ELMO: The Gentle Signal That Keeps Meetings on Track

I loved that XP Days Benelux included an ELMO muppet in the bag of goodies this year. ❤️

ELMO? Yes : ELMO is a gimmick often used in the Agile and facilitation world as an acronym of "Enough, Let's Move On!". So when the conversations are getting too detailed or deriving from the initial topic, you just take your ELMO muppet, show it to the others, and everybody gets the signal. I didn't have a "physical" one yet, so it made me very happy. 😊

What I loved even more, is the fact that during one of the plenary moments, the organizers took the time to explain what it stands for and how to use it. This is one of those moves that prevent this kind of events to become an elitist meeting, disconnected from the real world. Because if we see some participants year after year, it's crucial to remember that everyone joined for the first time, one day or another 💁‍♂️

It is challenging to create an agenda that will fit both first-joiners and more experienced ones - keeping things accessible while avoiding having the same topics every year. It is partly our job - as speakers - to reinvent ourselves and aim for originality... either in the topic or in the way we deliver it 🧠 And it's also a call for potential new speakers to make the leap... we need fresh ideas, fresh energy and new inspiration, whatever our experience is!

Here's to another great edition of XP Days Benelux, to the other conferences I'm impatient to attend next year, and to all of those who are making it possible! 😊 🙌