No fluff, just real talk

The Experience

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!

Roundtables

We will have a series of roundtables where you will meet people working on the exact same challenges, and learn what's been working for them.

Keynotes

Carefully selected, no fluff keynotes. Expect 8 practical talks, each just 30 minutes, enough time to inspire, without dragging on.

Networking

Most of the event takes place in a cool backyard with picnic tables, at Big Penny Social, London. No formal hotel or exhibition halls, but plenty of networking.

Check testimonials →

Meet the speakers

Carefully selected, no fluff keynotes. Expect 8 practical talks, each just 30 minutes—enough time to inspire, without dragging on.

Anamaria Dorgo

L&D Manager — Communities & Social Learning at Adyen

Lisa Wetter

Director of People Experiences at Mentimeter

Aki Friedrich

Director of Learning, Enablement and Transformation at Superside

Ola Potrykus-Majewska

Global Learning Director at adidas

Maya Cămărașu

People Experience & Growth Director at PPC Romania

*more speakers will be announced soon

What it feels like

Hear from former participants what Offbeat Fest feels like.

Lauren Vecchio, Learning & Development Program Manager at Wunderkind

Chenai Garikayi-Mendia, Learning Business Partner at Wise

Keren Blackmore, Director at Leap of Thought

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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.

Anamaria Dorgo

L&D Manager - Communities & Social Learning at Adyen

Iulia Buciuman

Founder at Valere

*more facilitators will be announced soon

Our 2026 partners

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 our industry.

Featured Sponsor

Partner Sponsors

Design Partner

Agenda 2026

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 build a culture of experimentation

Anne-Laure Le Cunff, Neuroscientist and Founder of Ness Labs

L&D professionals champion learning, curiosity, and experimentation for others and yet our own ways of working can still rely on rigid plans, large launches, and the pressure to get things right the first time. What would change if we applied the same learning principles we advocate to our everyday work?

This keynote explores how to approach uncertainty with curiosity, learn in public, and lead like a scientist. Using the experimental mindset as a practical framework, this session reframes L&D as a practice of inquiry, helping practitioners lead change not by having all the answers, but by learning faster together.

11:00 AM

The building blocks of a learning ecosystem

Johanna Bolin Tingvall, Senior Director Human Growth & Performance at On (ex. Spotify)

What are the components of a learning ecosystem?

Johanna Bolin Tingvall will share her experience building learning cultures in fast-growing companies where learning and innovation go hand in hand. She will then bring this to life with a practical example that demonstrates how team development supports both.

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

Re-routing to Dynamic Organization: Inside TomTom’s journey towards skills‑based learning

Aneta Milosierna-Santos, People Product Lead at TomTom

Discover how TomTom transformed its approach to learning and development to build what people needed and deliver results the business cared about.

People Product Lead, Aneta Milosierna-Santos will share how the launch of the TomTom Academy, powered by HowNow, helped democratize learning, empower employees to own their growth and connect development directly to business outcomes.

You’ll hear how TomTom overcame fragmented systems and inconsistent learning experiences to achieve 90% learner activation, 100% onboarding completion, and a boost in internal mobility. Expect practical insights on AI-powered skills mapping, driving adoption at scale, and building a learning ecosystem that fuels agility and innovation in a high pace of change. Ideal for L&D and HR leaders looking to turn skills strategy into real, measurable impact.

4:15 PM

Designing for Curiosity: A Story of Discovery at Just Eat Takeaway.com

Eeva Toivanen, Lead Learning & Leadership Consultant at Just Eat Takeaway.com

You can’t learn to swim from a book, and you certainly can’t learn curiosity from a PowerPoint.

Eeva Toivanen takes us behind the scenes of the journey to make curiosity tangible. This is a story about human-centered design and giving an organization, and its L&D team, permission to explore the unknown and wonder.

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

Relevant by Design. Unconventional Learning Teams in the Age of AI

Aki Friedrich, Director of Learning, Enablement and Transformation at Superside

As AI reshapes how work is created and delivered, learning teams have an opportunity to rethink their structure, not just their programs. This session shares an approach that blends learning expertise with embedded subject-matter experts, bringing learning closer to the product.

By hiring people who understand the business at its core, learning teams can build credibility, contribute to cross-functional strategy, and shift from support function to strategic partner. This way, relevance is not claimed. It is intentionally designed.

10:30 AM

Attributing Business Impact in Modern Enablement

Judith Völz, Senior Manager Product Enablement and Education at Hootsuite

The measurement debate in L&D never ends, but often because we’re measuring the wrong things. Instead of focusing on learning outputs, we should measure behavioral change, workflow adoption, accountability, revenue influence, and performance acceleration.

In this session, Judith will share practical ways to connect enablement initiatives to business KPIs, partner with Product, Sales, and Leadership, and build credible attribution models that resonate at the board level and show the transition she has led in two companies so far.

11:00 AM

Break

Coffee & conversations

11:30 AM

Sponsor Hour

Each sponsor chose something to bring to the table during the conference. Not a demo, but a proper facilitated session aimed to help participants learn something new.

12:45 PM

Break

Lunch & networking

1:30 PM

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.

2:45 PM

Break

Coffee & conversations

3:15 PM

Enablement “Beats” Learning. The shift you need to make to enable workforce performance, (and failures along the way)

James Swift, Director of Talent Development at Leyton UK

No one wants to learn. Accepting this, is your first step towards enablement. It’s no secret that our cousins in Sales Enablement get the budget, ROI is much easier to measure, but L&D can learn a lot from how they approach workforce performance.

In this session, James will be looking at practical steps you can take to move your teams towards Enablement, the impact that will have on the business and the challenges along the way.

3:45 PM

Surprise Guest

4:15 PM

Closing day #2

Guided reflection & closing

Location

The event will take place on a cool rooftop, at Deschis Gastrobar, Bucharest. No formal hotel or exhibition halls.

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

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.

Internal L&D professionals looking to connect and learn with peers facing similar challenges.

Independent L&Ds seeking connection and community—seats are limited!

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.

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8/20 super-early bird tickets available

Prices go up on November 15th or when the last super-early bird ticket is gone!

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Offbeat Fest

€199

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⚠️ 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.

FAQ

We've prepared a list of questions we thought you might have, together with our answers.

Are there team discounts available?

Yes. Teams with 3 or more members get a 10% discount on their tickets. Please reach out to lavinia@offbeat.works for more info.

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 Bucharest 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 August 8th, 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.

Talk to Lavinia & Ioana

Reach out with any question and we'll get back to you ASAP!

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