Jindřich Fáborský and his Marketing Festival team brought over 1200 marketers to Brno. And it was absolutely divine! What happened there? The Festival began on 20.2. with an opening afterparty, which I missed due to filming Reels Talk with Dalibor Cicman, so I only arrived in Brno on 21.2. But the interview is already out, so you can check it out. 🤫
First evening, first program, first drinks
On the day of my arrival, there were paid trainings taking place, which sold out in no time. And I’m not surprised. Trainers included names like David Duc, Michal Pastier, Petra Dolejšová, Jan Tichý or Radek Hudák, and that sells itself. I arrived in Brno around 8 p.m., checked in and headed to Babeltalk by Adam Zbiejczuk. I arrived towards the end of the discussion, but that didn’t end it. Adam had agreed with Marek Prchal to read excerpts from his upcoming book.
After the reading, I headed to the Festival, as Jindra and his team had teamed up with Brno classics like Bar, který neexistuje, 4pokoje, Slast and Whiskey Bar, který neexistuje and reserved them all exclusively for Marketing Festival participants. So, what do you think happens when you reserve venues with limited capacity for a thousand people? Well, maybe a queue of more than half an hour in front of the bar. But from the organizer’s perspective of a networking event, it’s an absolutely brilliant move and I really appreciate the idea. It’s just nice to see that someone thought about it and did it in the interest of the participants, helping them to connect, meet and do business. That’s what it’s all about.
Few hours later…
We’re still networking, I’ve met dozens of new people and strengthened relationships with those I knew. And there were a lot of them. How many new people did I meet in those two days? You’ll find out at the end of the article.
We’re not stopping
On Thursday at 9:00 a.m., Jindra officially opened the Marketing Festival. And what else did he reveal? He confirmed that the Marketing Festival will return to Brno in 2025. Interested in when? You’ll definitely find out in my E-commerce Calendar or in the overview of marketing and e-commerce events on my website. After the opening, the lectures continued, which combined three main things: world-class names, global reach and a lot of information that you can’t find in one place elsewhere. But those who know me already know that I spent my time in the foyer and met dozens of acquaintances. Who did I run into? For example, Jakub Kantor, Honza Mayer, Radek Hudák or Filip Černý. But also many others who stopped by my Taste booth, where I spent some time. There, Andrea Vyhnalová was improving the day of the participants and handing out cotton candy, while Michael Koch interviewed marketers and streamed it to the world.
Slowly coming to an end… unfortunately
Around 6 p.m., the first guests left the Janáčkovo Divadlo, the program was slowly wrapping up and many people had to end their participation. But that’s not the end! It continued at Fleda, where a packed lineup awaited. It all started with a DJ set at 8 p.m., an hour later the bands Prago Union, Tata Bojs, Ventolin and MALALATA took over. That was a blast! Combining such a packed lineup and cramming more than 500 marketers and entrepreneurs in there, wow! But it was 3 a.m. on 23.2. and the Marketing Festival was over. Well, for the participants. Jindra and his team have planning and preparations for the next one ahead of them. And all I can do is thank them and wholeheartedly say that you’re doing it really well! Keep it up.
If you’ve read this far, I’ll tell you one thing. Come to the Marketing Festival next year! It will be great, because it will be even better. When you organize events, you always have to improve them a little bit. Just like I do with Meet&Deal, which starts in 3 hours. Well, at least at the time when I was writing this article. Currently, it’s a few days after Meet&Deal vol2. So if you’re interested in how it went, don’t forget to read the report. Oh, and how many people did I meet? 👀 A rough estimate is 200, but given the number, it’s really impossible to record everything…
