When I found out that a Scrum Gathering was going to happen in London, I focused in on trying to make sure that happened. Visiting London has been on my wish list for a very long time. I was beyond excited when Christina Hartikainen and I were accepted to speak. London was finally going to happen in 2018!
Sometimes when you build something up too much, you can be disappointed with the results. Not this time! The city is absolutely incredible. I’m so glad that I decided to arrive a few days before the conference. I could spend months here and still not feel like I covered everything. One day, I just walked and walked and walked and no matter which corner I turned, there was a magnificent site to see or culture to experience. I will definitely be back to visit again!
But you don’t care about my vacation, so let’s get to the Gathering. If you’ve been reading this blog you know there is a theme to all of my conference weeks…people and learning. This week was no different.
I knew relatively few people at this conference in London. So the opportunities to meet brand new people were in abundance. I went to sessions and tried to sit near people I didn’t know. I had random conversations with people at various events. I talked with people in the elevator on how their day was going. I know that none of this sounds strange to people that know me – I’m extremely extroverted. But it was different. I had very limited responsibilities at this conference so I wasn’t engaging to make sure they were all set – I was just making connections. It was wonderful and felt so relaxing.
Of course there are also the new memories with amazing friends (yes, karaoke and dancing did occur). My face hurts from smiling and laughing so much this week. Special thanks to the London peeps for figuring out evening plans (although London really does need to figure out appropriate closing times for bars). I really am sad that it will be a long time before I see a number of my UK friends again 🙁
I learned about Transactional Analysis Drivers from Geoff Watts, I engaged in a fishbowl discussion about teal organizations, reflected upon my created cultural bubbles thanks to Michael Sahota, discussed a little the abuse of Servant Leadership application with various people, listened to the most friendly conversation about scaling that I’ve ever witnessed, and reconsidering using the word journey to describe the past vs saying my story (journey implies future journey not past one).
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saved the best for last. Last November, Christina suggested we submit to speak together in London. We have worked together for several years now but never presented as a pair. Instantly, I was onboard with the idea. The entire process of creating the materials, preparing for the trip, a final review and then execution was about as smooth as anyone could hope for. We naturally built on each other’s ideas, we didn’t hand off during delivery but truly paired in our speaking, and we had fun. We received several lovely compliments and both of us were grinning ear to ear for the rest of the day. Thank you for wanting to experience this week together. Much love!!!
I’m relatively new in the Scrum Gathering attendance department but I’m glad this is becoming a constant in the rotation. You should check out Austin gathering in the spring!!!
