We did it! Reflections on AgileAus18

Sep 1, 2018 | AgileAus

The tenth annual AgileAus Conference is a wrap, and our hearts are still a flutter at the thought of the spectacular stories, insights and ideas shared amongst a sea of friendly faces just buzzing with goodwill.

It was the tenth time we’ve done this, but AgileAus18 was an event of many firsts. Day one was the first time AgileAus experimented with a shared experience. All 1200+ attendees gathered in the Crown Palladium, all day, to collectively witness a knock out lineup of local and international keynotes.

AgileAus09 OG keynote Jeff Smith kicked off the day with his views on how to build an Agile company and was followed by ‘firestarter’ Simon Wardley who wowed the crowd with his maps.

By the light of the AgileAus18 hearth, Australian ‘godfather of Agile’ Nigel Dalton led an intriguing conversation with Steve Denning on strategic agility and Martin Fowler stirred the crowd with his perspectives on ‘Agile in 2018’.

Aubrey Blanche offered her data informed (and fabulous) strategies to hire and retain diverse talent and Jirra Lulla Harvey shared indigenous learnings on stewardship, community, values and resilience to help us become better leaders, and people.

Shayne Elliott shared his honest challenges at ANZ with a fireside chat and Jessie Shternshus stimulated our curiosity and challenged us to un-learn with paper planes!

With thanks to the AgileAus community, it was our pleasure to debut a video on the big screen featuring some of the faces that help make AgileAus happen.

And of course no film (however short) would be complete without a choc top!

Margarette Purvis capped off the day with audience participation that resulted in hilarity and an inspiring message on how Lean is helping to improve the lives and preserve the dignity of those living in poverty in New York City.

The cherry on the cake of day one was the AgileAus Tenth Anniversary Dinner which was kindly supported by Accenture, at Myer Mural Hall which saw members of the community come together to celebrate ten years of making AgileAus happen.

Day two was made up of a host of speakers that represent the depth and breadth of the Australian Agile community. Adam Boas spoke on people over process, Marina Chiovetti and James Brett shared on disruptive mindsets, Elise Aplin pondered on failure and Ellen Broad shared on ethics in AI.

AgileAus newcomers from THE ICONIC shared their rise from a wardrobe startup to a superstar company, Samantha Connelly highlighted soap opera testing and Tim Dunlop stretched minds with questions around the future of work (is it no work at all?)

Our thanks to the AgileAus18 sponsors who were out in force across the two days – sharing their support for the community with welcoming smiles and ideas to share.

With far too many highlights to capture here – those with FOMO are encouraged to keep an eye on InfoQ for videos captured and to check out the work of the AgileAus18 sketch crew – who were involved as part of a brand new student design program led by Ben Crothers.

AgileAus18 was capped off by drinks and a community retro to help inform our efforts going forward.

It is thanks to AgileAus community’s goodwill, generosity, honesty, experience, expertise and good humour that AgileAus continues to thrive. Thank you to those who have contributed to ten years of AgileAus – you rock!

We can’t wait to welcome the community back on 25-26 June 2019 at the Hilton Sydney.

Until then we ask you – where to next?

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