I started out speaking in the developer community a few (cough cough) years ago and then within the test community, and through those I met great people who were very active and involved. When I came to my first Agile20XX conference I realised that if you created a Venn Diagram of these communities, Agile20XX sat in the intersection.
Through being at this conference over the years, I have been educated and influenced both by attendees and speakers via the plethora of ideas and challenges. My areas of growth have ranged from my application of technical practices, to my thinking and behaviours, to ways to facilitate meetings and read the room. I have evolved my awareness of creating environments that are safe for everyone and, more recently, came to the realisation that it is ok to take some time out of a busy life to look after myself. I have brought back techniques that do not solely apply to my professional role but that improve my life outside of work, and all of that has been surrounded by amazing opportunities for fun and giggles, fantastic people, and the chance to establish some long-standing connections.
One of the great ways to experience Agile2020 is as an attendee, and I cannot wait to reach out to you in April once the program is finalised to let you know about some of the great content we have in store for you.
The other way to attend Agile2020 is as one of those people sharing their perspective on a topic. This is a vibrant community that enjoys interactive workshops and talks that range from theory to practical application. We need talks that span the stages of development through the gamut of topics surrounding Agile — those that teach us the basics and those that stretch our thinking beyond where it is now.
With all that said, please have a look at the tracks to see all the possible themes. For those who are new to speaking or newer to Agile, remember that sometimes when people become experts they can lose the ability to explain how you vocalise the steps involved in the process or activity — so you may have the perspective or slant or spin on a topic to reach an audience in a different way. For those who do not quite see where their submission fits, please submit to the track that seems closest and the track review team will work with you if they feel it works better on another track.
So what is stopping you from taking this first step and creating a submission?
Here is the link, all you have to do is click it!
All the best,
Emma
Conference Chair, Agile2020
