Introducing Our Global Scrum Gathering 2022 Denver + Beyond Keynotes

A great keynote speaker is someone who can make the audience see things from a new perspective, chuckle at a well timed, irreverent joke, and inspire a change in all of us  — all within the confines of an hour. They can speak with ease to a crowd of hundreds and make it feel like they’re speaking to you directly. We’ve found two such keynote speakers for the Global Scrum Gathering 2022 Denver + Beyond.

We’re excited to announce that Seth Godin - entrepreneur, author and Marketing Hall of Fame inductee, and Chris Gardner - businessman, author and world-renowned philanthropist, will be taking the stage as our keynotes for the Global Scrum Gathering this year in Denver. This year’s Gathering will be hybrid, meaning all attendees will have a chance to tune into both keynotes whether they are attending in-person or from anywhere around the globe.

Chris Gardner - Keynote speaker Monday morning at 9:30am MST in the Grand Ballroom.  

“Strong people stand for themselves, but stronger people stand up for others”

Chris Gardner is an entrepreneur, international best-selling author, philanthropist and an award winning film producer. You may best recognize his name from the 2006 critically acclaimed film starring Will Smith, The Pursuit of HappYness, based on his New York Times #1 bestselling autobiography of the same name. His second book, Start Where You Are, also a best seller, was published in 2009. Gardner’s new book, Permission to Dream, was selected as “Book Of The Month” by the Wall Street Journal upon its publication. 

After ‘retiring’ from thirty-seven years in the financial services industry, Gardner now describes himself as a 67 year old ‘start up’ with significant interest in fin tech [financial technology]. Two years ago, Gardner became the oldest “recruit” in the history of the United States Navy and speaks on behalf of the Navy on the issues of recruiting and talent retention. 

Gardner’s primary focus now is his foundation, The Christopher P. Gardner Foundation which works tirelessly to alter the trajectory of young people’s lives. Instead of investing in stocks or businesses, Gardner describes this effort as “making an alternative investment in human capital.” He travels the country speaking to young people about how to set and obtain life goals, no matter the obstacles. 

5 Incredible Quotes from Chris Gardner

• “Don’t wait for the perfect time to start making changes to your life; the time is now.”
• “Many have forged a path to greatness lit only by a vision in their mind.”
• “Others may question your credentials, your papers, your degrees. Others may look for all kinds of ways to diminish your worth. But what is inside you no one can take from you or tarnish. This is your worth, who you really are, your degree that can go with you wherever you go, that you bring with you the moment you come into a room, that can't be manipulated or shaken. Without that sense of self, no amount of paper, no pedigree, and no credentials can make you legit. No matter what, you have to feel legit inside first.”
• “It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?”
• “Do something that you love. Whatever you’re going to do is going to be tough enough. Find something that gets you so excited that the sun can’t come up early enough in the morning because you want to go do your thing.”

Seth Godin - Virtual Keynote Speaker Tuesday morning starting at 9:15am MST.  

“Leadership, on the other hand, is about creating change you believe in.” 

Seth Godin is the author of 20 (!) books that reached bestseller status around the world and were translated into more than 35 languages. His impressive resume also includes titles such as Founder of altMBA and The Marketing Seminar, online workshops that have transformed the world of thousands of people. 

Seth writes about the post-industrial revolution, the ways ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. You might be familiar with his books: Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip and Purple Cow. His latest books,The Practice and This is Marketing, were both instant bestsellers around the world. In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth has founded several companies, including Yoyodyne and Squidoo. His blog (which you can find by simply typing “seth” into Google) is one of the most popular in the world - it’s rumored to have over half a million visits a month. More than 60,000 people have taken his powerful workshops, including altMBA and the Marketing Seminar. 

As if all those weren’t enough, Godin also hosts the Akimbo podcast which explores our cultures and how we have the power to bend, mold, shape and ultimately change it to better meet the needs of our world today. 

5 Inspiring Quotes from Seth Godin

• “The only people who get paid enough, get paid what they’re worth, are people who don’t follow the instruction book, who create art, who are innovative, who work without a map. That option is now available to everyone, so take it.”
• “Hard work is about risk. It begins when you deal with the things that you’d rather not deal with: fear of failure, fear of standing out, fear of rejection. Hard work is about training yourself to leap over this barrier, drive through the other barrier. And after you’ve done that, do it again the next day.”
• “Don’t try to be the ‘next’. Instead, try to be the other, the changer, the new.”
• “Once you free yourself from the need for perfect acceptance, it’s a lot easier to launch work that matters.”
• “Change almost never fails because it's too early. It almost always fails because it's too late.”

In addition to these awesome keynotes we’ll also have a jam-packed schedule full of sessions from agile trailblazers and industry leaders on topics ranging from building the right product to preventing dysfunction in your organization and more. Make sure to reserve your ticket soon! We can't wait to see you in Denver (and on the world wide web) to learn, connect and be inspired!