Reading time: 4 min read
From Code to Community: What Developers Can Take Away from Sitecore Symposium
Skills, networking, and real-world solutions that drive business success
A Week of Innovation, Insights, and Industry Connections in Nashville
From October 13th to 18th, I found myself immersed in the vibrant energy of Nashville, attending the Sitecore Symposium at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center. Known for its focus on digital experience innovation, this year’s Symposium carried the theme "The Power to Build"—and it truly lived up to that promise. Over the span of a few days, I had the opportunity to engage with fellow MVPs, listen to inspiring keynotes, and connect with professionals from all corners of the industry.
Day 1 - MVP Summit
The first full day of Sitecore Symposium 2024, October 14th, was reserved exclusively for Sitecore MVPs—a recognition program for top contributors and thought leaders within the Sitecore community. It provided a unique blend of networking, early insights and sneak peaks. The event kicked off with a chat with Dave O’Flanagan, CEO, Kathie Johnson, CMO, Roger Connolly, CPO, and Danny Robinson, CTO of the Sitecore Leadership Team.
We had chances to get up close and ask questions to those key Sitecore individuals who are pushing technology and the community forward. Those like Liz Nelson, Senior Director, Product | XM Cloud and Mo Cherif, Senior Director Generative AI and legendary Tamas Varga, Director Community Programs were available to answer questions via roundtable sessions. Following that, we could access exclusive breakout sessions and see what’s upcoming such as all the amazing features coming with regards to Engagement. Upcoming changes to CDP, Personalize and Pages. Seriously good stuff.
The evening was capped off with an exclusive event at Dave & Busters with food and arcade. And if you were good, err, determined enough, you were able to earn this cool MVP exclusive insulated travel mug.
Day 2 - Partner Sessions & Booth Setup at the Solutions Pavilion
As this was Fishtank’s first Symposium where we had a booth, much of my day was helping the rest of the team prep the booth for the evening’s welcome reception and official kickoff of Symposium 2024.
Our marketing team really hit it out of the park providing an attractive alternative to traditional booths. Linking delicious snacks to both our services and our own Sitecore Snack was genius.
Day 3 - Attending to the Booth and Eye-opening Sessions
Working the booth, getting to speak with other members of the community, other partners and customers was a great opportunity to network. Having the chance to meet with many of those that I actively follow in the community such as Corey Smith, aka Sitecorey, Anton Tishchenko, and many others is, in this day and age, a welcome opportunity when everyone is so remote.
Attending sessions like Next-gen frontend development with XM Cloud, from Liz Nelson, and others gives us glimpses of some amazing features coming soon. Having our clients being able to attend these sessions as well allows us to have really meaningful conversations on what’s important to them going forward.
The evening allowed us a great opportunity to explore Nashville’s Broadway and enjoy an amazing dinner with colleague and reflect on everything we learned.
Day 4 - More Sessions, Booth Time, and Symposium Part
The learning continued on Day 4, getting more chances to speak with other members of the community whether via the booth or in-between sessions. It was great getting to see even more sneak-peaks of things coming in the near term to the XM Cloud platform, including the Sitecore Marketplace which I’m perhaps most excited for.
The day culminated with the Sitecore Symposium Party back down on Nashville’s Broadway with delicious food and drink and opportunities to chat with other members of the community, and of course the live music.
Day 5 - Breakfast, Entertaining Conversations, and Heading Home
Hard to believe that was a wrap to another Sitecore Symposium. All the food provided at the Symposium was great. Probably could’ve eaten a lot more to be honest. The fireside chat with Diamond Dog, Brendan Hunt was a good laugh and really insightful to how Ted Lasso came about. The mid-day flight home came too soon but a great way to reflect on all I learned.
I’m still enjoying the high of all that learned and knowing all that’s coming next year and beyond.
Why You Should Attend
Sitecore Symposium is a fantastic way to expand your network and your knowledge, no matter what level or what position you hold. Whether you’re an partner, solo developer, member of a team who works with Sitecore or even looking at Sitecore. Certainly a memorable experience for all. Having previously attended Sitecore Symposium seeing how it’s grown over the years gives me tremendous confidence that both the community and the people behind the platform are really pushing technology forward together.