Why should I speak at Agile Australia 2017?
Now in its ninth year, the Agile Australia Conference is a chance to tell your story, grow your network and help your peers by sharing what has worked and what hasn’t in your unique Agile journey!
Speakers at Agile Australia share their passion, stories, lessons, successes, failures, ideas, obstacles and innovations with over 1000 keen agilists, technologists and those interested in better ways of working.
This year, the Conference is centred around Learning and Leading.
If you are passionate about innovative ways of working, improving organisational culture, have exciting learnings to share from beyond the traditional Agile world, or beyond the workplace to sectors like health, education, nonprofits or elsewhere, we would love to hear from you!
Please read the information on this page carefully before submitting a proposal.
Submitting a proposal
Every year hundreds of proposals are submitted via an open anonymous submission system from which 35-40 proposals are chosen to be part of the final program.
- Submitters (and their replies to comments) remain anonymous to all.
- Your contact details, job title, company and referees are not visible to anyone
- Please keep your submission free of all identifying information (including links to past talks, your blog etc)
- If you want to put your company name in the submission title, please use ‘X’ as a placeholder for now (ie: how we used Agile to revolutionise X company’s culture)
- Only once a submission has reached the shortlisting stage is the author’s identity revealed. This ensures only one submission per person is accepted and help balance perspectives in the final program.
What are the key dates and deadlines?
| Monday 21 November 2016 | Submissions open |
| Friday 24 February 2017 | SUBMISSIONS CLOSE. Reviews remain open for reviewers and submitters |
| Friday 10 March 2017 | Shortlist due from reviewers and captains |
| Week beginning 20 March 2017 | Program meeting for captains |
| Monday 27 March 2017 | TOPICS ANNOUNCED on website |
| Monday 3 April 2017 | Full program announced (full schedule) |
| Monday 10 April 2017 | Early bird closes |
| Friday 14 April – Tuesday 18 April | Easter weekend |
| Wednesday 22- Thursday 23 June 17 | Agile Australia conference |
How do sessions work at Agile Australia?
Talk/Lecture session
Speakers will have a total of 40 minutes to present their session. All 40 minute sessions include an introduction and thank you by the MC and any Q&A. Presentation rooms are set up theatre style and audiences range from 100-300.
Lightning talks
Lightning talks are 5 minute presentations. At Agile Australia, 5-6 lightning talks will be run consecutively within a 40-minute session. It is likely that there will be two such sessions run, meaning a total of 10-12 lightning talks will be accepted.
Like a TED talk, a Lightning talk is an idea worth sharing. Good topics are things that can be shared in a short space of time, like ‘Great ways to…’, ‘Great ideas for…’, ‘What we can learn from…’, ‘How to … in 3 easy steps’.
A lightning talk is not a conversation, a video, or a sales pitch. It needs to contain just enough words to convey your excitement and curiosity about your topic, and feature at least one punchy take-away for the audience. Slides are optional.
Sponsored session
Please note that it is possible for sponsors to purchase presentation spots, which are labelled as such on the program.
Submission Guidelines and Tips
You can log in to the submissions area with your existing Agile Australia account or create a new one. Once logged in please update your information and add your phone number in case we need to contact you.
- Please limit yourself to a total of three submissions. This includes submissions where you are the second speaker or ‘co-presenter’.
- Remember there may be up to five sessions running concurrently and attendees will vote with their feet! Be enticing and accurate in your description so reviewers can see why attendees will be attracted to your session.
- You will need to classify your submission into one of the streams.
- Use the structure and mechanics sections in the submission system to explain how you plan on using your 40 minutes. Enter ‘NA’ if you are submitting a lightning talk.
- Make it clear that you know who is your primary audience.
- Explain how your talk will help us in Learning and Leading.
- Have clear takeaways and learning outcomes.
- Case studies and real-world examples are always well-received.
- Originality will be favoured. If you are presenting on a topic you have presented before in Australia, we suggest you be creative and think up a new angle!
- Respond to feedback – your comments will appear as ‘Author’. Submissions received early have been favoured in the past, which suggests that feedback helps to improve your chances of acceptance!
- Remember it is entirely up to you if you take on the feedback but remember that any changes you wish to make must be updated in the submission itself, NOT in the comments.
You can view some examples of successful past submissions here.
How do I know if I’m on the right track?
If you find yourself in need of some extra guidance to help your submission be the best that it can be, or just want to make sure you’re ticking all the boxes – you can request assistance from our submission doctor. The doctor’s role is to work outside the reviewing system, offering advice and answering questions to those that need it on a one-on-one basis. To make use of this free service, please email: doctor@agileaustralia.com.au.
Can I provide feedback to other proposals?
We welcome your feedback and questions on the proposals submitted by others!
- If a proposal really excites you, please click “I WANT TO HEAR THIS” in the submission area.
- Your feedback will help submitters refine and iterate their proposal. Please comment with the aim of making the proposal better – are there points you would like clarified? Are the learning outcomes obvious? Are there gaps in the content?
- Your name will appear next to all your comments. Remember, the commenting system is open for all to see, so your comments should always be constructive and fair.
- Be aware that feedback is not binding and represents only your point of view. The submitter does not have to take on your feedback to be considered for inclusion into the program.
- Any comments which are deemed to be not useful will be removed. If you notice something you do not like, please let us know.
How are speakers acknowledged?
The Agile Australia 2017 Conference introduces all that attend to a wonderful, generous, welcoming community of people who are committed to learning and sharing.
Agile Australia also gives speakers a myriad of opportunities to promote their message as part of the conference – with invitations to guest post on the Agile Australia blog (agileaustraliablog.com), contribute to the quarterly printed AgileTODAY magazine (www.agiletoday.com.au), social media and more.
We are committed to looking after Agile Australia speakers, as they make the Conference great! All those who are invited to speak or have their submission accepted to be in the conference program receive a complimentary registration to attend Agile Australia 2017, and are thanked with an exclusive Speaker Breakfast on both mornings of the conference. Speakers also receive a discount code for their colleagues, clients and network to attend Agile Australia 2017 – so it’s easy for all the people that matter to you to come along.
A note on Invited Speakers
Agile Australia 2017 will include some speakers who have been invited by the conference organisers and program captains. These Keynote and Invited Speakers will join us from across the globe and Australia to share their thoughts on Learning and Leading, being some of the most highly regarded thinkers in Agile and beyond.
If you would like to be a speaker at Agile Australia 2017, we recommend submitting your topic through the open proposal process.