Lost luggage, marriage proposals and more: Actonic's personal Team'23 Recap 🥳💍

Andreas Springer _Actonic_

 

 

The dice have fallen: For Actonic, Atlassian Team'23 was a real jackpot! Our time in Las Vegas was a winning experience full of innovation, enriching encounters, great parties – and yes, also little sleep. While not everything always went exactly as planned, we look back on this wonderful community event with gratitude.

This is a very personal: "Behind the Scenes of Vegas". Because what happened in Las Vegas between exhibition booths and official meetings was so overwhelming that we just have to share it with you! Because lost luggage and marriage proposals on the Colorado River were just the beginning of a spectacular event.

 

Many roads lead to Vegas 

After weeks of preparation and anticipation, it was finally time for us to go!

On site in Las Vegas were:

• Andreas Springer, Head of Marketing and Community Leader

• Amal Khandly, Head of Consulting

• Nikoloz Surmanidze, Product Owner of Data Protection and Security Toolkit

• Laura Niedermayer, Partner Manager

Because the four of us all come from different towns and also countries, each of us actually traveled alone and gathered their own more or less frightening experiences. Andreas’ luggage got lost on the way. Although Andreas was already in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon, he had to wait over 24 hours for his luggage. That’s when you really realize again what truly counts in life.

Learning 1:

Always have a change of shirt, toothbrush, and deodorant in your hand luggage!

Laura wasn’t very lucky with her flight either: after her first change, she was stuck at the gate in London for an unplanned seven hours.

Our product owner Nikoloz probably had the longest flight. He was in the air for more than 23 hours, had two layovers, more bad airplane food than he would have liked, and then also a proper jet leg.

In between all the hardships, some team members had a romantic time: Amal Khandly, our Head of Consulting, got a marriage proposal in Las Vegas.  Congratulations!

Marriage proposal in Las Vegas 

Amal had taken a vacation before Atlassian Team’23 and already flew to Las Vegas with her current fiancé. Together, they took a helicopter ride with “Maverick” and had the best view over Las Vegas, the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. On the Colorado River, she then got her proposal – and, of course, said yes.

A paparazzo took this snapshot:

Right after the proposal, they had champagne and the flight back at sunset was the successful culmination of an unforgettable experience!

The party before the party 

After all hurdles were overcome (and romantic helicopter flights were over), we met in our shared Airbnb with a beautiful kitchen, which we naturally did not use once. We had absolutely no time and were basically just on the go. Because even before the actual opening keynote with James Cameron, we had some great events on the agenda.

Learning 2:

Next time at an event, we’ll get a hotel. The check-in times are more flexible. AND you can send yourself swag from Germany to the hotel that is then waiting for you there. 

 

Day 1: Hocketse of K15t

Actually, Andreas and Laura wanted to support our Stuttgart neighbors K15t together at their Hocketse. But since Andreas was still waiting for his suitcase, Laura went alone to her dear colleagues on Sunday evening. It was a cozy get-together and kicked off the week in Las Vegas!

To be seen here (left fo right): Ingo Fischer, Saskia Thelen, Michaela Mayer, Shannon Meehan and our dear Laura.

Day 2: Seibert Media Partner Infosession

Spot on, was the motto for our Data Privacy Expert and Product Owner Nikoloz Surmanidze even before the actual event. He gave a presentation on data protection at the excellently organized Partner Info Session by Seibert Media.  

“It was the first time I gave a presentation in front of such a large group of people with cameras, lights and such equipment. Accordingly, I was nervous as hell,” Nik said later. But nobody noticed that at all. Well done!

There were also many great new products to discover around his talk and contacts to make with inspiring people. A special highlight were definitely the Lego blocks and figures. You’re never too old for that!

Then, of course, we couldn’t wait to get a first look at our booth and set everything up so far. The design came out exactly as we had imagined. Great job to our design and concept team back home!

Thereafter, we went to the next party as a team – Andreas even skipped his Community Leader Welcome Reception for that! Thanks to you. Without you, it wouldn’t have been as much fun. 

Seibert Media’s Pre-Party 

The location couldn’t have been more beautiful and dizzying at the same time: The LiftOff Tower in Area 15 was absolutely incredible! We had a fantastic panoramic view of the city, and the outdoor lounge added just the perfect touch to the atmosphere. It was great to meet old friends and make new ones. We ended the evening with delicious drinks and the anticipation for Team’23 grew!

 

Day 3: Community Leader Workshop

Andreas is not only the Head of Marketing of Actonic, but also the Community Leader of Stuttgart together with Shibi Purushothaman. And at the Community Leader Workshop, our last in-person ACE was even featured. Awesome!

App Day by Adaptavist

Since we can’t be everywhere at once, we split up on Tuesday evening. Amal and Laura participated in the Stand App Night special at Adaptavist’s App Day. Great conversations, Atlassian tips, and delicious food were assured for them.

In the meantime, Nikoloz and Andreas were at our booth, as in the afternoon, after the keynote with James Cameron, Team’23 was officially opened.

The big opening with James Cameron

We say wow. Just wow.

What an inspiring person! 

“As a film nerd, being able to see James Cameron up close was an absolute highlight,” says Andreas. “Hearing him talk about teamwork, creativity, and ways to overcome limitations of what was previously possible was deeply inspiring.”

Day 4: keynote with futuristic announcements

In the age of ChatGPT and with knowledge of Atlassian’s pioneering role in smart solutions, we all expected an AI announcement of some kind. However, we are impressed with the possibilities Atlassian Intelligence will bring us in the future. 

The hall was filled with euphoria and a spirit of optimism – and Atlassian’s new and masterfully staged motto: “Impossible alone. Possible together” really caught our hearts.

The exhibition begins

Then things finally got started for real! At booth #43 we presented our products, especially Data Protection and Security Toolkit. In doing so, our slogan was “If you hate data protection, you’ll love this tool!” In fact, we were able to have incredibly intense and stimulating conversations about data protection. With his expertise, our Nik could convey the complex facts in such an understandable way that some attendees probably loved data protection so much that they wanted to buy our merchandise (the heart shirts). But we couldn’t give them away at that point. Sorry! And we will keep Nik, too!

At this point: Kudos to everyone on the team. At the booth and in Vegas in general, everyone was able to contribute their personal “superpower”, so the event was a complete success for us!

 

Evening highlights

In the evening, we had to split up again: Amal and Nik were at the incredibly fun Adaptavist Group Pool Party …

… while Andreas had a casual date with Mike Cannon-Brookes.

Okay, admitted: It was not a date for two.

Andreas was at the Community Leader Awards Dinner. But they were at the same table.

“What always impresses me is that everyone who is part of the Atlassian leadership is a normal person and super approachable. With Mike, for example, we talked not only about the newly announced product features, but also about the fact that he moved from the city to the country and now kangaroos regularly come by his backyard to eat grass,” Andreas tells us later. We’ll let that stand.

Learning 3:

Good leaders are only human. Perhaps that’s why they are such good leaders because they remain human and approachable.

 

Day 5: Final countdown

On the last day, we were again able to talk to many people at our booth and also to our colleagues. What we found particularly unique about Team’23: Everyone was there. Solution partners, marketplace vendors, community leaders, members, Atlassian leaders and customers. All under one roof, united by an interest in solutions for more efficient teamwork. We were able to chat with old friends, make new contacts and learn a lot about new products and solutions.

What a wonderful experience!

 

Bash and Bash-Afterparty 💃🕺

Because we wanted to capture as many impressions as possible, we really didn’t miss out on any event and also went to the Bash for the crowning finale of Atlassian Team’23.

With good bands and delicious drinks, we could enjoy the last evening in Las Vegas to the fullest.

All’s well that ends well?

Almost.

For somehow our team wasn’t so lucky with the luggage this year. Nik’s two suitcases were lost on the return flight, and they were delivered to him a full three days later. We are sorry for you!

 

Thanks for the way too short time 

Bottom line, the days in Las Vegas just flew by – we experienced and saw a thousand things, and in the end we don’t even know how we managed it all. In any case, it was wonderful that our team supported each other in every way. Everyone was able to attend the sessions that interested them, and although we all already knew each other very well already, we grew even closer through this time. 

We mastered Vegas together, and honestly – we could imagine any other event together!

A huge thanks also to our team at home, which was a great support mentally and operationally during preparations and also alongside.

Last but not least, we want to thank Atlassian for the excellent organization of Team’23. We can hardly wait for Atlassian Team’24! And in the meantime, let’s just take another look at the highlights in the Team23 On Demand Library.

 

 

 

 

 

Shannon Meehan _K15t_

Great write-up! I had such a blast with you all 🎉