Welcome Back Melb SUG! XM Cloud Content & Adapting Content for AI Search Engines

After a long hiatus, the Melbourne Sitecore User Group is back! We're excited to bring the community together again for our first in-person meetup in quite a long time. Whether you're a seasoned Sitecore developer, digital marketer, architect, or just starting your journey, this is a chance to reconnect, share experiences, and meet others working across the Sitecore ecosystem. Join us for an evening of insightful talks, lively conversation, and an opportunity to network with the community.

Our Sessions:

SUGCON EU Replay: A walk-through of XM Cloud Content by Alistair Deneys, Sitecore

"Sitecore recently unveiled XM Cloud Content at SUGCON EU. XM Cloud Content is the newest headless engine which Sitecore is currently working on. The presentation was given by Alistair Deneys, one of the architects working on this new and exciting product.
In this session, Alistair will give the same presentation which was given to attendees at SUGCON EU. He'll walk-through using XM Cloud Content, from content modeling, to content creation and management, and finally to querying for content from a "head" application. He'll also cover the architecture of XM Cloud Content as well as some of the cool new features."

SEO is Dead. Long Live AEO: Preparing Content for AI-Driven Search by Michal Strzalkowski, Aceik

"As generative AI reshapes how people search, traditional SEO is no longer enough. This introductory session unpacks the rise of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and what it means for marketers, content creators, and developers. I'll speak to how AI-powered tools like Google SGE and Bing Chat have changed the traditional rules of search visibility—rewarding structured, snippet-ready content over keyword-stuffed pages. Attendees will learn the key differences between SEO and AEO, how to structure content for zero-click and voice-based search experiences, and practical tips for implementing schema markup in systems like Sitecore to stay visible in the age of AI."

About our Speakers:
Alistair Deneys:
Alistair is a former Sitecore Technology MVP and the first Australian to be awarded MVP in 2008. He maintained his MVP status working on a variety of projects for local and international Sitecore partners before joining Sitecore in 2013 as a Developer in the product department.
Since joining Sitecore, Alistair has worked as Lead Developer on several projects across Sitecore Experience Management (XM) and Sitecore Experience Platform (XP) before becoming a Software Architect, working with several teams spanning XM, XP and SaaS. He is currently the architect for Experience Edge and one of the architects for XM Cloud Content.
Alistair is passionate about coffee, coding and automated testing. He's spoken at several events, both at home in Australia as well as internationally.

Connect with him on X: (https://x.com/adeneys)

Michal Strzalkowski:
Michal is an Enterprise Architect & CTO at Aceik where he leads a cross-functional engineering team delivering digital transformation projects across education, utilities and finance. With over 15 years of experience in Sitecore, cloud-native architecture and enterprise platforms, Michal has helped organisations like Toyota, UniSuper and Mecca Cosmetics modernise their digital ecosystems. He’s passionate about digital transformation, platform strategy and making composable DXP real for teams on the ground.

Connect with him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michal-strzalkowski-abb24431/)