Frequently Asked Questions

Most frequent questions and answers about Women in Agile Europe events. If your question is not on this page, feel free to contact us via the contact form!

Conference

Women in Agile Europe 2023 is the 5th edition of the Women in Agile Europe conference organized in Europe.

The Women in Agile (worldwide) organization is a nonprofit and collective effort to recruit, network, promote, and support the work of outstanding women (and those identifying as women) in the Agile community through blogging, speaking at events, and building a network surrounded by people of all genders.

The Women in Agile Europe event takes place in another city every year.
The 2023 conference will be held in Eindhoven, NL, on November 14 2023.
See the home page for more information on this year's edition and sign up to the newsletter to stay updated easily on any new developments!

ONLINE Women in Agile Europe 2020 was the second Women in Agile conference organized in Europe. This conference was online due to COVID-19 on the 23th of November 2020.

ONLINE Women in Agile Europe 2021 is the third Women in Agile conference organized in Europe. This conference was online in November 19th of 2021.

ONLINE Women in Agile Europe 2022 is the fourth Women in Agile conference organized in Europe. This conference will be online on November 9th of 2022.

We strive to have a gathering which is safe for all genders to network, meet your future colleague, share knowledge and show your awesomeness.
In a passion-charged event, where personal safety is a core element.

No mansplaining, gaslighting or tone police. Just a safe space to learn, speak up, and engage in interesting conversations and discussions with like-minded people to grow together.

With this event we would like to start a European community of the Women in Agile organisation, which helps all agilists to connect and grow together.

In the IT labour market the participation of women is a mere 10-12 %. In all other markets (in Europe), that number is 45%. We thought that the percentage of women in Agile would be greater because of the sought-after competencies that are largely attributed to women. Still it is stuck on 10-12%. Of the 100 women that graduate in STEM, only 8 work in It/technical jobs. So there is something we can improve.

It is important to include women (and all other ‘minorities') in IT to solve the demographic crisis and gain the proven benefits for organizations that a balanced (gender) diversity brings.
And there are some more issues we wish that could be solved too: the gender pay gap, all-male organizing boards, all-male executive boards, etc. Maybe we can think of something that would help us, the companies we work for and the labour market. Together,

This conference is about inclusivity, everyone is welcome to join us. We are celebrating “Women in Agile”, why don't you join us in our celebration? If you feel left out, let us know, together we can find a way to make you feel included.

Many times we find that the voices of women are not heard, ignored or their power reduced. You can help them by countering the behaviour that leads to this. 
When you hear women voice their opinion, giving talks, lecturing, showing your support.

Share their posts, tweets, imagery; counter negative comments that are based off sexism, and sometimes take a step back to let women speak so they can be heard. 
An exercise in this can be to use your imagination, “how would I feel if someone said this to me?”. Our society is silently accepting behaviour that leads to women not being heard. Even women often accept it as “normal”. Yet, is it not. This is one of the main reasons why we need allies.

If you need any examples of the kind of comments women have to face you could read The Nine Types of Reply guy. Because we know you would never comment like this 🙂

This event is organized by a group of volunteers backed by a foundation.

Foundation: Julya van Berkel and Evelien Roos.

WIAEU2019: Julya van Berkel, Mary Beijleveld, Joanne Boerstoel, Evelien Roos, Eva Offermans and Harry Nieboer.

WIAEU2020: Julya van Berkel, Alisa Stolze, Natalie Caraman, Jan Fischbach, Veronika Hefle, Evelien Roos, and Harry Nieboer.

WIAEU2021: Julya van Berkel, Alisa Stolze, Natalie Caraman, Jan Fischbach, Veronika Hefle, Evelien Roos, and Harry Nieboer.

WIAEU2022: Julya van Berkel, Alisa Stolze, Jan Fischbach, Veronika Hefle, Evelien Roos, and Harry Nieboer.

WIAEU2023: Julya van Berkel, Evelien Roos, Dominika Bula, and Harry Nieboer.

See Organizers for details and contact information.

The organization team consists of Dutch people, so we decided to organize the first edition (2019) of Women in Agile Europe in the Netherlands. Our aim is to (help to) organize next editions in other European countries, so we can help people to connect and network all over Europe.

Women in Agile is a non profit organization and the conference is therefore not based on making a profit.

Although this is a non-profit event we ask participants for a small fee for a day with lots of fun, knowledge, networking and practice. The collective fees are used to pay all our speakers and keynote speakers, and location. We do not pay hotel costs or travel costs. Selected (CfS) speakers and volunteers earn free access to this event.

Any money that is left after the conference will be used to organize next year's conference in Europe.

All Women in Agile Europe attendees, speakers, sponsors, vendors, partners and volunteers are required to adhere to the Code of Conduct.

Organizers will enforce this code throughout Women in Agile Europe events and operations. We expect cooperation from all participants to help ensure a safe environment for everybody.

Women In Agile Europe follows the Women In Agile Code of Conduct, please take a few minutes to read it over.

Report concerns

To report any concerns, harassing behavior, suspicious or disruptive activity, contact event organizers or volunteers, or email us at conduct@womeninagile.eu.

Women in Agile Europe reserves the right to refuse admittance to or remove any person from an activity at its sole discretion, and discontinue their affiliation with the organization or individual. This includes event attendees, organizers, sponsors, partners and volunteers.

Attending

WIAEUROPE2019
The host hotel for WIAEUROPE2019 was the Corendon Village Amsterdam.
All sessions and meals took place there in the Meeting Places.

WIAEUROPE2020
WIAEUROPE2020 was online using Zoom.
All sessions took place in Zoom rooms. Participants were able to access their room of choice via a switchboard on https://womeninagile.eu 

WIAEUROPE2021
WIAEUROPE2021 was online using Zoom.
All sessions took place in Zoom rooms. Participants were able to access their room of choice via a switchboard on https://womeninagile.eu 

WIAEUROPE2022
WIAEUROPE2022 was online using Zoom.
All sessions took place in Zoom rooms. Participants were able to access their room of choice via a switchboard on https://womeninagile.eu 

WIAEUROPE2023
WIAEUROPE2023 will be in person in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
All sessions will take place in four rooms at the NH Conference Centre Koningshof in Eindhoven.

WIAEUROPE2020 was online using Zoom.

All sessions took place in Zoom rooms. Participants were able to access their room of choice via a switchboard on https://womeninagile.eu 

WIAEUROPE2021 was online using Zoom.

All sessions took place in Zoom rooms. Participants were able to access their room of choice via a switchboard on https://womeninagile.eu 

WIAEUROPE2022 was online using Zoom.

All sessions took place in Zoom rooms. Participants were able to access their room of choice via a switchboard on https://womeninagile.eu 

WIAEUROPE2023 will be in person in Eindhoven, Netherlands.

All sessions will take place in four rooms at the NH Conference Centre Koningshof in Eindhoven.

The event is open to all interested in joining the conversation at low costs.
We will have amazing keynote speakers, seasoned local speakers as well as new voices. To stay updated on speakers, the program and other information, sign up to our newletter.

  • Early Bird Ticket: special priced tickets for those who decide quickly, will be available for a limited period for anyone who would like to attend WIAEUROPE2023. Optionally including Dinner.
  • Regular Ticket: available to anyone who would like to attend WIAEUROPE2023. Optionally including Dinner.
  • Dinner Ticket: available to anyone who would like to attend dinner after WIAEUROPE2023
  • Meet the Speakers Ticket: available to anyone with a conference ticket who would like to meet the speakers at the night before WIAEUROPE2023

See Tickets for more details, including pricing.

We think WIAEU2023 should be affordable for all.

For WIAEU2023 we will have a limited number of “Help me out”-tickets.
When you really cannot afford the ticket price and feel you need to be at the conference, use the contact form to contact us. We'll see how we can help you.
Please be aware that we do not pay hotel costs or travel costs. 

The cost of the conference covers all sessions, food* and drinks**,  as well as (tbd) conference swag, and sponsor giveaways. Hotel, parking, and other travel costs are not included and are the responsibility of the attendee to book.

*Food provided includes:

  • Morning Break 
  • Lunch
  • Afternoon Break 

**Drinks provided includes:

  • Coffee/Tea/Water
    (Other drinks can be ordered at the Hotel bars, but need to be paid for by yourself at the bar)

Good to know:

  • Wifi: The Conference Centre provides free (low bandwidth) WiFi.
  • Parking at the Conference Centre will cost an additional 5 Euros for the whole day.
  • Hotel rooms can be booked at the Conference Centre (via a link that will be provided). Or you can find a place to stay for yourself.
  • Optionally you can extend your ticket to include dinner.

We are investigating possibilities for networking. Currently we have a dedicated slack and a secured part of the womeninagile.eu website in mind. 

The costs of these networking abilities are included in de WIAEU2023 ticket price.

Networking can also be done during the breaks. We have somewhat longer 30 minute breaks.

Also before (Meet the Speakers) or after (Socializing after closing or during dinner) the conference is a great time to network.

We have nothing organised for kids.

For the 2023 conference, bringing your kids is ok as long as you respect the other attendees, location, and your kids also follow the rules and the Code of Conduct.

For grown up kids (16+), please buy an additional ticket.

Yes there is a (more) quiet place at the end of the hallway where the conference rooms are.

It is a spot for six or eight people and we will mark it as a quiet place.

Next to that, when weather permits, going outside is a great quiet place too.

No, we will however offer free tickets and discounts for organizations that sponsor WIAEUROPE2023.
For more information and the sponsor packages, please check out the options.

That said, you can buy group tickets. You pay once and receive coupon codes that you can share, e.g. with employees or customers. 
They can use the coupon code to buy a ticket at zero costs.
Email us at info@womeninagile.eu.

All cancellations must be received by email two days before the conference date at 5:00pm Amsterdam Time (CET).
There may be a processing fee for any cancellation to cover handling costs.

No refund of any kind, for any reason (including medical emergencies) will be given for cancellation requests received later two days before the conference date at 5:00pm Amsterdam TIME (CET). 

No-shows are liable for the entire conference fee.

Call for Speakers

Yes, for the Women in Agile Europe 2023 there is a Call for Speakers.

The organizers will select a diverse group of speakers. When we sell more tickets than anticipated, we will invite more speakers.

Take a look at the Home page of our website for information, guidelines and details about the process.

For the Women in Agile Europe 2023 we will invite both experienced and inexperienced speakers.

If you feel that you have a story to tell, to inspire other women in agile, but are not sure you are ballsy enough to share it on stage, please give it a try. Here is some helpful advice.

Launching New Voices is a program where we offer mentoring / coaching for those willing to share their stories, in order for you to shine on stage. This program is run in close collaboration with WomenInAgile.org.
If you have any questions regarding the Launching New Voices program, feel free to contact us.

We really think speakers should be compensated and we think the conference should be affordable for all  attendants. We are constantly looking for the right balance.

Therefore, we pay selected speakers a compensation of €250 for each selected session. When you have co-speakers or helpers, you share the €250. (Please be aware that we do not pay hotel costs or travel costs for speakers.)

Selected speakers additionally earn free access to this event. In case you are selected and already bought a ticket, you will get refunded.

And what else? You can add a paid talk or workshop on a great conference to your resumé! How cool is that?!

Each speaker can propose a maximum of two sessions.  Sessions are in English.
Session types are:

  • Talk (45 minutes)
  • Workshop (45 minutes)
  • Workshop (90 minutes)

When we receive many proposals we may reduce the number of longer session slots to accommodate more speakers. (In that case, when you proposed a 90 minutes workshop, we  may ask you if you are open for a 45 minutes version)

Detailed guidelines are available on the website.

In order to gain the proven benefits for conferences that have a balanced (gender) diversity, it is important to include more women (and all other ‘minorities') as (keynote) speakers at (agile) conferences,
The last couple of years we have made progress, but we are not there, yet! We still need to make some big steps.

Therefor our motto this year is “Crossing the (diversity) Chasm”.

We are looking for talks around this motto that tell us about:
* finding the balance;
* unique challenges;
* visibility and leadership.

We may come up with tracks later, or will group selected proposals into tracks after selection.

For the Women in Agile Europe 2023 conference, we assume speakers bring their own computer setup when they present from a computer.

Each session one of the organizers or volunteers is available in the room to introduce the speaker and (optionally) take care of handling questions.

If you need any additional equipment like a screen, microphone, whiteboards/flipovers, please let us know well in advance, so we can work with the location to make those things available for you.

Sponsoring

We appreciate you wanting to help us make this conference a success!
We will have several sponsoring opportunities, take a look at our website for ideas. 

We are open to other suggestions, please contact us to discuss options.

Please note: We will have special early bird opportunities and packages for companies willing to sponsor both 2023 and 2024!

Get in touch with us

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Venue

The location for the Women in Agile Europe 2023 event will be:

Hotel NH Conference Centre Koningshof
Locht 117  5504 RM Veldhoven
Tel: 040 253 7475

More details regarding the venue, booking hotel rooms here or in the vicinity, parking and related topics, will follow soon.

Stay updated by signing up to our mailing list.

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