Atlassian Community: the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

[#1]

This week at Summit we announced an exciting rebrand of two major elements of our community. Read on for details and jump in with questions!

In 2006, a group of ~80 Atlassian users in Virginia got together in-person to network and discuss our products and practices. They then began to meet regularly, forming the very first Atlassian User Group. This was the first, grass-roots effort to build our user community. As most of you know, we have since formalized the AUG program and now have 344 leaders hosting events in 148 cities around the globe.

Fast forward to 2017, when we launched our online community to provide support and connection for our users on a larger scale. The success of our online community is due to a group of amazing individuals, Community Champions, who provide connection and product support to the 2M+ members of this community. Just like the people who help us run in-person events, these online leaders are the heart of our community and we would not be where we are today without them. Fun fact, we even have ~30 people who are currently wearing both hats and leading our community in online and offline capacities!

So, over the past 12+ years we’ve developed two community programs – in-person and online – and two top contributor programs – AUG Leaders and Community Champions – that have recently been organically converging into one. Recognizing the potential power in combining these forces, we’ve rebranded two foundational aspects of the Atlassian Community. This rebrand will begin to roll out over the next several months and we’re excited about what the future holds as we combine these two parts into one greater whole.

Without further ado…

Introducing Atlassian Community Leaders*

*Artists formerly known as Atlassian User Group Leaders and Atlassian Community Champions

As mentioned above, the people who host in-person events for our community are quite similar to (and in some cases are even the same people as) those who provide connection and support in our online community.

Both of these groups:

• Provide guidance and advice to Atlassian users who need support

• Enjoy fostering connections between like-minded people

• Like solving complex problems with Atlassian products

• Are the heart of the Atlassian Community

…and more!

By removing the silos between these two programs and combining them under the Community Leader umbrella, our hope is that we’re able to better recognize and support all of our leaders. The paths to becoming a Community Leader will become more clear, the options for ways to engage within the program will become more robust, and we’ll (hopefully!) be delivering more value to the people who are shaping the future of our community.

Goodbye AUGs*, hello Community Events

*Bittersweet… “AUG” will always be part of Atlassian’s DNA :)

Another strategic rebrand that has been in the works for some time and will launch this week at Summit is the Community Events program. Our objective with this rebrand is to make these events more approachable, identifiable, and flexible. Over the years, Atlassian User Groups have evolved into many different types of events… in addition to the formal meet-up with presentations, pizza, and beer that most of us are familiar with, we have also observed that our leaders are hosting lunches, happy hours, internal events, and more. And, while Atlassian products are central to many events, leaders also educate their members on adjacent topics like Agile, ITSM, or team collaboration. You also don’t have to be an Atlassian user to attend these events! The term Atlassian User Group no longer felt comprehensive enough and also kept this program separate from the broader Atlassian Community brand. With this change, we hope to see more people leading more events, an increase in engagement across the board from our members, and more types of events being hosted all around the world.

An example of what the new brand and naming might look like in action!

New swag, who dis?

Call to action

These two rebrands — Community Leaders and Community Events — are just the first of many steps in integrating our online and offline community. In addition to an upcoming Leader survey, we’ll be promoting several research opportunities where Leaders can join focus groups to help shape specific aspects of this combined program… including things like perks & rewards or onboarding, new event kits and swag! You can expect lots of transparency from our team as we move forward into this exciting new phase of the Atlassian Community.

Feedback, questions, concerns? Comment on this article or email me directly at SGrice@atlassian.com

[Gonchik Tsymzhitov]

Time to merge our 2 accounts :)

[Kapil Samadhiya]

Awesome!!! Go “Community Events” Go 😊

[Kimberly Deal _Columbus ACE_]

Love the idea of merging accounts, but it needs to be really easy to unmerge too, and it needs to *only* apply to Community.  I have *cough* a lot of Atlassian accounts, for reasons.  I do not want them related to me on the Community and would like to be able to decouple them if I need to remove them or change my email address. 

[Taranjeet Singh]

Awesome !! the new rebranded swag looks cool ! Wondering and waiting about the criteria to become "Atlassian Community Leader" !

[JP _AC Bielefeld Leader_]

ACEs are the new AUG-Meetings

[Davin Studer]

I think it is great to realize that the online and offline efforts are really for the same cause and we are working together.

[Mary Ramirez]

Yay! 💃 

[Capi [resolution]]

Sounds like a sensible move!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

This is exciting news for the community and I love the new branding! 👏🏼Joining forces will result in enhanced collaboration and more cross pollination with the two roles becoming one 😊

[Vishnukumar Vasudevan]

Thats great :).

[carolyn french]

Great announcement! Would love to see the tech platforms more integrated too to join forces even more efficiently. How can I join the focus group @Stephanie Grice ?

[Sloan]

I am super excited for this change: I can now officially say: *in Batman voice* I am a leader.

[Billy Poggi AUG NOVA_ DC]

I love this idea so much, I'm sad I missed the big event!  I know Ashley, Celina and crew all had a fun with the reveal!! 

[JUDY]

Beautifully written and beautiful designs! <3 

[Cat Schwartz]

Love the designs! Excited for the change!

[Am D]

loved the idea of merging both:). Can't wait to host first event.

[Kat Warner]

Looking forward to seeing this in action.

[Matthias Gaiser _K15t_]

As a (former) community champion, it was great to meet lots of online and offline community leaders and to share experiences.

And think about ways how the offline and online community can benefit from each other to actually form this one new community.

[Andy - PTC Redundant]

This is so damn exciting ! The Atlassian Community brand just keeps getting stronger and stronger.

And I can't wait for all the new glorious swag to arrive!
@JP _AC Bielefeld Leader_  was wearing the new hoody at the Vienna Open ACL Social and it looked AMAZABALLS! (See below)

The ACLs also had a good laugh at the "AUG... don't you mean ACE?" joke circulating at the moment.

Looking forward to ACL and ACE being the norm so I can avoid these types of conversations... 😉😋

Me: I do love being an ACL
AUG attendee: What’s that?
Me: Atlassian Community Leader
AUG attendee: oh right, the online leader stuff?
Me: No... I lead the ACE
AUG attendee: Uhm... what’s that?
Me: Atlassian Community Event
AUG attendee: Errrr.... say what now?
Me: AUG... I lead this AUG
The other ACL: Don’t you mean ACE ! ??

[Saravud_Nakkoed]

Hi

[omar_nazar]

That is great, waiting for it!

[Anthony Martinez bullard]

My name is anthony Martinez bullard, requesting community leader umbrella,I would like to thank ,CELINA samira for such valuable insights-this is  support expected from an Atlassian leader.

[Arkadiusz Grzesiok]

Good