Reflecting on the Global Scrum Gathering® Phoenix 2015

Global Scrum Gatherings are what agile enthusiasts dreams are made of. You take a large group of Scrum practitioners from across the globe, immerse them in an experiential learning environment for three action-packed days, courtesy of the Scrum Alliance® community, and agile magic is born. As November’s Global Scrum Gathering in Prague is quickly approaching, we thought we’d take a few moments to reflect on last May’s amazing Gathering in Phoenix.

The Phoenix Gathering’s theme was Freedom. The Scrum Alliance explained the Freedom theme as: “Free yourself from the: tyranny of the urgent, fear of making mistakes, business as usual, and process. With an eye to the past, we look at how to optimize current environments and adopt a forward-thinking approach to Scrum.”

This theme struck a cord with us at 3Back. Several members of our 3Back Team attended the Phoenix Gathering. Each of us came away with new ideas, new connections, and many new selfies, as the Scrum Alliance Selfie Booth was all the rage. Some of our favorite moments were the outstanding Keynotes. Mike Cohn’s Keynote, Let go of Knowing: How Holding onto Views May Be Holding You Back, had us on the edge of our seats. Jim McCarthy’s closing Keynote on Freedom, Culture Design and Our Possible Destiny painted an exciting picture of what is on the horizon for team dynamics and technology. For an artistic take on these Keynotes, check out these illustrations of Mike Cohn’s presentation and Jim McCarthy’s presentation created by Stuart Young.

With educational tracks tailored to the every level of Scrum experience, there truly was something for everyone to enjoy. We bounced from breakout session to breakout session (there were over 50 of them) savoring the learning. The Open Space sessions where you can throw out a topic for group discussion were some of the most dynamic talks on Scrum we’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.

We took in every last bit of the Phoenix Gathering. Here’s some of our favorite pics taken by our 3Back Team during the Phoenix Gathering.

2015 Phoenix Scrum Gathering Tommi Johnstone and Luke Walter

Our own Tommi Johnstone and Luke Walter.

2015 Phoenix Scrum Gathering Scrum Wall

Global Scrum insights captured on the wall.

2015 Scrum Gathering Phoenix Marcos Garrido CST

Great talk given by our friend and CST, Marcos Garrido.

2015 Phoenix Scrum Gathering - Painted Tiles

Art for Scrum session. Teams painted tiles to represent Scrum ceremonies, artifacts and roles.

2015 Scrum Gathering Superhero Suckers

Our “Scrum as Superhero” suckers.

We hope to see you in Prague this November for the next Global Scrum Gathering!

As Always, Stay Agile.