No fluff, just real talk
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No fluff, just real talk
9-10 June
150 seats
London
Registrations are not closed! Add your email to the waitlist for updates.
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About
If we had to describe Offbeat Fest in just two words, they'd be 'practical' and 'connection.' Let’s be real: we’re all a bit worn out on theories—we want the hands-on 'how-to' stuff! But here's the thing: every L&D pro in the room brings their own tricks and tips. So, we’re creating loads of opportunities to bring that know-how to the surface, spark real conversations, and build genuine connections across our community. Come for the learning, stay for the people!
What you missed in 2025
What to expect
Topics you want to discuss. Hand-curated roundtables.
Four rounds of curated discussions guided by expert facilitators let you connect, share, and learn from others facing similar issues.
Meet facilitators →No fluff presentations. Learn from real case studies.
Carefully selected, no fluff keynotes. Expect 8 practical talks, each just 30 minutes—enough time to inspire, without dragging on.
Meet speakers →Nothing like a good party to connect people.
We have the party going at the venue until midnight. This is when the magic happens, when you get to meet the people behind the roles.
What makes Offbeat Fest stand out is the focus on active engagement, real conversations, and meaningful connections with people who are tackling the same challenges as you. The format is sharp, the discussions are focused, and the keynotes are designed to inspire action, not just ideas.
Filip Lam, Global Leadership Development Partner at H&M Group
Meet the speakers
Carefully selected, no fluff keynotes. Expect 8 practical talks, each just 30 minutes—enough time to inspire, without dragging on.
Meet our facilitators
With five rounds of curated discussions, you'll connect with others tackling the same issues and learn what’s working for them—each led by a skilled facilitator & topic expert.
Vicky Furlan
People Partner @ Frontify
Aki Friedrich
Director of Learning Experience at Superside
Antonia Onaca
Leadership Enablement Partner
Lisa Wetter
Culture & Learning Lead at Mentimeter
Kate Udalova
Founder @7taps
Dinye Hernanda
L&D for Startups & Scaleups
Petter Wihlbäck Mathisen
Unlocking knowledge with AI at Sana
Carl Martin
Founder & Head of Coaching at Peerpod
Coralie Moore
Program Lead at The DO
Ryan Viehrig
Founder at trevato
Our sponsors
This event is brought to you with the support of our sponsors. They’re leaders in their fields and play a key role in making this possible. Take a moment to learn more about their work and how they’re shaping the industry.
Featured Sponsor
Partner Sponsors
Agenda 2025
9:00 AM
Registration & breakfast
Pick up your badge, eat, and mingle.
10:00 AM
Welcome words
Opening with Lavinia Mehedintu
10:30 AM
How to create a squiggly career culture
Helen Tupper, CEO, Amazing If
Organisations that embrace squiggly careers give people the freedom and flexibility to develop in different directions, creating more reasons for people to learn, grow and stay.
In this session, Helen Tupper, CEO and co-founder of Amazing If will share how to create a squiggly career culture. Helen will talk about the skills to invest in, the support to provide and the structures to put in place. She'll also share insights from working with over 100 global organisations on career development and what actions you can take straight away.
11:00 AM
How continuous improvement can transform L&D
Lauren Cunningham, Learning, Development, and Quality Lead at Bumble Inc
Lauren joins us to share how Continuous Improvement strategies have helped her move beyond quick fixes and deliver sustainable learning outcomes that truly benefit employees and the organization. She’ll also share a practical example of using CI to create a smarter request form that not only streamlined the intake process but also helped filter requests to focus on the most impactful solutions.
By applying these principles, Lauren has been able to tackle common challenges in L&D with solutions that save time, reduce waste, and align better with business goals. Whether you’re looking to create lasting impact or just reduce the daily headaches, this talk is packed with actionable insights to help you rethink and reshape your approach to L&D.
11:30 AM
Break
Coffee & conversations
12:00 AM
Roundtable discussion #1
People are grouped to tables of 8 by company size and role. You will learn how your peers from similar-sized companies are solving the same problems you are working on.
1:15 PM
Break
Lunch & networking
2:00 PM
Roundtable discussion #2
People are grouped to tables of 8 by company size and role. You will learn how your peers from similar-sized companies are solving the same problems you are working on.
3:15 PM
Break
Coffee & conversations
3:45 PM
Skills in action: A playbook for high-impact L&D
Sam Allen, Global Head of Learning and Development @ Ideagen
In this talk, Sam offers a hands-on guide to launching and scaling a skills-focused L&D strategy. You’ll see how Ideagen’s home-grown skills taxonomy evolved through ongoing feedback from peers, and how that momentum led to new processes for aligning learning with real business needs.
He’ll detail the role of technology in making resources available anytime, anywhere—along with the reporting systems that capture everything from skill acquisition to career progression. Walk away with practical insights into the nuts and bolts of building, measuring, and refining a dynamic capability framework that empowers employees and delivers strategic results.
4:15 PM
Learning from failure: What 18 months of mistakes taught me about L&D (and myself)
Nick Bilotta, Learning Experience Manager @ Discord
Success stories are great, but what about the programs that flop, the stakeholders who never buy-in, or the career moves that miss the mark?
Nick Bilotta (LX Manager, Discord) shares the toughest 18 months of his career—missteps, frustrations, and hard-won lessons. From late stakeholder engagement to misaligned programs, he unpacks why L&D initiatives fail—and how to build better ones. This session isn’t about just accepting failure, it’s about embracing and learning from it. Walk away with strategies for treating learning as a product, leveraging LLMs, and adapting when plans go sideways. Because trust me, we’ve all been there.
4:45 PM
Closing day #1
Guided reflection
5:00 PM
Dinner, drinks and converations until midnight.
We have the party going at the venue until midnight. This is when the real magic of the conference starts.
9:00 AM
Breakfast
Eat food, drink coffee, and mingle.
10:00 AM
Building a case for a learning philosophy
Dwayne Britton, Head of Global Learning & Development at On
In this talk, Dwayne explores how adopting a clear learning philosophy can help organizations align development efforts with strategic goals while shaping a strong, cohesive brand culture. Drawing on real-world examples—like On’s S.P.A.R.K. Philosophy—he illustrates how well-defined learning principles can amplify impact, drive talent growth, and boost employee engagement.
Whether you’re looking to strengthen your organization’s development strategy or build a culture of continuous learning, this session offers actionable insights and proven approaches to make learning a cornerstone of organizational success.
10:30 AM
How We Ditched Tradition & Reimagined L&D for the AI era?
Maha Gad, Director Talent & Culture at Talabat
L&D teams change over time, and the best way to stay effective is by understanding what the organization and the market need from us.
Maha Gad, Talent & Culture Director at Talabat, will share the journey her team has been on. She’ll walk us through the last five years of change, the roles they kept, dropped, or added, and how she purposely looked outside traditional L&D backgrounds. From behavioral science to technical expertise and coaching, Maha will show how these different roles helped shape her team’s future.
11:00 AM
Break
Coffee & conversations
11:30 AM
Roundtable discussion #3
People are grouped to tables of 8 by company size and role. You will learn how your peers from similar-sized companies are solving the same problems you are working on.
12:45 PM
Break
Lunch & networking
1:30 PM
Rountable discussion #4
People are grouped to tables of 8 by company size and role. You will learn how your peers from similar-sized companies are solving the same problems you are working on.
2:45 PM
Break
Coffee & conversations
3:15 PM
How Mentimeter is making learning more than a tick-box
Lisa Wetter, Culture & Learning Lead at Mentimeter
Learning happens everywhere, all the time. But the real challenge is not just getting people to see it, but to actually engage with it.
Lisa Wetter, Culture & Learning Lead at Mentimeter, will share how they’re working to create a culture where learning is more than just a box to tick—it’s built into the way they work. In this session, she’ll offer an honest look at what’s worked, what’s been a glorious disaster, and what they’re still figuring out.
3:45 PM
Next in Learning
Aki Friedrich, Director of Learning Experience at Superside
Without technology, the three major ways of learning were observing, experiencing, and human exchange. When computers became more developed, they allowed us to scale learning. But we had to adjust to technology, which led to static learning: few people (learning teams) built content, and many had to consume it.
With AI and natural language, we have the chance to enable natural learning at scale. In this session, Aki explores how the future of learning will look like and how we, as L&D teams, need to prepare.
4:15 PM
Closing day #2
Guided reflection & closing
Registrations are not closed! Add your email to the waitlist for updates.
Location
Most of the event takes place in a cool backyard with picnic tables, at Big Penny Social, London. No formal hotel or exhibition halls.
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Who should join
Offbeat Fest is not for everyone, and we know it. Before you decide to join, make sure you read through what we've prepared for you.
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Internal L&D professionals looking to connect and learn with peers facing similar challenges.
Independent L&Ds seeking connection and community—seats are limited!
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Offbeat Fest is designed for those who thrive on conversations over presentations.
While we appreciate the work of sales professionals, we’re keeping this event sales-free. If you register as a sales pro, we’ll happily (and surely) refund you.
Tickets
Grab one of the last tickets by May 15th!
FAQ
We've prepared a list of questions we thought you might have, together with our answers.
Will there be any booths at the event?
No. We only have a few sponsors and their role during the day is to have honest, real conversations with you. They will share more details about their products & services only if you're interested.
We understand if you're looking for vendors, and we're more than happy to recommend you some across various needs, but the event is designed as a sales-free one.
What does roundtable even mean?
It's not the shape of the table!
It's the idea that we'll pair people in groups based on their challenges and interests.
Once you register, you'll receive a form where you can share more details about yourself. We'll hand-curate roundtables to make sure you will meet people working on the exact same issues, and learn what's been working for them.
Each roundtable will have a topic expert as a facilitator, who will make sure you'll have a productive conversation.
What if I want to pay by wire transfer?
Please reach out at lavinia@offbeat.works.
Is this event live?
Yes, it is! You'll need to get to London to meet us!
Will you record the presentations?
No, we won't. We will make sure to create a digital space where we'll share notes about each presentation.
What if I register and something comes up?
The first option is to share your ticket with a colleague, as long as they qualify for our event. We'd just need you to reach out and let us know about it.
In case you want to withdraw, we can do a full refund more than 8 weeks before the event. Once we've reached April 9th, refunds will no longer be available.
This event is designed with love by Offbeat
L&D needs to mature. We know it. You know it. We started Offbeat with the intention of supporting L&D professionals in stepping out of their comfort zone and into territories where they learn, shake off traditional ways of working, and adopt more impactful practices.
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Talk to Lavinia & Ioana
Reach out with any question and we'll get back to you ASAP!
Copyright Offbeat 2025
