Should Atlassian Have a Virual Version of Summit Every Year

[Davin Studer]

The ripples of COVID-19 are going to be felt for a long time to come. Already, things such as air pollution numbers going down, WFH skyrocketing, and general social hygiene rules changing are all examples of the far reaching impact of this virus. I would imagine there will be other ripples effects such as cold and flu numbers going down, traffic accidents could go down for a while, and we might have a baby boom in 10 months. : )

Many believe that this virus is single-handedly changing much of our daily lives now and going forward. So, when it comes to Summit being virtual what are your thoughts. Should this be something that continues on into the future in some form? Was it useful this year? What did you like/dislike about the virtual Summit?

[Mihai Schwarz]

Hi @Davin Studer ,

For me it was my first ever Atlassian Summit.

The presentations were great, most of them! One of the things that I've expected and didn't really happen was presentations about JIRA Server or Data Center. Most of the presentations were focused on Cloud rather than equal time allocation.

I know that this was a huge effort for the guys to create this, but it would have been a lot more engaging and "fun" to have actual live presentations.

Viewing presentations over and over can get you out focus at some point or distracted.

Overall it was a very nice experience from which I've learned and gathered documentation that I will use it to improve my Atlassian skills.

I hope I wasn't too honest or bothered someone with my option on this.

Thank you to everyone involved once again for putting all the efforts to create good and quality content free of charge!

[Ollie Guan]

The virtual summit reduced the cost of attending the meeting, saving time and expenses for the trip. I can better balance the time, work and life of attending the summit.

More importantly, the mode of the virtual summit does not affect the quality of the content, and the way everyone communicates online is also great.

[Fabienne Gerhard]

It was my first real summit and I have to say I like the discussion you starting here @Davin Studer 

Loved the online meeting groups for community leaders and events and think it‘s great that you can get the session for the next 14 days - which made planning easier

Of course I would love to meet everyone F2F but I really think we should overthink the costs for traveling and impact on environment.... 

Applause for the whole Atlassian team what you made possible 👏🏻

[Samie Kaufman - Your Gal at Gliffy]

I think ideally there would be both in person and robust virtual events! I love getting to see people face to face and I do admit that I would probably find a keynote more inspiring if it's delivered from a giant stage. 😉

But, what I really appreciate about everyone's efforts right now is that ultimately, we're learning to create a more inclusive society and more accessible experiences. The virtual format gives people without the financial means to travel a way to tune in, but it also makes it easier for people with disabilities or illnesses to participate. It makes it easier for parents who can't leave their families for a few days. It gives newer and younger employees a way to stay involved, even if they didn't "make the cut" to be sent by their company.

For an event like Summit, which is all about ideas and ways of collaborating, you need all that diversity of needs and thoughts to really unlock the new ideas that can change the world. 🌎 

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

A virtual option would be great, but the real-life summit is a much richer and useful experience. 

Pre-arranged or even ad-hoc online get-togethers worked really well, but I missed the "going to find someone you want to talk to for some reason" part badly. 

Worse was the "not finding old friends" but that's something that only applies to people who have been doing it for a while.

I think partners lost out a lot as well, without that prescense "on the floor" (or in the f2f training)

The downsides stated, I think throwing a lot of the summit online would be a fantastic idea, especially if it co-exists with a real-life one.  I've seen a few suggestions about trying to "fix" various missing pieces this year, but I suspect stepping back and thinking about how to do it overall would be a better option than doing a real-life one with virtual bits tacked on (Obviously, this near, there was no time to plan anything like that, so I'm not going to take this year as any good model - it was a response to a big disruption)

[Davin Studer]

Agreed. This year certainly is not a year to base anything off of. But overall I think Atlassian was able to get a lot done for Summit this year in not that much time.

[Nicole Lubanowski]

This was my first summit because it was made virtual.  I've wanted to attend past summits, but traveling to LVS is not feasible for me.  I agree that once things get to a new normal and we are having conferences and parties again, maintaining the f2f LVS summit will be warmly welcomed and beneficial to vendors, attendees, and presenters alike.  Thank you to everyone who put this summit together.

Having a virtual presence speaks to the world in which we live though also - especially for those of us in technology.  We have an ever shrinking world, and that is in part due to technology and the good ol' internet.

Yes, the keynotes not being live, and me not sitting in a large room staring at a gigantic screen hanging above a huge stage is a different feeling than me on my patio looking at my laptop, but the messages were clear and communicated.  Where I found additional value were in the live Q&A sessions.  It seemed nearly every question was answered and we interacted with each other, learning from other attendees.

[Brant Schroeder]

I think it would be great to add it as an option to their current summit line up.  It kind of already exists since they broadcast they keynotes summit presentations already and when summit is over they post all of the other sessions.  I think it would be great to add a remote track though for those that cannot attend.   The in-person summit experience is way better and I can not wait for the next one.