Newbie or someone really advanced in SAFe? Who should go? From BigPicture, one of only two1 SAFe-compliant project management tools who have attended all the SAFe Summits so far.
Different people will find different audiences, and will be able to be part of different discussions, so I would say all of the above – Alex Yakyma of SAFe.
1 The other is VersionOne.
Upcoming & recent Summits
| Date | SAFe Summit edition | City | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 20-25, 2020 | Global | Denver, Colorado | Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, 6700 N Gaylord Rockies Blvd, Aurora, CO 80019, U.S.A. |
| June 8-12, 2020 | Regional | The Hague, Netherlands | World Forum, Churchillplein 10, 2517 JW Den Haag, Netherlands |
| Sep 29-Oct 4, 2019 | Global | San Diego, CA | Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, 333 W Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA 92101, U.S.A. |
| May 7-10, 2019 | Regional | The Hague, Netherlands | World Forum, Churchillplein 10, 2517 JW Den Haag, Netherlands |
| Oct 1-5, 2018 | Global | Washington, D.C. | Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on the Potomac, Fort Washington, Maryland 20745, Stany Zjednoczone |
| June 25-28, 2018 | Regional | Frankfurt, Germany | Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Hotel, Frankfurt Airport, Airport/Terminal 1, Hugo-Eckener-Ring 15, 60549 Frankfurt am Main, Niemcy |
| Oct 2-6, 2017 | Annual | San Antonio, TX | JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa, 23808 Resort Pkwy, San Antonio, TX 78261, U.S.A. |
| Oct 25-28, 2016 | Annual | Denver, CO |
Dean Leffingwell is quoting the author of Leading Change and Accelerate at 2019 Global Summit San Diego.
SAFe Summit U.S. 2019, San Diego
Next year we’ll bring more than four team members to the Summit. We hardly managed to attend a single keynote or lecture.
Sept 29 – Oct 4, 2019, San Diego, CA, Marriott Marquis
The largest-ever number of tool vendors was present at the 2019 SAFe Summit. This indicates how SAFe calls for tools, no matter how tool-agnostic Scaled Agile Inc. claims the framework is.
+ more than 2000 visitors, more than at any past Summit. BigPicture party of four hardly managed to talk to all current and potential clients
+ food was delicious (as always)
+ a downtown avenue has been cleared of traffic for SAFe street party. You could eat and drink free of charge at all the bars, pubs, and joints.
+ the layout of the venue was great in terms of how booths were exposed to the visitors
– a few booths were robbed of the computer equipment on the first night of the Summit
– security was an issue; badges were not enforced
What do SAFe Summits consist of?
- 2- or 3-day Pre-Con training courses
- 2-day Workshops and Main Conference
- 1-day Post-Con Workshops
- keynotes, customer stories
- key topics:
- latest advancements in the framework (large, complex value streams)
- SAFe personas
- breakfast and lunch, throughout all six days; and networking dinners during the 2-day main conference
Dean Leffingwell is demonstrating, how SAFe translates a persona’s needs into features.
Who should go?
- practitioners who are building large systems
- practitioners who are supporting large operational workflows
- DevOps (at scale)
- system engineers (who are building mission-critical systems)
- exhibitors – consultancies and software houses
Pricing
In 2019 SAFe charged the Global Summit visitors as follows:
| Regular Visitor | SAFe Partner | |
|---|---|---|
| Main Conference | $1575 – Super Early Bird, register by Apr 17, 2019
$1675 – Early Bird, register by Jul 31, 2019 $1875 – Regular, register by Sep 25, 2019 |
$1550 |
| Pre-Con 2-day training course | $1295 SAFe DevOps, SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager, SAFe Advance Scrum Master |
|
| Pre-Con 3-day advanced training course | $2495 SAFe Release Train Engineer, SAFe for Architects, Lean Portfolio Management, Agile Product and Solution Management |
|
| Post-Con workshop | $695 Prioritizing Portfolio Investments Accelerate your Business Agility Lean-Agile Leadership Experience DevOps Building Really Big Systems with SAFe Troubleshooting SAFe implementations |
|
2019 European SAFe Summit: Main Conference – €1375 + VAT, Workshop Day – €525 + VAT. A discounted rate of €1250 + VAT for the Main Conference was available for SAFe Partners.
Discounts were available for teams of 5 and more both for the US and European editions.
Is SAFe certification worth it? By BigPicture CEO
M&M’s, sliced almonds, cranberries to begin with. If not for anything else, go to the Summit for the food ;)
Who to expect?
Below are the 2019 Summit sponsors, notice how the sponsors were bundled into Large Solution, Big Picture, Value Stream, and Essential collections; and the order in which the groups are showcased.
Global vs. Regional SAFe Summit
If you’re based in the U.S.A., the Global SAFe Summit is certainly your first choice. If you are based in Europe, Middle East, or Africa the European Summit has features, content, and case studies most relevant to SAFe professionals in EMEA. U.S. exhibitors are present at the European Summit, too. BigPicture Project Portfolio Management app is present at both :)
What to bring to the Summit?
If you’re an exhibitor, don’t bring a touchscreen as these could be rented locally.
Touchscreens can be rented locally. Displayed is the Board module of BigPicture, for Program Increment/iteration planning.
But you could bring a deployable joystick, to be used during agile retros, such as the one by CGI, pictured below. As a rule of thumb, bring a roll-up or two.
A step-on ‘RETRO’ joystick to be used during PI and iteration planning to schedule and prioritize objectives.
Most of the space-consuming equipment for your booth can be acquired locally. BigPicture team rented an SUV to deliver the furniture to the venue.
BigPicture, a wildcard term at the summits
The ‘big picture’ phrase has always played a special role in the ‘at scale’ organizations. However with the advent of Scaled Agile Framework, and the summits, the term has become a proper noun, too:
- ‘Big Picture’ stands for the main SAFe poster
- ‘Big Picture’ was used at the 2019 Summit to call a group of sponsors
- a PPM app – BigPicture – was a member of that group
Gallery of swags
based on 2019 SAFe Summit
When you’re back in the North, you’ll appreciate this practical lip balm by HyperVelocity Consulting.
ALM Works gave away these neat rucksacks at the Summit.
PI planning first aid kit by Agile Rising.
Appddicition Studio swags at SAFe Summit; a SAFe humanoid and a Snap-in cord organizer. The third gift is a tray.
Classic coffee mugs are still around.
Stickers will do the job, too.
Networking Celebration
A street in San Diego downtown has been cleared of traffic for SAFe networking celebration. You could eat and drink free of charge at all the bars, pubs, and joints.
2018 SAFe Summit
Oct 1-5, 2018, Washington, D.C.
2017 SAFe Summit, San Antonio
Oct 2-6, 2017, San Antonio, TX
- 1200 attendees from 27 countries
- keynotes:
- Dean Leffingwell, author and entrepreneur: Fostering Innovation in the Large Enterprise with SAFe 4.5
- Mel Robbins of CNN: The Five Second rule
- Don Reinertsen, author: The Leadership Challenge of Decentralized Control
- quotes:
- 160 k people from 110 countries are now SAFe trained
- I’m learning
2016 SAFe Summit
Oct 25-28, 2016, Denver, CO
