Here’s our annual honest look at this year’s Ibiza Super Summit: the highs, the lows, and what we’ll do differently next year.
By Ian Harris
Director, Agency Hackers
Every year after our Ibiza Super Summit conference, we send out a feedback form. It’s become part of the ritual of our events: collect the feedback, and publish it for everyone to see – good and bad.
Every year, I dread opening it!
But we religiously do this for a few reasons:
- It helps us make our events better. I genuinely have no idea during an event how it’s going. People say it’s brilliant. But then you sit down, open the spreadsheet, and realise, ‘Oh, here’s what they really thought.’.
- It makes great content. Let’s be honest: you’re reading this right now because you know I’m going to share some painful stuff we got wrong.
- It communicates one of our values which is “always try to be interesting”. Our audience is business owners, and they like being able to put themselves in our shoes.
Doing this also helps us get closer to our customers. When you ask what people think — and then actually show that you’ve listened — they engage in a totally different way going forward.
This year nearly half of attendees filled in our feedback form, and not with one-liners either. But with proper essays! If you added up the hourly rate of everyone who responded, we’ve probably had tens of thousands of pounds’ worth of consultancy dropped into our inbox for free.
So, here’s what we learned from this year’s Ibiza Super Summit: what worked, what didn’t, and what we’re doing differently next time.
⭐️ Satisfaction was 7.9 / 10
- We asked attendees to rate, out of 10, how much they enjoyed the event and how much value they got from it. It’s quite an open question – people interpret “enjoyment” and “value” differently – but it gives a good overall sense of how the event lands each year.
- What we’ve seen is that, as the event has grown, satisfaction has dipped slightly. From 2023 to 2024 it declined a little, and this year it dropped by about one point. Our overall satisfaction score was 7.9 out of 10, down from 8.8 when we first ran this event in in 2023. The median score – which represents the midpoint of all responses – also fell from 9/10 to 8/10.
Before we go any further, I have to be fair to ourselves and say that’s a respectable score when you consider how hard this event is to pull off. It’s a tricky setup – different venues, international location, late nights, early starts, lots of moving parts – so to still be close to an eight out of ten shows people genuinely value it. They care enough to give us detailed feedback and want it to get better, which is a good sign.
But why do we think the feedback dipped?
Well, the themes were pretty clear: the venue, the content, the attendee mix, and the eternal question — what even is this event?
A Bigger, Slicker Venue – But Some Miss the Hotel Vibe
People did not warm to the new, bigger venue. This was probably the area that had the biggest impact on satisfaction this year.
What’s really interesting is how opinions split between first-time attendees and those who’ve been before.
- People who came for the first time this year generally liked the venue. They said it felt spacious, professional, and credible – it looked the part of a serious conference. A few even mentioned that eating in the forest was a nice touch and gave the event a distinctive feel.
- But returning attendees were pretty clear: they want it back in a hotel.
A lot of people commented that the rooms were freezing – some to the point where they had to leave a session and go warm up in their hotel room, which obviously isn’t great. Others said the venue felt sterile or soulless, and that some of the breakout rooms “could have been in London.” It lost a bit of that relaxed, communal energy that makes Ibiza special.
So we’ve listened. For 2026, we’re going back to the Ibiza Gran Hotel, which is where we held it previously. People really missed that setup — being able to hang out by the pool between sessions, grab a drink at the hotel bar, or just bump into people in the same space. It’s those casual moments that make the whole thing feel connected.
The only downside is that the Ibiza Gran Hotel comes with a smaller capacity. With round tables, we can only fit about 180 people. That’s already shaping up to be tight, as we’ve sold around 60 tickets and have some rollovers from this year. So it does mean tickets will be scarce — but that also makes the event a bit more intimate, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
So yes — lesson learned. Great-looking venues aren’t always great-feeling venues, and for us, that relaxed, sociable atmosphere is worth prioritising.
The Content: What Landed – and What’s Next
Let’s talk about the sessions.
Some went down brilliantly. “Mark Ritson was awesome,” said one person. “Loved the mix of learning and fun,” said another. But then… “Too many sales pitches.” “Felt repetitive.” “I wanted more variety.”
One comment made me laugh and cry at the same time:
“The quality of the speakers was patchy. It felt like a sales pitch for a lot of them. I wanted actionable stuff.”
The truth is, I curate a lot of the content myself, and as the event’s got bigger, it’s harder to get that balance right. The sessions that really land are the ones where people talk honestly about what’s really going on in their agency – not just their “success formula”.
This is not unique to Ibiza. One of the fascinating things about live events is how two people can sit side by side, hear the same speaker, and walk away with completely different experiences.
At this year’s conference, one attendee told us they’d been warned off a breakout session – someone said it “wasn’t worth it”. But by the time they heard that, they were already halfway in the room. They stayed… and it turned out to be their favourite session of the day!
Content lands differently for everyone. What feels obvious to one person can be a revelation to someone else. Part of the magic of a live event is that unpredictable mix — the conversations, the chemistry, and the personal resonance you can’t plan for. You never quite know which session will spark your next idea, or shift how you see things.
Next year, we’re getting attendees even more involved in the line-up.
Attendees will help shape the lineup – vote on topics, suggest sessions, and maybe even help host them. And we’re bringing back proper discussion formats. Less keynote, more conversation.
The “What Even Is This?” Problem
This came up a lot.
Some people said, “The days were too long – I needed a break.” But others said, “Don’t shorten it, I’m here to learn!”
Basically, we’ve built an event that can’t quite decide if it’s a business summit or a very organised holiday.
And that’s sort of the point. But it’s also where the friction is. One person put it perfectly: “I felt guilty if I skipped a session, but sometimes I just needed a nap.”
Fair enough. You’re adults. You’re in Ibiza. You can make your own choices.
What I don’t want is people feeling trapped in a theatre at 9 a.m. while their head’s still at Hi the night before.
We’re still figuring out how to approach this. Next year, perhaps slightly later starts, and more chances to network. You don’t have to be “learning” every second — the good stuff often happens over lunch or by the pool.
Getting the Balance Right: Who’s in the Room
The other big theme that came through was around the mix of attendees.
To be transparent, this came up quite a lot — roughly one in three people said they’d like the event to be exclusively or predominantly for agency leaders. A few mentioned it felt a bit too supplier-heavy this year.
It’s a tricky balance, because we genuinely value having that wider “agency family” involved — the consultants, advisors, and partners who work closely with agencies. Many of them have run agencies themselves, and they add a lot of insight and perspective to the discussions. They’re part of the ecosystem, and in many ways, part of the gang.
That said, I understand where agency owners are coming from. When you’re sitting around a table, you want to be surrounded by people who share your challenges – you have to believe everyone can understand the late-night worries and day-to-day realities of running an agency.
So that’s something we’re actively addressing. For 2026, we’ve introduced an application process so we can better segment attendance and ensure the balance stays right. It’ll still include that broader community, but the core of the room will remain agency leaders, because that’s ultimately who the event is designed for.
(One person suggested that people who don’t currently run agencies should be more clearly identified, perhaps on their name badges or during introductions, so attendees know who they’re talking to and can manage those conversations accordingly. It wasn’t framed negatively — more as a helpful way to keep things transparent and make networking smoother for everyone.)
Part of what drove this issue was that the venue capacity was larger this year, and we widened the net a bit to fill the space. With next year’s return to a smaller, more intimate venue, that should naturally help us keep things focused again.
The pacing and structure of the Summit
One of the strongest undercurrents in this year’s feedback was about the pacing and structure of the event — how the days flowed, how much was packed in, and how the rhythm of conference versus social time felt.
- On day one in particular, we started late — partly because not everyone arrived on time at 9am, and partly because we had a hard stop for lunch due to catering.
- As a result, we cut the speed networking session, replacing it with an unstructured break. In hindsight, this was a misstep: many attendees mentioned that they’d been looking forward to it as a structured way to meet new people early on.
That decision — combined with a busy agenda — contributed to the sense that the pacing was slightly off this year.
The pacing issue also connects to the first-timer experience. New attendees often said they weren’t sure how to navigate the event: they’d heard about the Ibiza Summit’s reputation but didn’t quite know what to expect. The volume of WhatsApp chatter compounded that — it was overwhelming for some and made it harder to find orientation.
We did hold a pre-event Zoom call for first-timers, which helped, but the feedback suggests we should go further — perhaps with a short in-person welcome or orientation session at the start of day one before diving into the main agenda. We had loads of first-timers this year — which is brilliant — but it was clear some of them didn’t quite know what they were walking into.
One person said, “The WhatsApp group was chaos — hundreds of messages, no idea who anyone was.” Another wrote: “I stuck with the people I knew because I didn’t know where to start.”
Totally fair. It’s a lot. The Ibiza crowd is loud, friendly, and slightly unhinged — in a good way — but that can be intimidating if you’re new.
So next year, we’ll do a proper orientation for first-timers. A Zoom before the event, a smaller WhatsApp group, maybe even a first-night dinner so you’ve got a few familiar faces from day one.
The balance between “business” and “Ibiza”
The tension between “conference” and “party” is probably the single hardest thing to get right. Feedback around this really cuts to the heart of what the Ibiza Super Summit is, and who it’s for.
- Some attendees felt the days were too long, especially following late nights. They asked for later starts, more downtime, and shorter sessions to make the experience more sustainable.
- At the same time, others made it clear that they don’t want the daytime to be diluted. They come to Ibiza expecting proper business value — real learning, strong speakers, and conversations they can’t get anywhere else. As one person put it, “You can organise a weekend away with your friends anytime — this has to feel like genuine value.”
Our audience values the energy and informality of the Ibiza setting, but they also need the content to feel worth the trip. The challenge for us is to strike a rhythm that keeps the event energising without exhausting people or losing its professional core.
The WhatsApp Group
The Ibiza Super Summit has its own WhatsApp group. It is unlike any other business group I know of.
It’s hard to describe, but it has a very playful tone. People post serious work things, but it’s also got a sense of humour all of its own. Before the event, one woman posted a poll asking people to let her know whether they were single or in a relationship. Her reasoning was that she wanted to avoid snogging anybody married. (Personally, I thought this was respectful, creative and hilarious all at the same time.)
When we started the WhatsApp group in 2023 I thought we’d close it after the conference. But people seem to like it, so we kept it open. It hits peak volume during the conference when people use it to connect with others on the island.
We always get a lot of comments on the WhatsApp group – some good:
- A few people explicitly said they really like it – they find it builds a sense of community, helps them feel part of the event, and keeps the energy going before, during, and after the summit. People also appreciated the separate “broadcast” group for essential event updates — that was something attendees suggested last year, and it worked well this time.
But there was also quite a bit of negative feedback, and it’s fair.
- Some people said the group starts too early and shouldn’t run all year round. A few found it overwhelming, with one person even saying they wished they hadn’t joined. Others suggested we create a dedicated first-timers group, to make it a bit less intense for newcomers.
- We also had a couple of moments where things got a bit snarky — which, to be fair, is almost inevitable when you’ve got 350 people in one WhatsApp group, a not insignificant percentage of whom are probably drinking at any given time. Still, it’s something we need to manage carefully.
A few people mentioned it sometimes feels dominated by a handful of voices, but honestly that’s pretty typical of any community – whether it’s Reddit, Slack, or WhatsApp – you’ll always have a small group posting actively while most people observe quietly.
In terms of what we do next… we tried to start a new, fresh group for this year’s conference, but no one wanted to move — everyone just stayed in the old one. So we’re kind of stuck with it for now.
Personally, I still think the WhatsApp group adds real value – it keeps the community alive and gives people a place to connect. But I think we just need to position it better: make it clear that it’s completely optional, that it can be noisy, and that you can dip in and out as you want.
👩⚖️ The WhatsApp group stays.
The Closing Party
Oh boy.
The closing party is a key moment in the conference by now. In the first year we ran a boat party, but we had to cancel it at short notice in 2024 because of high winds. Instead, we chose a pool party. This year, the location – overall – didn’t entirely land how I hoped.
I had this vision that it would be amazing to finish the summit by watching the sunset together. Our conference is on the east of the island, but for sunsets you have to head to the west. I had this vision of this poetic end to the conference – all of us looking out over the water in San Antonio.
In my head, it was going to be one of those “wow, this is why we do it” moments.
But in reality, it didn’t quite play out that way. The sunset was fine, but the travel took much longer than it should have. There was a fatal accident near the venue that made taxis almost impossible to get, and the situation of people waiting for taxis to head over understandably cast a bit of a shadow over the evening. Quite a few people didn’t make it to the venue at all.
Those who did had a good time, but I think next time the lesson is about simplicity. After a long few days, people don’t want a big logistical adventure – they want convenience and a bit of magic close to where they already are.
About Drugs Navigating Different Attitudes to Ibiza Culture
This is the one feedback item I think most organisers would probably quietly leave out of the post-mortem. But I think it’s interesting to talk about, so let’s do it.
Every year, a fair number of people mention drugs in their feedback.
Not so much in a scandalous way, but as something they noticed or (in a few cases) felt uncomfortable with. Nobody “named names” – it was just a general feeling that there was “a lot of drug talk,” or that it felt “too visible” in certain social settings.
It’s kind of inevitable with a conference held in Ibiza, I suppose. And a lot of this happens outside the official conference as people explore the island at night.
But occasionally it spills into the welcome drinks or the closing party – parts of our conference – and that’s when it does brush up against what we do.
People are adults, and I’m very open minded. But I think if drugs start seriously overlapping with parts of our conference, it changes the tone and becomes a risk for us. It stops feeling like a professional, open-minded gathering and starts feeling a bit messy and that’s not what we’re trying to create.
I think we’ll probably just start by setting clearer expectations: that this is still a professional environment, that people should be respectful and discreet during the arranged conference parties. Now we’re getting bigger there’s a few policies we should probably have , so people know they have a part of play in maintaining the tone that makes the event special.
The Dinner Groups: Bringing People Together (and Actually Working This Time)
One of the things we do in Ibiza is organise dinner groups — small gatherings where people head out together for an evening meal.
The idea is simple: we don’t want anybody to be left out in the evening. It gives everyone something to look forward to, and it’s a great way to meet new people outside the main event.
In 2024, this didn’t quite go to plan. The boat party was cancelled, which meant we had to move the closing party — and suddenly, everyone was in a different place from where they thought they’d be. The dinner plans fell apart.
This year, though, things worked much better. Anne did a brilliant job making sure everyone had a group. Sure, plans changed – it’s Ibiza, so some people signed up and then decided to go clubbing – but groups for the most part adapted.
Some even merged into bigger parties. Trenton Moss, for example, ended up hosting around 30 people at one restaurant, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of the week.
Overall, we’re really pleased with how it went — and we’ve learned how to make it even smoother next year.
Someone said, “The dinner groups were brilliant — had proper conversations I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
Final Thoughts
Running something like the Ibiza Super Summit, we will never please everyone. You make hundreds of small bets – venues, formats, speakers, sunsets – and then you find out which ones paid off.
The only reason we get better is because you tell us the truth!
One person wrote, “You can tell you actually listen – that’s why we keep coming back.” That means more than any 10/10 score.
Our vision for the Ibiza event is a long one. We want this to be something that lasts for decades – kind of like a Cannes for independent agencies. You might not come every single year, but you’ll know that every September, there’s a chance to head out to Ibiza, and when you land on the island you’ll see lots of familiar faces, and plenty of friendly new ones.
This sounds cheesy, but it’s more than just an event – it’s a community that grows together.
One attendee told us, “Making friends in your 40s is really special,” and that stuck with me. Over the years, we’ve seen friendships form, businesses collaborate, and even families connect – children who now know each other because of the bonds made here!
That’s the spirit we want to keep building. So whether you’ve been before or you’re thinking about it for the first time, we hope you’ll join us in the years ahead 🍒
What We’re Changing
Here’s the short version of what we’re doing differently next year:
- Back to the Ibiza Gran Hotel — smaller, warmer, more connected.
- Curated content — more discussion, less preaching.
- Application process — better attendee mix.
- Onboarding for first-timers.
- WhatsApp stays (sorry) — but with disclaimers.
- Ever-so-slightly later starts, and more breathing space.
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