Upterdam 2025 was great, but quite demanding! At first, I wanted to make a post about it on Thursday evening to be among the first to evaluate it on Friday morning, but in the end, I decided to make it an article right away because it will be much more comprehensive and also more interesting.
For me, Upterdam started on Wednesday morning when I packed up in Prague and headed to Bratislava. Just like last year, my task was to document the entire Upterdam, so I started with a head start.
Around 2 o’clock, I first got to the Refinery Gallery and started solving what needed to be done with Jakub Jarabica. Meet&Deal, as a media partner, had its place at the event, and I think no one could miss it in the conference part. At the registration, it was as if it wasn’t there, but in the expo zone, it blended in a bit because I forgot about one yellow banner.
I started the evening with a welcome dinner for partners, speakers, and VIP guests, which I moderated. I welcomed the guests, gave the floor to Jakub, and after dinner, I introduced Livia, who was to present a networking activity. As the activity was coming to an end, I took the microphone again and motivated the guests a bit to complete the task and come to us. Before everyone opened the box, we did a small standup with the results, or beware of the numbers when answering questions. The average age of 450 km then caused a lot of fun. We traditionally closed the dinner with Branislav Barbirík and Robo Potoma.
On Thursday, I had a nutritious breakfast, worked a little more in my room, and then set out for Upterdam. It was in full swing, with speakers presenting and exhibitors exhibiting. A total of 1100 people showed up at Upterdam. Wow!
Among the exhibitors, I had several partners to interview. I took it in order: Corlonez – Jirka Hasalík, FedEx – Ján Ličko, Tatra Banka – Pavol Bogar, Ui42 – Andrej Kajan, Finby – Paula Banasová, Smartbase – Milan Peťko, 24pay – Braňo Barbirík, and UNION – Michal Vančo.
After all the interviews and networked hours, it was time for fun. Specifically, the announcement of the Upterdam Awards – a novelty that the organizing team had prepared. Congratulations to all the nominees, but especially to the winners!
After the awards ceremony, we went to shoot again. This time, I chose several top CZ & SK business personalities, such as Milan Šmíd, Ruslan Skopal, Libor Nádvorník, Jaroslav Chrapko, Robert Potoma, Ivan Cingel, Imrich Kovaľ, Dalibor Cicman, and a few others! Look forward to the BUZZOONS vlog soon!
I evaluate this year’s Upterdam very positively. The new space, the Upterdam Awards, and many other things that this year’s edition brought were really great! As an event organizer, I gave Jakub and his team feedback throughout the event so they could use it right away.
From unverified information, I know that Upterdam should be again on the last Thursday of September/September 2026. So, see you there? I’ll definitely be there!
