The Goal
Connect & Inspire Product Managers
Create Value
People attend our conferences to acquire knowledge, gain insight into current industry trends, network with fellow professionals and last, but not least – have fun.
They commonly want to hear and see what similar companies are doing and how they are doing it, as the featured speakers are all practitioners, people who do the real job day by day.
What attendees are looking for is the consistency in terms of the relevancy of content and the highest standards of facilities (venue arrangements, conference room, catering, pastime activities).
Share Information
Sharing and more importantly GETTING information you need to stay up-to-date with latest trends, best-practices and overall business outlook for the near future.
Have Fun
Often neglected (or shall we say not emphasized enough) aspect of business conferences - the after hours, the time spent outside the conference room.
In a Word
Concept & delivery
Practitioners Event
The event features speakers & panelists from the business environment, mostly from large multinational corporations and from SMEs. We’re not hosting academia or non-profit org’s, as we simply don’t find this type of content relevant to the business world. All the featured individual talks showcase concrete, real-world examples of actual work, actual projects. Panel-discussions are designed to debate current industry trends, best-practices and give insight into how successful companies go about Product Management.
Seating
The main conference hall is set-up with large round tables, so that attendees can feel comfortable sitting at an actual table instead rows of chairs. People like when they can bring in a coffee and snack or place their phone/laptop on a table. This type of seating ensures a great working atmosphere inside the room.
Stage & Delivery Style
There is actually no elevated “stage” or “podium”, as we encourage speakers to freely roam around the conference room and communicate with the audience at all times. We find this type of delivery style to be much more engaging, as audience is not separated from the speaker. Also, the conference hall has glass walls, allowing for the natural light to penetrate the room. Again, we find this type of set-up preferable to “theatre” where the audience sits in the dark, while a spotlight illuminates the speaker.
The 3 WHY's
The story behind this conference
Why PRODUCT MANAGEMENT?
Because to the best of our knowledge (and we're good at our thing) there is no other large scale international business event, dedicated to the topic of Product Management, in this part of Europe. So, we're filling that market gap and YOUR NEED, until others decide to try and replicate what we do. We’re looking forward to that challenge.
Why NOW?
Late April is a great time, both in terms of business schedules and weather. We could hardly pick a better date.
Why OPATIJA?
Well why not!! Seriously? Opatija, the Queen of the Adriatic Coast, the gem, the pinnacle, the THE place to be when you're coming to a business event at a 5★ hotel. Opatija combines the natural beauty of the Adriatic, with the charm of the Old World Europe dating back to Emperor Franz Joseph I, with state-of-the-art events facilities and Michelin star gastronomy. It's in the class of its own. There is simply no other place like it. Oh and BTW - it's close. It's just several hours drive from Munich, Milan, Vienna or Budapest. So again - why not.
The 3 WHAT's
The benefits of attending this conference
Powerful Personalities of People Who Present (aka Great Speakers)
We feature speakers from across Europe and beyond, from various industries and with a wealth of experience. Moreover, we carefully select them and prep them, so they don't just present exceptional content, but they actually deliver an audience engaging performance.
Transparency of Issues (aka Relevant Content)
Great Speakers matter, but the content matters just as much. It's not just who is saying something, but also WHAT they are saying and how open they are about the challenges, issues and problems they've been facing. We make sure that presented content is RELEVANT to the audience and doesn't end up being a mere product-demo or a sales-pitch.
Intimacy of the Conversations (aka Great Networking)
The difference between a 2,000 people event and a 200 attendees event is best demonstrated outside the conference room, during breaks. At the former, you randomly bump into people; let's face it - that's not networking. At the latter, the size of the group is compact enough that "everyone gets to know everybody else" in 2 days. That's the intimacy of the conversation that ensures the QUALITY networking.
The 3 WHO's
People at this conference
PRODUCT People
Naturally, the primary focus group of this conference are people who are involved in the entire life-cycle of the Product. From Product Specialists and Product Owners to Product Managers and Senior Product Managers, with product Marketing Managers and Directors and VPs of Products, all the way up to the Chief Product Officer.
PROJECT People
Projects are the primary vehicle of delivering Products, hence there's no successful Product (Management) without Project Management. Expect to meet a lot of Project Managers among attendees.
BUSINESS People Leaders
Last but not least, a major gathering like this is a magnet for C-suite, so expect to see a significant number of CEOs and other Senior Execs among the crowd.
Speakers
There are 14 individual case-study presentations and 4 panel-discussions taking place over the 2 days. The full list of speakers will be published shortly.
Karlheinz Muenchow
Distinguished KEYNOTE Speaker
Principal Agile Product Transformation Leader
Author ∙ Speaker ∙ CEO
Product Management Expert
Margareta Klinčić Tremac
Product Strategy and Operations Principal
Jeffrey Scott Molvar
Product Development Lead
Bugatti Rimac
Krešo Žmak
VP Products
Infobip
Lidija Karaga
CEO
Poslovna Inteligencija
Mario Marić
Product Manager
ASEE
Hrvoje Bek
Product Manager
Ericsson Nikola Tesla
Feliks Lukas
Tournament Director
WTA
Ana Zovko
Chief Digital Officer
Croatia Osiguranje
Marijana Jurčić
Group Digital Excellence, Culture & Agile Lead
UniCredit Group HQ
Dino Mandić
Product Owner
GlobalLogic
Tatjana Kotarski
PM Leader, Mentor & Coach
PM4YOU
Ana Zrno
Director of Product Operations
Sinch
Sven Marusic
Senior VP Delivery
Endava
Sandra Kujundžić Drašković
VP Global Business Intelligence & Software Development
Transcom
Igor Marušić
ICT Senior Product Owner
Hrvatski Telekom
Matija Martić
Product Management Lead
Lemax
Luka Ferlež
CTO
Bozic
Marina Dražić
Panel Talks Moderator
Product & project management Expert
Fran Mikuličić
Conference Moderator
Leadership Mentor
Partners
The full list of Partners and Sponsors will be published prior to the event. This list is being updated.
Media
Supporting Organizations
Sponsors
Conference Schedule
The Ambasador Hotel is the official venue of the conference. All attendees enjoy the special room rate. For details, please contact our Operations dept. at info@productworld.eu to obtain your booking code.
Attending the conference is NOT subject to staying at the venue. You can pick and chose any other accommodation in Opatija or its vicinity.
Our friendly staff will hand you a branded lanyard with your accreditation pass and show you around the conference room. Choice of seating is first-come first-served (except for VIP tables).
Location: In front of the Main Conference Hall
Fran will familiarize the audience with the overall scope of the conference, daily schedule and the flow of the panel-discussions, individual case-study presentations and dynamics of Q&A sessions.
Location: Main Conference Hall
Overview:
From projects to products, monolithic components to emerging architectures, and siloed environments to value streams, delivering slices of business value to your customers faster than ever.
Key take-aways:
1. How to best accomplish your desired business outcome by balancing agility and predictability
2. Wat are your current challenges, and How to solve them
3. Should we use SAFe, go LeSS, copy Spotify, or use other "silver bullets"
4. Should we use domain-driven design and systems thinking, enabled by solid DevSecOps practices to bring business and engineering together?
About the Speaker:
Karl has actively directed 200+ lean-agile initiatives in 18 countries over the past 15 years, having worked with C-level executives and teams as a coach, consultant, trainer and mentor. His assistance was worth millions of dollars in improved processes that increased objective ROI by delivering higher value to customers sooner.
As a pragmatist, Karl does not limit solutions to accommodate favorite agile frameworks or scaling blueprints that often change terminology alone. He’s an industry maverick and trailblazer, proponing the approach that agile methods must fit your domain, needs, expectations and goals.
Location: Main Conference Hall
Location: Main Conference Hall
The coffee-break makes for a great occasion to mingle around with delegates, share instant feedback about presentations you enjoyed the most, engage in casual chat and visit the sponsors exhibition area.
Location: In front of the Main Conference Hall
Overview:
The transformation of a product portfolio into a platform portfolio. How does this impact the planning, roadmap, G2M, organization and collaboration. Challenges and pains and why they are worth it.
Key take-aways:
1. How to update the planning and roadmapping processes
2. Platform G2M specifics
3. How to adapt the organization and collaboration
Location: Main Conference Hall
Overview:
Telco industry is in the midst of epic disruption facing a rather slow return to growth and increasing CAPEX/OPEX all the while network demand is increasing faster than ever and customer experience at the breaking point.
Some of the top challenges that Communications CEOs face today are (1) creating network enabled revenue streams, (2) expanding, transforming, and operating the network to profitably handle explosive usage, (3) cost effectively delighting the customers when they engage with the provider, (4) continuously innovating end-to-end customer centric experience, (5) effectively managing increasingly complex and interconnected systems and business processes, and (6) evolving workforce to thrive in an environment requiring agility, innovation and collaboration.
By partnering with Google, Telcos can harness the power of Google’s leadership in security, networking and infrastructure; commitment to open source; hybrid and multi-cloud solutions; leadership in data, analytics and AI innovation; expansive ecosystem of partners, as well as cross-Google offerings and expertise.
Key take-aways:
1. Telco today is in the midst of epic disruption, facing a number of different challenges ranging from slow return to growth to deteriorated customer experience
2. By partnering with Google, Telco's can harness Google's leading role across a broad range of topics from leadership in security to leadership in data & AI
3. Google can help Telco’s transform through monetizing the Edge; building low touch, high-value digital experiences; modernizing the network; and modernizing core systems and infrastructure
Location: Main Conference Hall
Overview:
You are the voice of the customer, but you are not your customer. Don’t just assume your instinct is correct. Research, refine, research, refine, build, ship. The best features and products take risks and boldness. Be brave and find that delighter...the thing people write about.
Key take-aways:
1. Your gut instinct is wrong. Retrain your gut.
2. Don't build what you want or what anyone on your team wants. Build what they want.
3. Bring delight with something truly unique. Be Brave!
Location: Main Conference Hall
Engage in a casual chat with speakers and your fellow delegates. Enjoy the five-star culinary experience, providing a variety of specialties ranging from traditional Croatian food to best international cuisine; and assortment of vegan & vegetarian dishes.
Location: Main Hotel Restaurant
Overview:
Through the presentation, it will be described how LAQO was created (from idea to implementation), which activities were key in that process, and how LAQO developed from its launch until today.
Key take-aways:
1. A startup in a Corporation can be successful only with e2e responsibility for all key processes
2. Team is the key to success
3. Insurance can be interesting
Location: Main Conference Hall
Overview:
Challenges of scaling the hyper growth company product organization – can product ops solve it? What is the "just enough" amount of processes a product org need to scale discovery and delivery? How to recognize the time has come for Product Ops as a separate function.
Key take-aways:
1. Product Ops as force multiplier model
2. Enablement, not processes
3. When do you need to start thinking about Product Ops
Location: Main Conference Hall
Overview:
Product manager is the most important role in product development. This role connects all the dots both internally and externally, so it is very important to have all the necessary skills to deliver the product from an idea / client pain to the production and maintenance. Maintaining a healthy product lifecycle is crucial to keep dev roles interested and to have a solid revenue situation to keep the management happy and willing to continue to invest into product development. This presentation outlines what makes a good PdM- what skills and know how are needed to make things work.
Key take-aways: :
1. There is no magic wand, each organization has specific requirements for PdM role
2. PdM needs to be highly adaptive and versatile, and not every PdM is a good fit for a specific organization
3. Almost all skills for a good PdM can be learned, but some things still need to come from within
Location: Main Conference Hall
The coffee-break makes for a great occasion to mingle around with delegates, share instant feedback about presentations you enjoyed the most, engage in casual chat and visit the sponsors exhibition area.
Location: In front of the Main Conference Hall
Overview:
Although technology is a key enabler for an organization to improve their efficiency and effectiveness it is not always the sole solution. The process of understanding the problem that a potential client has, certainly comes to a point when you should deep dive into the heart of it. Although there might be a thousand solutions to a problem, our job is to find the most effective one, which in most case includes shape shifting innovative and disruptive technological advancements into practical value propositions. In this presentation I will give a glimpse on how the product management connects stakeholders, both internal and external, processes and corporate value chain in order to deliver the best possible solution for the client’s needs.
Key take-aways: :
1. What is the role of IT solutions in environment monitoring
2. How to build an attractive product working together with R&D
3. How can domain experts contribute in creating a unique value proposition
Location: Main Conference Hall
Location: Main Conference Hall
Our Moderator Fran will reflect on the key messages from the previous day and give you an insight about what's to follow.
Location: Main Conference Hall
Location: Main Conference Hall
TBA
Location: Main Conference Hall
The coffee-break makes for a great occasion to mingle around with delegates, share instant feedback about presentations you enjoyed the most, engage in casual chat and visit the sponsors exhibition area.
Location: In front of the Main Conference Hall
Overview:
Presentation will integrate experience in introducing agile way of working. Examples and possible solutions in managing mental and process/tools barriers.
Key take-aways: :
1. Obstacles in switching from Waterfall PM to Agile Product Development
2. How Jira could harmonize Waterfall and Agile projects
3. Mental barriers that could impede the change
Location: Main Conference Hall
Overview:
Experiences from collaboration in international company where Product management (including Sales, Support and Marketing departments) define product requirements, Architectures define initial technical solutions and Scrum team (Developers, Scrum master and Product owner) finally implements required product features. This process in Scrum framework is an iterative process where Scrum team can have an effect on the overall process.
Key take-aways: :
1. Scrum as iterative process in Product management workflow
2. Scrum team actively works on defining and implementation new features
3. When Scrum framework is an advantage in a Product management process
Location: Main Conference Hall
Overview:
How to transform B2B2C product management organization - why should we do it?
What if it starts from an IT organization - should we try?
What if your organization is 30.000 employees big - how agile can we be?
If those guys in Egypt could build pyramids, we can for sure transform ourselves. One block at the time. Stay focus on the feasibility.
Key take-aways: :
1. Put people in focus
2. Create product communities
3. Will the transformation ever be done? No. But our ability to adapt is fundamental
Location: Main Conference Hall
Engage in a casual chat with speakers and your fellow delegates. Enjoy the five-star culinary experience, providing a variety of specialties ranging from traditional Croatian food to best international cuisine; and assortment of vegan & vegetarian dishes.
Location: Main Hotel Restaurant
Overview:
Experience based observations on inherent conflicts within the software development space and how one developer started to understand product management.
Can we answer the question how can we use decades of joint experience to find a common ground where we can build better interactions and by extension better products?
Key take-aways:
1. Product perspectives in contexts of Agencies, Custom development and Product companies
2. Roles, desires and hopes in product development
3. Common ground to build on
Location: Main Conference Hall
Overview:
What is the actual output of Product Managers in Product teams all around the industry? In my humble opinion, it’s DECISIONS. Product Managers are flexible decision-making machines. Often our decisions are affected by various time and data constraints. Why so? Our work is based not only on numbers but also on intuition, educated guesses, past experiences, and pattern recognition. Since everything apart from numbers is not very exact, we encounter a lot of biases. Let’s explore the ways in which our thought processes and decision-making can be influenced by cognitive biases. By raising awareness of these biases, we can equip product managers with strategies on how to mitigate them in their product development process.
Key take-aways: :
1. Product Managers key output are decisions
2. Biased decisions lead to various outcomes - good and bad
3. Recognize biases and help ourselves
Location: Main Conference Hall
Location: Main Conference Hall
The coffee-break makes for a great occasion to mingle around with delegates, share instant feedback about presentations you enjoyed the most, engage in casual chat and visit the sponsors exhibition area.
Location: In front of the Main Conference Hall
Location: Main Conference Hall
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What people say about our conferences
TICKETS
Tickets are available for individuals, as well as corporate packages with significant discounts based on the number of people attending.
Single
€695
- Fee covers:
- Participation in the conference
- Refreshments and snacks during breaks
- Seated Buffett Lunch
- Copy of all presentations in PDF
- Certificate of Attendance
- Valid for 1-5 people
5+1 Free
€579
- Fee covers:
- Participation in the conference
- Refreshments and snacks during breaks
- Seated Buffett Lunch
- Copy of all presentations in PDF
- Certificate of Attendance
- Valid for 6-9 people
8+2 Free
€556
- Fee covers:
- Participation in the conference
- Refreshments and snacks during breaks
- Seated Buffett Lunch
- Copy of all presentations in PDF
- Certificate of Attendance
- Valid for 10+ people
Event Information
Accommodation at the venue is available to all attendees at discounted rate between 19th and 23rd of April.
Venue
Hotel Ambasador │ Feliksa Peršića 5, 51410, Opatija, Croatia
Accommodation
Rooms available at discounted rate for attendees
Hotel Restaurant
Breakfast & Lunch during event will be served here
Conference Hall
With all-glass walls and stunning views of the sea
Wellness
Either in your room or at Hotels indoor/outdoor swimming pools
Pastime
Relax at the bar over a glass of fine Croatian local wine
