The Atlassian Team '26 Europe ended one week ago, and this time it was a great experience for me. It was different, so I decided to share the highlights from my professional and personal experience:
The Day Before
I arrived the day before the Champions Workshop started. I was very focused on the workshop I was going to deliver the next day, so I went to my accommodation to finish the final details of the presentation, and then stopped by the RAI to check the venue and the audio (which wasn't actually needed).
That night, it was the warming drinks from the Harley's House open space event that usually happens aside from Team events, where different ecosystem representatives get together to discuss hot topics surrounding Atlassian.
Champions Workshop & Partner Accelerate
The next day, during the Champion Workshops, it felt like a first day at school, greeting all these people you're chatting with during the whole year. It was awesome to share the table with @Jay Ollivierre, @Anahit Sukiasyan, @Sara Beyer, and more Champions.
The welcome Community keynote and the icebreakers. It's always great to hear @Stephanie Grice sharing the latest news about the community at the keynote, followed by an amazing icebreaker conducted by @Tzoe Keat CHIAM.
I must admit these types of games are not my thing, but this one was special because right when they said to get together with someone we didn't know, I realized I was matched with a new colleague who lives there in the Netherlands (I'm currently living in Spain), @Ming Yin Ho, and later on, got together with @Marc -Devoteam-. It was funny and entertaining. Here, I stole a picture from Tzoe's LinkedIn post that illustrates this moment:
Right after that, I went running to the other side of the venue to sneak in during the middle of the welcome keynote of the Partner Accelerate, where they ratified some information we all Partners have been handling for a while now, and it references the future of the business (To not delve into the details)…
Right afterwards, I isolated myself to prepare for my participation in this workshop, where I had the chance to share and learn from other fellow Champions from around the world about organizing events based on the learnings we have had while building the Atlassian Community Madrid alongside @Juan Jesús Blanco Bautista_hs4uo6 & @Ariel Prado over the last three years, with +100% growth.
That night it was the Partner Reception. It was great to catch up with new colleagues, other Partners, Atlassians, and key components from the Atlassian Ecosystem.
101 Business Team Talk & Expo Hall Opened!
The second day arrived topped with anxiety because, alongside @Margo Sakova - OKR Board for Jira by Oboard, we had the opportunity to share an onboarding for Team first-timers, sharing some advice, and a really cool dynamic delivered by Margo (I chickened out the day before at 4 AM- but that's another story). Thanks to @Holly Venable and to Tom for the assistance here and during the workshops regarding the technical part.
Right after this, I needed to decompress a little bit, so I was just roaming around. I wanted to attend the session Sara was participating in, but I didn't get the chance. It coincided with the expo hall opening, and I needed to pass by the booth setup we had at Devoteam to check that everything was in order; as these first hours are critical for booth work, I had to stay there.
During these first hours and the following day, it was a great experience, given I had the unique opportunity to share with Devoteam colleagues from around Europe and get closer to them. The event honored its name: it was a Team event😉
The highlights of doing booth work were very interesting, given I was so happy to show the latest product updates we had from our apps such as Projectrak for Jira with the AI Project update feature, or the advanced editions of the other Marketplace apps part of the PMO Collection for Jira.
After the event, there were two important celebrations: the TARPsterddam, a side event the Deiser Apps team (part of Devoteam) was sponsoring, and we also had a Devoteam drinks celebration where we shared with different customers, Atlassian, partners, and Devoteamers. It was delightful.
Expo Hall Full Day + Keynote!
Later on, during the keynote, the announcements about Loom were the ones that struck me the most, such as the AI Overlay, the Code Review, Rovo Work, and Artifacts. As an example of this last one, here's one that @Caterina Curti has prepared. I'm really excited about the possibilities of these new AI-focused features. You can check them all out here.
During this day, I was also confined to the booth and visited other partners from around the Expo Hall to discuss possible ways to collaborate. At noon, it was also very special to share lunch with some people from the Dev Engagement pilot program team: @Loren Siegel, Caterina, @Lana Montgomery, @Lindsay Brown, @Dugald Morrow, @Peter Van de Voorde, @Yassin BEN-NACEUR _FlowZess_, and @Deepak Jangid. It was nice to catch up!
That same night, I had the opportunity to attend the Champions Dinner, a celebration that usually gathers the Atlassian Community from around the world for some finger food and drinks.
It's always a great chance to get closer with other Community Champions and create relationships that open future doors of collaboration, strengthening this global community the team has been building over the past years. In the picture with Margo, @María Ferreño Serra, and @Tomislav Tobijas:
When that finished, some people (and by "some people," I mean me) went to the remnants of an after-party at a bowling alley. That didn't last much.
The Last Day & The Bash!
On the last day of the event, you usually feel a shift in the energy of the people in the Expo Hall, which is expected after past intense days of collaboration and learning and long nights of networking. The Expo Hall was all about goodbyes, swag giveaways, and catching up on different activities around different booths.
The end of this day is usually long-awaited: The Bash, the closing gathering to the event, which was celebrated right behind the venue. A "beach" bar in front of a lake full of Dutch traditional games and food, bars, and different environments. It was a great moment to catch up with the people you didn't have enough time to talk to during the event.
Right after this celebration, there was a casual after-party right by crossing the street from the venue, when people started to say goodbye and vanish after Irish exits, until the next occasion.
Some others kept going to other after-parties; others went to sleep because they needed to get up early to catch a flight the next day…😪🛫
Overall, this was my experience during Atlassian Team '26 Europe. It was a first in many ways, memorable as usual. Profitable, from another standpoint. This event is a tech event about people, and this is my proof of that.
Looking forward to keeping connecting and collaborating on this and next opportunities. Thanks for reading if you got here!
How was this event for you? If you couldn't attend: How is this event usually for you?
![Photo of Huwen Arnone [Deiser/Devoteam]](https://us.v-cdn.net/6038660/uploads/avatars/6f/bc/n6fbcb837e47ed9842db045142dbc9275.png)
