On the podcast this week we discuss why diversity is important and what practical things we can do to increase it, specifically at our events. We also dive into our own experiences of being at conferences where diversity has either been very evident or completely absent, and give our reactions to that.

For five years now we've been running a tech conference, born out of the BDD and Cucumber community. We call it CukeUp! and run it annually in London and Sydney. The event attracts a mix of different roles; from developers to business analysts, testers to product owners. And to be quite honest it has evolved so much we consider it more a progressive agile conference than anything else.

In recent years we've made a conscious effort to increase the diversity of our events. Not just in terms of the content, but in our speaker line-up too. As organisers we are certain events which carry diverse views and opinions massively improves quality.

This podcast will explore our own experiences building diverse communities; why it's important and what we can do better.

This isn't just applicable to conference organising. If you are trying to build a community - either within your company or a side project - pick up ideas for making your project more welcoming and fun.

Joining Matt Wynne on the podcast is Elise Aplin and Arti Mathanda, both help us curate our CukeUp! line-ups in Sydney and London respectively.

CukeUp! AU is returning to Sydney this November. Learn more about our conference on our website.

The Call for Papers for CukeUp! AU is now open until August 5th 2016.

You can also listen and download the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.

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