Ep 6. I Went to Atomicon 2025 Alone (Here’s How It Felt as an Introvert)

Ep 6: I Went to Atomicon 2025 Alone (Here’s How It Felt as an Introvert)

[00:00:00] Hello and a very warm welcome back to Quiet Confidence with myself, Anita Popat. I’m a marketing strategist for Introverts, and today I wanted to share my experience of my trip up north to Atomicon as an introvert.

If you don’t know what Atomicon is, it’s the UK’s biggest sales and marketing conference.

There’s literally thousands of people there, and I went for the first time this year (2025) because last year, I’m not lying – literally all of my connections were at Atomicon and I was like, I wanna experience this at least once.

I went, experienced, and I got my ticket for next year. So yes, it was that good. And I thought I’d share why in today’s episode.

Someone described Atomicon as being like the LinkedIn Met Gala, and honestly that was spot on because myself and others were constantly walking around with the face that’s like, “I swear, I know you from somewhere”, but not quite saying anything.

And just to prove that point, while I was on the train to Newcastle on the Monday, I got tagged into a LinkedIn post saying, I’m sure I just saw Anita Popat and another lady going to Atomicon.

I had no idea who this lady was, but she was from my hometown, but she tagged me in her post.

So obviously all throughout that journey I was on the lookout for her, and as we got closer, there were two women having a conversation about Atomicon just a couple of seats in front of me, and then when we got up to get off the train, one of them was her, which was quite funny.

So that was quite nice, and it set the tone for the whole event because I was pretty much meeting new people and tagging onto them, whether it was to go to lunch, get an Uber together, or just chill in between events, which for me was the highlight of the whole thing.

The actual conference was on the Tuesday. During the day on the Monday, a pre pre-party on the Sunday, and an after party as well.

And on the run up to the event, there’s opportunities to get involved in masterminds, networking weeks and just connect with people online before you meet them in real life.

I have to say, considering the size, there was literally thousands of people, it has to be one of the best conferences I’ve attended, because they’ve literally thought of everything and everyone.

Like, on the runup, everything was just so clear. There was an [00:02:00] app so people could connect on the app and there was a schedule so we could find out what was going on.

There was quiet places where people could go to recharge. If everything was getting a bit too much. I thought I’d use that. But if I’m being honest, I kind of forgot it was there because I was just so excited to have conversations with loads of people!

I got there on the Monday. I had about an hour to just chill. Had a cup of tea, had some sushi before the community mixer, which started at half five.

(If you’re part of a community, you have a mixer that starts a bit earlier so you can connect with the people in your group, which was really nice because it was quite quiet then).

But as it got closer to the pre-party time, around seven half, seven, you could literally feel the noise, the heat.

There was loads of music, there was people eating, drinking, talk, and lots of echo, games.

So obviously the louder the sound is the louder you gotta talk, and I literally lost my voice by the end of the night because I was going around talking to anyone and everyone and pretty much shouting, to help my voice get heard.

But it was a lot of fun. Because I got a lot of hugs. Yes, I’m a hugger. I got to meet so many people that I’ve been chatting to for so many years online.

And it was nice to just be in each other’s company for a few days.  There were so many people who I kept missing. So I kept seeing them while I was talking to someone else and I just thought, oh yeah, I’ll go back to them, but I never saw them again. That’s how big the event was.

I got an Uber with a couple of ladies who were staying at the same hotel.

I have to say, just catching Ubers with loads of random people was the best bit for me. Sometimes I got the Uber, sometimes other people did.

We just shared it all out and had chats along the way. So that just shows the kind of people that come. Everyone’s just so welcoming and lovely.

I think I got to the hotel about half 10. And then I see a hand pop up from Ange who I’ve known for years, but not really had enough chats with.

She was with her being freelance crew in the lobby and she was like, Anita, come over have some hot chocolate with us.

And I just looked at the two ladies who were going off to bed and I’m like, all right, then let’s go. So Ange kindly treated me to some hot chocolate and she’s like, do you want some Bailey’s in there? I was like, go on then.

So she went to the bar, make it a double, which was nice.

It was just nice to sit and chill with another group of, [00:04:00] freelancers. And it felt like I’d known them for ages ’cause we just had so many laughs.

Someone’s actually got a selfie of about 15 of us crammed into the lift on the way back to our rooms, which was hilarious.

So that was the first day I got there. Which was just fun and kind of gave me a taste of what’s to come.

On the actual day, the day actually starts from eight o’clock and I think he finished about half five, six.

My hotel was literally five minutes from the venue, the Glasshouse in Newcastle, which is massive.

It’s by the Quayside and it’s a building covered in glass. if you watch the piano from the uk, they had the final concert there, which really helped me because it helped me visualize what I was going into, before I actually attended.

So that was nice to see.

When you get in there, there’s like ladies on stilts, pineapple pina coladas, at like eight in the morning, donuts, coffee, lots of people already chatting.

And then throughout the day there was four stages. So you had to choose which talk you wanted to go to. And then at the end, everyone was back together again.

The beauty of Atomicon is that all the talks are recorded, so I gave myself permission to miss a few of the ones that are a bit more tactical and technical because I knew I could watch them back later.

I wanted to actually watch them and stop them and implement the ideas, and instead, I focused on going to the ones where I wanted to be in the room with the people and actually feel their energy.

And I’m so glad I did because the talks I went to were like on fire.

But that being said, it was really hard to choose between the sessions because there was a few I wanted to go to because I’d known them and a few that I wanted to hear the subject of. So I just kind of let myself decide what I wanted to do on the day and went with the flow.

But in hindsight, I felt like I was always rushing somewhere and I’d keep seeing people in between the sessions and waving at them just saying a few words and then dashing off.

I wish I’d just kind of paused and stayed and said hello and had a chat. I think I’ll do more of that next time, and make the most of being in the room with lots of people.

So I haven’t had a chance to catch up on all the replays yet, but here are some words of wisdom that I felt from the talks I was in the room for.

I’m gonna say you’ve probably heard variations of these things before, but sometimes you just need to hear it again or in a different way to make it stick or spark [00:06:00] something in you.

I thought I’d share what I took from the talks I was in the room for in case they help you too:

Andrew and Pete, the organizers of the event, opened the show and they were just hilarious. And the main message I took from them was to stop playing small and to make the bigger what feel like the cheeky ask.

And that if you keep making small asks, you’re gonna get small wins, which makes sense right.

So what I got from them was just make the ask and what’s the worst that could happen?

And then we had Fearne Cotton. Yes, the Happy Place. Nineties TV legend Fearne.

I’m a big fan of hers and I’ve pretty much grown up with seeing her on TV, so I was really excited to see her in person and she was literally the same. And I just really love her vibe.

The first message I got from her was that there’s no rush, and this really spoke to me because there’s so much messaging about building your business where you’ve gotta be, go, go, go and she just said, there’s no rush. Okay, just take your time.

And also, she reminded us to feel the wins instead of going to the next big thing, I’m sure like all of us we’ll do something and then be like, oh, what’s the next thing?

But you don’t actually take the time to celebrate the little things that you’ve done to get you to that thing.

So I liked her, whole talk because she was just real and she said that she’s built connection and a strong community of fans because of that realness.

Then we had Laura Belgray, who’s an email marketing copywriter, and she started with, I want to get paid by being me. And I love that obviously. And also that perfection doesn’t create connection.

She was talking about writing emails as if you’re writing to your best friend and to embrace the odd typo, share your stories and just write like you’re talking to your bestie and your audience will want to read them.

And if you are on my email list, you will get the odd typo because I get so excited to write. I just, write And if you’re not on my email list, I’ll pop a link in the show notes, so you can subscribe and experience them for yourself.

Again, that very much spoke to the whole business doesn’t have to be boring and formal, and people want your quirkiness and your personality and how you are. So embrace that.

Then I went to see Rory Sutherland, who is a ledge, So if you’re in marketing, you would’ve heard of Ogilvy, which is one of the most famous marketing [00:08:00] agencies.

And he just owned the stage with his quirkiness.

And what I got from him was that you have to go out to get lucky. He was talking about having to pick his teenage girls up from nights out.

But also that if you stay at home all day, you never know what you’re missing out on. So you’ve gotta put yourself in those rooms to get lucky.

Now I can vouch for this, so many collaborations have happened because of a chance meeting at a networking event. And you genuinely never know what that lucky’s gonna look like unless you get into the room.

So I’m a big fan of that. And he also said that we spend so much time trying to make existing offers or products, like 3% better, but not enough time on trying out new things, which might actually get you more sales than what you’ve already got.

So, experiment with offers,

And I’ve been doing that as well. I’ve had Silent Storm as my signature offer for a long time, but I’m experimenting with different things just to see what I like and what my audience like as well. And it’s just fun.

Now the next two were hands down, my favorite,

To close the show, we had Geoff Ram, who’s a customer service, keynote speaker, and he was an amazing storyteller.

As soon as he walked on, he just commanded the stage. He was funny, but also very empathetic. Just engaged the whole room with laughter, empathy, emotion.

And he spoke about making sure you give clients a celebrity service at all touch points and making them feel joy excited or making them feel seen, and he used everyday stories to make them really relatable to the audience. So he was really fun to listen to.

But hands down, one of my faves in terms of the vibe, the energy, and just the straight talk was Tamu Thomas.

I’d heard of Tamu Thomas and I followed her, and she’s got a book called women who work too much. I hadn’t really heard her speak, and I’m so glad I went to the talk because she was just a vibe.

She talked about toxic productivity and wanting to be a well-rested woman and to stop hanging out with the old version of you and to make decisions from the version of you that you want to be in like five or 10 years time.

I can’t put my finger on it, but there was just something about her that made the talk just really inspiring, and I really felt what she was saying.

So that’s a quick overview of the talks I attended. But [00:10:00] for me, I think the best thing about the event was if you hadn’t gathered already, was the amount of people that I met.

Everyone was genuinely so friendly and welcoming and you don’t always get that at conferences.

I literally tagged onto groups I didn’t know for nightcaps and dinner, even though I knew people going, I was a bit apprehensive of going by myself ’cause I didn’t wanna be a lone ranger. But it kind of forced me to go and talk to people.

Like after the event, I’d planned to go back to the hotel just to chill for a bit before I went to the pre-party.

But on the way, there was a group of women on the quayside and I recognized one of them from TikTok of all places. She was with the group who were going for dinner. And they were like, do you wanna come with us? And bearing in mind I’d never met these ladies before, I was like, okay then.

And I’m so glad I did because they went to the most amazing, authentic Italian restaurant and I had the best Arrabiata of my life. It was just a quirky Italian. We had to go down some steps. There was Italian waiters and the place was buzzing for like a Tuesday night. And we had a table of 10, and I was just having the best time just talking to these people.

Then I ended up going straight to the after party with one of the ladies from there.

So I had no downtime. I was just go, go, go. Which probably wasn’t the best thing, but. It was just one day, soaking up the experience,

I could have not gone to the after party and just gone back to the hotel with the other ladies. But I wanted to catch the people that I’d missed during the day and just have chats with them. And although there was lots of people there, it started to dwindle down within a few hours, and it was just nice and chilled.

I’m glad I went because I managed to meet Pete, one of the organizers of Atomicon for the first time,

I’m glad I got to see him and thank him for putting on a good event because you could see a lot of thought and work had gone to making it so inclusive for everyone.

Did my experience end after the after party? Oh no, it still carried on to the next day.

After checking out at 11 o’clock, a group of us were heading to the train station, so we shared an Uber on that journey. And then again, more lovely chats in the cafe and waving at new people I’d met on the platform.

A few of them were on the train.

And just a general feeling of, ah, that was a really nice event.

So did I enjoy my first time? If you hadn’t already gathered.

Yeah, I think so.

From an [00:12:00] introvert’s point of view, yes, it was a lot of peopling and there was lots of opportunities in the day to just chill and take some time out for myself, but even though I’m an introvert, I still love talking to people and making those connections.

 So I prioritized that and I made sure I didn’t have anything too pressing in the diary for the rest of the week.

I’m glad I did that because I was pooped when I got home. It definitely took me until the weekend to feel a bit more human again, but in my opinion, it was worth it.

But there’s so much opportunities for you to just stop, rest and recharge and you don’t have to go to everything. Because it’s all recorded, you could literally not go to any of the sessions and just network if you wanted to, or you could just miss a few here and there.

 You can make the experience however you want it, but I think as a first timer, I got a bit too excited and wanted to experience everything. But now for next year, I know that I can just chill a bit and not put too much pressure on me to attend everything live.

 So if that sounds like something you’d love to be involved in next year, I’ve got an affiliate link that gets you 70% off if you’re listening live, I’ve put it in the show notes right now is the lowest it’ll be. And then the price goes up as you get closer to the time. But you can pay in installments and that ticket lets you attend in person or virtually, and you can cancel it until Feb.

So it’s kind of a no brainer.

I’ll put the link to the tickets here* and whether you’re coming for the inspiration, the hugs, the hot chocolate chats, or the vibes. I hope to see you there next year.

Until next time. Remember, building your quiet confidence isn’t about pushing harder. It’s about putting yourself in the right room so the magic can find you. See you next time. 

*This is an affiliate link so i’ll get a little thank you if you use my link ☺️