec/features/management_interface_spec.rb
index 20ac8bf..94ae7c7 100644
--- a/spec/features/management_interface_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/features/management_interface_spec.rb
@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ feature 'Conference management' do
       sign_out
 
       visit root_path
-      click_on I18n.t('views.welcome.submit_event', event_type: Conference.first.event_types.first.name.try(:mb_chars).try(:downcase))
+      click_on I18n.t('views.welcome.submit_event', event_type: Conference.first.event_types.first.name.downcase)
       click_on I18n.t(:registration)
 
       register_a_new_user(false)
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ feature 'Conference management' do
     sign_out
 
     visit root_path
-    click_on I18n.t('views.welcome.submit_event', event_type: Conference.first.event_types.first.name.try(:mb_chars).try(:downcase))
+    click_on I18n.t('views.welcome.submit_event', event_type: Conference.first.event_types.first.name.downcase)
 
     sign_in_as_an_existing_user(false)
 
diff --git a/spec/support/feature_helpers.rb b/spec/support/feature_helpers.rb
index 164dacf..2559970 100644
--- a/spec/support/feature_helpers.rb
+++ b/spec/support/feature_helpers.rb
@@ -17,17 +17,17 @@ module FeatureHelpers
     fill_in Conference.human_attribute_name(:title), with: title
     fill_in Conference.human_attribute_name(:email), with: 'foo@example.com'
     fill_in Conference.human_attribute_name(:host_name), with: host_name
-    select planned_cfp_end_date.year, from: 'conference[planned_cfp_end_date(1i)]'
+    select planned_cfp_end_date.year.to_s, from: 'conference[planned_cfp_end_date(1i)]'
     select I18n.t('date.month_names')[planned_cfp_end_date.month], from: 'conference[planned_cfp_end_date(2i)]'
-    select planned_cfp_end_date.day, from: 'conference[planned_cfp_end_date(3i)]'
+    select planned_cfp_end_date.day.to_s, from: 'conference[planned_cfp_end_date(3i)]'
 
-    select start_date.year, from: 'conference[start_date(1i)]'
+    select start_date.year.to_s, from: 'conference[start_date(1i)]'
     select I18n.t('date.month_names')[start_date.month], from: 'conference[start_date(2i)]'
-    select start_date.day, from: 'conference[start_date(3i)]'
+    select start_date.day.to_s, from: 'conference[start_date(3i)]'
 
-    select end_date.year, from: 'conference[end_date(1i)]'
+    select end_date.year.to_s, from: 'conference[end_date(1i)]'
     select I18n.t('date.month_names')[end_date.month], from: 'conference[end_date(2i)]'
-    select end_date.day, from: 'conference[end_date(3i)]'
+    select end_date.day.to_s, from: 'conference[end_date(3i)]'
 
     within '.form-group.conference_description' do
       fill_in Conference.human_attribute_name(:description), with: 'Lorem'
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ module FeatureHelpers
   def submit_an_event_proposition(visit_event_submission_path = true)
     if visit_event_submission_path
       visit root_path
-      click_on I18n.t('views.welcome.submit_event', event_type: Conference.first.event_types.first.name.try(:mb_chars).try(:downcase))
+      click_on I18n.t('views.welcome.submit_event', event_type: Conference.first.event_types.first.name.downcase)
     end
 
     fill_in Event.human_attribute_name(:title), with: 'This is just a sample title of an event'
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ module FeatureHelpers
   def verify_the_event_is_submitted
     sign_in_as_admin
     click_on_first_conference_in_management_root
-    click_on Event.model_name.human(count: 2).mb_chars.capitalize
+    click_on Event.model_name.human(count: 2).capitalize
     expect(page).to have_content 'This is just a sample title of an event'
   end