Atlassian Remote Summit — What it felt like on Day 1
The COVID-19 virus has turned a lot of our lives upside down. Conferences canceled, companies embrace remote work at a rate that would even surprised the most fanatic work from home enthusiasts. And of course, in our corner of the universe the biggest event of the year — the Atlassian Summit — is remote-only, too. So what is it like to remotely attend an event that drew a huge chunk of it appeal from the in-person interactions with fellow attendees, be they customers, Atlassians or partners.
Breakout sessions
In turns out, remote summit is surprisingly great! It’s a bit of a relief that the breakout sessions and product demos are available on demand. In the past, one would have had to make a choice between equally great sessions and just hope that the other one would be available on video later. Not so with remote summit, everything is available on-demand with the added bonus of a pause button for those moments when your kid runs in.
The keynote session definitely stood out this time. Not only because we got to see Scott Farquhar working from home, but also because of the heart-warming account from Kelly Drozd of ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Chatting on Twitter
As I said in the beginning, the in-person conversations are a huge part of why I love the Atlassian Summit. And while there really is no substitute for the real thing, keeping up with everyone via Twitter was an amazing experience. Old Street Solutions nailed it with this tweet:
I am very much looking forward to the second day keynote. If you are reading this before then, please join us on Twitter using the hashtag #atlassianSummit.
Scavenger Hunt
One detail that I really, really love is that the traditional scavenger hunt also got a digital equivalent. Of course, just like with the real thing, I seem to be unable to break into the top 500, but it still is a lot of fun and there is still a chance!