LeadDev London Meetup - 9th December 2025

LeadDev London meetup

🎟 Please RSVP BELOW! 🎟
Join us for our next LeadDev meet-up on Dec 9th and enjoy an evening of networking and talks.

Date: Tuesday, 9th December
Time: 6 - 9pm
Location: Softwire, 315, Highgate Studios, 53-79 Highgate Rd, London NW5 1TL

Spaces are limited - you must RSVP to attend. We hope to see you there!

⏰ SCHEDULE ⏰
18:00 - Arrival, networking and refreshments
18:30 - Welcome from our host
18:40 - Disney Driven Development - Melinda Seckington, Leadership Coach & Trainer at Learn Build Share
19:00 - How video games taught me to lead - Aya Stead, Senior Technical Consultant at Softwire
19:15 - Break
19:40 - Levelling up engineers in an AI-driven world - Jonathan Fielding, Principal Engineer at Legend
20.00 - Networking
21.00 - Close

🎤 SPEAKERS 🎤
Jonathan Fielding, Principal Engineer at Legend
Talk: Levelling up engineers in an AI-driven world
Learn how to mentor junior engineers in an AI-driven world by reinforcing core skills and balancing AI-assisted workflows.

Aya Stead, Senior Technical Consultant at Softwire
Talk: How video games taught me to lead
Before I was a technical lead, I learned to lead somewhere less conventional, inside a high-pressure online multiplayer game. Coordinating a team of real people through complex, time-sensitive challenges taught me how to make fast decisions, build trust, and keep morale high when everything started to fall apart. In this talk, I'll explore how those experiences translated directly into technical leadership: managing expectations, guiding teams through incidents, and making the right call when the perfect one doesn't exist. It's a reminder that real leadership doesn't always start in the workplace, and that some of the best lessons come from the most unlikely places. We just need to search ourselves to find them.

Melinda Seckington, Leadership Coach & Trainer at Learn Build Share
Talk: Disney Driven Development
What can tech teams learn from a theme park? Disney is known for crafting magical experiences: not just in its parks but also in its approach to design, storytelling, and creating spaces where people feel valued and inspired. In this talk, I’ll share lessons from Disney that we can apply to creating great team cultures and environments.

🔹 CODE OF CONDUCT 🔹
As with our conferences, LeadDev Meetups are a safe and inclusive event for all. By attending, you agree to our code of conduct.

🔸 SLACK COMMUNITY 🔸
You can also join our Slack workspace to keep up with everything in our London community. Join the channel #leaddev-london or #london.

🙏🏻 THANK YOU 🙏🏻
Thank you to our London meet-up partner Softwire.