#fatjocial Barcelona 2025 - fatjoe's first event
I had the absolute pleasure of speaking at fatjoe's inaugural event in Barcelona. Despite it being their first conference, the team delivered a polished experience that left everyone eager for the next one.
Early Bird Gets the Tech Working
I arrived a couple of hours early to test my laptop connection - I had a few dynamic slides so wanted to make sure all the tech worked before getting up to speak. This extra time proved valuable as I ended up helping assemble the display banner. Later in the day I asked the fatjoe engineering team where they were, and they had sneaked off for midday naps! Leaving the marketing team and operations to do all the work…
Before the 2pm kickoff, I grabbed a quick brunch to run through my presentation one last time and make a few final tweaks. Nothing quite like last minute.
The Event: Character, Energy and Insights
The event started with an appearance by none other than fatjoe's mascot "Jojo" - a delightful surprise for attendees. What they didn't know was that my girlfriend (who joined me for a Barcelona holiday afterward) stepped in to wear the Jojo costume when the planned performers weren't available! Not ideal for the other event staff to wear intermittently given it weighed 80kg and was supposedly incredibly hot inside.
Steven and Joe kicked things off with infectious energy in the theatre. Steven's talk on sales techniques was refreshingly direct - complete with colourful language I usually reserve for myself. He shared practical advice on relationship building, closing deals, and handling the dreaded "I need to discuss this with my partner" response.
Craig followed with insights on personal branding and content strategy. Despite condensing his presentation from 150 slides to just 60, his information was packed with value. I'd love to see the full version.
My Turn: New Territory
After a short break, I took the stage. This presentation marked new ground for me - I typically speak to technical or product-focused enterprise audiences, not marketing professionals. Dancing around complex AI concepts to marketers presented different challenges, but I received solid engagement from the crowd and on the content I shared afterward.
I attended and spoke on behalf of Griffiths Waite where I am Head of Product Development - I shared our journey with AI and how we help larger companies drive product and process innovations.
I really enjoyed the experience overall. It was tough to tell a meaningful story in 25 minutes however I think that based on this experience, I could probably do it better next time. I enjoyed the short talk format as you had to try and deliver value in a tight time frame, and speaking as an attendee for the other talks it really made the whole day value packed.
The Other Speakers: A Well-Rounded Programme
Jaume followed me with a candid breakdown of his six-figure business exit, including the data quality challenges that led to customer churn with his SEO tool. His pain points felt familiar to our Spindrift work, though our challenges relate more to data scaling across tens of millions of operations daily.
Olga delivered a standout talk on implementing AI, offering practical advice based on her experience using LLMs in a new role. Her presentation would have been invaluable for anyone looking to integrate AI into their work.
The event concluded with Anna and Steven conducting a Q&A about personal branding - a perfect complement to the earlier talks on this topic. As someone who's recently invested more effort in my personal brand, I found this really valuable.
Networking and Social: Rooftop Celebration
After Joe's brief closing remarks, we moved to the rooftop for food, drinks and networking. Steven almost immediately jumped fully clothed into the pool, with several others following his lead. The Social Hub venue provided excellent service and catering throughout.
I can only commend fatjoe for organising a remarkably smooth event, especially considering it was their first. The blend of practical knowledge, networking opportunities and social activities created a valuable experience for everyone involved. I'm already looking forward to their next one!