Conference Theme: Welcome Change

As Heraclitus, the famous Greek philosopher said, “The only thing constant in life is change.” This is something we can all relate to in our current work circumstances, yet there are so many uncertainties, and sometimes fear, around change.

How do we support the radical impact of change on the people in organisations? What do we need to nurture to scale Agile, as many companies are finding that aligning efforts are exceeding capacity?

How can we leverage practices that support Agile values and principles to build new habits that enable a new way of working on both team and organisational level? And while we focus on improving the speed at which we deliver, how do we know we’re building the right thing? What mindset, tools, or techniques will help us?

This year we’re looking for perspectives and insights that welcome change. We’d like to explore opposing positions, discover unexpected views and leave with a slightly more open, inclusive view of the world.

There is so much knowledge and wisdom in our community - we’re looking for speakers and attendees that will help us to create a conference which not only creates a safe space to learn but deep dives into what it means to welcome change as an Agilist.

We value:

* New ideas over old content

* Specific opinion over one-size-fits-all

* Own experiences from the field over theory

* Interactive sessions over sit-and-listen (but there’s room for both)

We want to be sure:

* Your proposal supports our theme – Welcome Change – and that it contributes depth (or breadth) to the community’s discussions

* You can comfortably deliver what you’re proposing, regardless of whether you are well known or a first-timer on the conference speaking scene

* People will be excited and intrigued to attend your session

* People will get something of value from the time spent in your session

* You don’t need to achieve all the points above, but if you don’t hit at least a few of them, you need to give it more thought.

How to get rejected:

* Include a same-old, same-old topic or approach (unless there’s a new twist or a truly deep experience base)

* Include thinly-veiled (or unveiled) marketing or promotion of services

* Your submission’s golden thread and “Why?” are difficult to follow or understand

* It does not appear that an adequate level of effort was involved in your submission

* Include specific personally-identifying information (name, the company you work for) in the body of the submission – please do not do this – we follow a blind review and selection process (we hide names of people submitting in the system so that the selection process is free from bias)

* Your submission doesn’t address any of the topic tracks outlined below

(Thanks to Let’s Test SA for inspiring us to clarify the CFP in this style)

Please read the CfP Guide and FAQs

Our Topic Tracks

This year we have decided to not provide tracks, in order to be less restrictive. For every Gathering, we receive a broad variety of interesting topics, some not always fitting into the predefined tracks. In the spirit of welcoming change, we wanted to increase the diversity of submissions that make it into the program and allow you, the speaker, to share whatever you believe the attendees will find valuable.