Mage Titans USA 2016

Our involvement

Mage Titans launched in Manchester in 2014, since then our community conference has continued to develop and grow in reputation and attendance.

As well as our annual conference in the UK we have also had the opportunity to partner with some great members of the Magento community to take Mage Titans even further. In February we held Mage Titans Italy in Milan, in association with Alessandro Ronchi from BitBull. We then held a Mage Titans ‘Mini’ event in Manchester in May, which saw developers from across the country and further afield join us for a mid year refresher.

Whilst Mage Mini feedback was bandied around on Twitter a conversation spun up between Karen Baker of WebShopApps/Shipper HQ and our MD, Jon Woodall, with the suggestion of bringing Mage Titans to Austin, Texas! Jon and Karen took the conversation offline to discuss the idea further and Mage Titans USA was born!

The challenge for Space 48 would be the logistics of delivering an event over 4000 miles away in a town we had never even been to. Through collaborating with Karen and the WebShopApps/ShipperHQ teams, as well as enlisting the support and services of a local event manager, #MageTitansUSA became real. A two day conference was set for the 8 – 9th September, with the cherry on top being a fluid workshop session on the Saturday after the event. Overall the concept remained the same; a not-for-profit event, which would allow the community to connect, communicate and collaborate.

#MageTitansUSA

So if we were gonna bring Mage Titans to the USA it had to be bigger and better, from our perspective that meant the speakers had to be kick ass. Guess what, we pulled it off! The speakers ranged from leading names in Magento to up and coming avid community contributors; a truly inspiring line up of speakers who were willing to share and collaborate.

The sponsors also had to turn heads, and they did! We brought together leaders in the market who wanted to be involved, and it was our sponsors that made Mage Titans USA possible. With so much help from our community the event almost runs itself, well almost.

Jon, Tony and Pam were all set to go to Austin, Texas and represent the Space48ers, but due to a very early arrival of Jon’s baby boy, Joseph, Jon understandably didn’t get to make it this year – congratulations Jon and Emma! So with an absent Jon, Tony and Pam held down the fort, or should I say ranch.

The team that brought together and delivered Mage Titans USA was a collaboration across the pond between Space48ers and WebShopApps/ShipperHQ, supported on the ground by Christina Hug. As a team they helped with each days events, listened to the talks, ensured everyone was fed and watered right through to the Saturday developer workshop, and all in all thoroughly enjoyed it – they also made it to a couple of the obligatory after parties! Aside from the all the Magento goodness, a highlight of Pam & Tony’s was chilling Austin style with trips out to the legendary Salt Licks BBQ and Stetson shopping (they even sent us a photo!).

The USA addition proved to be a success and the feedback we received on the day and also via Twitter has been overwhelming. However, we still want the gritty details … what you loved and maybe what you thought could’ve been better? So, if you attended Mage Titans USA, we’re asking for your feedback on the overall event and the talks here on our Joined.in.

The plan is that Mage Titans USA will become an annual event but until then we have another date in the diary to look forward to, Mage Titans Manchester on 12th November. This year’s will be our third Mancunian instalment and tickets are already selling fast.

Thanks y’all for an amazing event!