Speaking at the Business Agility Conference

 

The following is information about the conference and the speaker proposal process. 

 

About the Conference

Founded in 2017, the annual Business Agility Conference brings together executives, practitioners, and thought leaders to connect, inspire, and share authentic stories of business agility. No tracks, just the best stories, concisely told in 20-minutes with a few unconventional twists along the way. 

Attendees can explore a wide variety of business agility topics, ask questions, and trade insights during facilitated “deep dive” discussions.  Our goal is to create an environment of connection and learning for attendees, bringing newfound energy to each person’s agile journey. 

The Business Agility Institute is excited to host this conference again in 2023.  While we create the structure and environment for this conference, it’s the interactions between the people at the conference that spark magic.  Speakers sharing the grit and glory of their business agility stories are core to the DNA of this conference.   

 

Talk Format

Just 20 short minutes.  The challenge for speakers at the Business Agility Conference is to distill their story down to that critically important essence that will resonate with the hearts and minds of our attendees. 

 

Conference Topics

What kinds of topics get the spotlight at the conference?  We are looking for proposals on topics related to “business agility.”  Here’s our definition:

Business Agility is the set of organizational capabilities, behaviors, and ways of working that affords your business the freedom, flexibility, and resilience to achieve its purpose. No matter what the future brings.  

We are looking for authentic “been there, done that” stories of business agility.  To spark your imagination, here are some ideas for stories for the conference -

• Responsive Customer Centricity – stories about how your organization has responded to changing customer needs, integrated diverse ideas into its innovations, or has developed ways to “sense and respond” to change.
  
  
• Engaged Culture – stories about how your organization has helped its employees feel connected and committed to your purpose, how you have developed and sustain a learning organization, or how you have strengthened psychological safety in your organization.
  
  
• People-first Leadership – stories about how leaders in your organization have fostered authentic relationships, empowered with accountability, or worked to create environments where people can do the best work of their lives.
  
  
• Value-based Delivery – stories about how your organization has accelerated the flow of work from great idea to satisfied customer, how you have ruthlessly prioritized “what’s important,” or how you have used your agility to seize emergent opportunities.
  
  
• Flexible Operations – stories about how you have brought business agility into the business operations and governance of your company – from strategy to finance to organizational structures – how has business agility changed how you run the business?
  
  
• What Else?  - got a story that doesn’t quite fit one of these boxes?  Not to worry.  We expect to be surprised!

 

What Does "Good" Look Like?

We are looking for business agility stories that

• focus on a specific business agility challenge or goal (rather than a general topic area)
• feature plenty of action, not just theory
• are told by the person/people most involved in it
• include enough context so that someone outside your organization can follow it
• authentically include both the “high points” and the “low points” of the plot

For more information check out our "What Makes a Great Story" page. 

 

Speaker Perks

As a selected speaker, you will receive a complimentary registration for the conference and 2 nights lodging at the Conference hotel located in Times Square, New York City.  AND you’ll receive our appreciation, support, and gratitude for sharing your story with our business agility community.

 

One More Thing...

Just one small plug for the conference itself. Conference registration is now open. If you register and are selected to speak, we'll happily refund your ticket purchase!

 

 

Questions?

Please send us your questions and we'll get back to you right away!