My name is Laura, and I am responsible for partner activities, webinars, event planning and the community at Actonic. I am also passionate about marketing topics. As one of 20 vendors, Actonic had the opportunity to be part of the META-INF Atlassian Day in Budapest this year with our own booth, a presentation, and our solutions, advising customers on their way to the Cloud.

Where did my trip to Budapest begin? With the organization of our participation. But from there it was quite a long way to this photo:

In the middle you see me, on the left you see Domenico (one of our CEOs) and on the right side is Andreas (Head of Marketing).

But at this moment, all deadlines, presentation slides and feedback loops were forgotten. The organizational effort was entirely worth it because we had a great time!

What did I, personally, take away from the event?

Organization is good, flexibility is better

Organizing the participation in an event is anything but relaxing. Even as a total organization lover, I occasionally broke out in a sweat a few times. An exhibition stand doesn’t design itself, and I could only guess at the amount of work that goes into such an event beforehand. The arrangements with service providers, overdue deadlines and last-minute changes in presentations definitely challenged my stress level and my little urge for perfect planning. But occasionally a good amount of flexibility is much more important than perfect organization. That’s something I took away from Budapest. Because it turned into an extraordinary and inspiring event, and we met a lot of great people, and our participation was absolutely worth it.

Networking, Networking, Networking

After a long time of only virtual meetings, the best part of the event was meeting our partners and customers in person. And I realized once again what is most essential: Networking! Meeting familiar and new faces, exchanging ideas about innovation and discussing challenges from the customer’s perspective. And honestly: It’s also really nice to talk outside of Teams, Zoom and co.

Food, Danube and Pálinka

In addition to the great event, the many new contacts and my experiences, of course, I can’t forget the pleasant things outside the trade fair days. I particularly remember the good food, which tastes even better on the Danube.

(PS: This was not the only time we had burger on this trip )

What else did I take home with me? Literally: a bottle of Pálinka. The Hungarian fruit brandy is well-known, popular, and available in numerous variations. Of course, this had to go back to Stuttgart as a small souvenir along with the many memories.

My conclusion?

The event was impressively organized, META-INF did a fantastic job, the other vendors had great booths, presentations and workshops, Budapest is a gorgeous city and I will definitely come back to Budapest privately as well.

At this point, thanks again to META-INF for organizing the great Atlassian Day 2022 and your warm hospitality!

And last but not least: of course it’s nice to think back to this great event, but it’s even nicer to look to the future. For me, one thing is certain: this event was just the beginning. I’m eagerly awaiting all the exciting events that are still to come, many new experiences and great people.

Our Head of Marketing was able to present our app Report Builder. You can find his personal review here: What Atlassian Day 2022 by META-INF has in common with The Matrix.