Purpose of the Course

Objectives

• An introduction to Scrum and its origins
• An in depth view of the various practices
• A Scrum simulation
• In depth discussions of the roles in Scrum
• A look at defining “done” for agile teams and how to help them get there
• An introduction to leading retrospectives and some tools to aid in their delivery
• An overview of Product Backlog creation and User Story development
• Tools and exercises to aid in Estimation and Planning
• A framework to aid in building High Performing Teams
• Change Management as it relates to Scrum
• Tools to aid in dealing with Conflict
• An introduction Agile Management

We've been trying a email based conference retrospective for the
conference just gone by and it hasn't got a lot of traction. So
instead we're trying a radical new approach - retrospective by
telephone call.

Now an online retrospective is an oxymoron (as Diana Larsen has
pointed out), because:

    1. We are not the group organizing the 2008 conference.
    2. It is long past the week of the conference and our memories have faded.
    3. The telephone is less than an ideal tool for conducting retrospectives.

With all that said I think we can still gain some value (which I will
share with the overworked Rachel Davies). So I'm organizing a
conference call (with David Hohn as facilitator) on Friday (Sept 7th)
from 11 - 12 EST to reflect on the conference. If you would like to
join the call either email me (mlevison at gmail) or leave a comment
below and I will contact you with conference call number.

If there is enough demand or other times are required I will schedule
a second event.

Cheers
Mark Levison
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Blog: http://www.notesfromatooluser.com/
Does Scrum Work? Hell Yes!!! Why?
http://www.notesfromatooluser.com/2007/06/does-scrum-work.html
Aperture vs. Lightroom - best comparisons
http://www.notesfromatooluser.com/2007/02/aperture_vs_lig.html
Customer Retention Department - Vonage Customer Service Sucks
http://www.notesfromatooluser.com/2007/06/customer_retent.html

APLN MD Chapter Meeting¡ªSeptember 18th, 2007
The Power of Improvisation on Agile Teams
What:  Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN) MD Chapter September
Meeting

When:  Tuesday September 18th, 2007
¡ñ 6:00 ¨C 6:30 pm Registration & Reception
¡ñ 6:30 ¨C 6:45 pm Introductions
¡ñ 6:45 ¨C 8:15 pm Session Leader ¨C Jim York
¡ñ 8:15 ¨C 8:45 pm Meeting Feedback, general Q&A, announcements

Cost:  $7.50 AT THE DOOR, a lite fare will be served.  Please RSVP.

Where:  PHH Arval, 940 Ridgebrook Rd., Sparks, MD 21152

Topic:  Drawing from the art of improvisation, Agile trainer and
coach, Jim York, leads this fun exploration of dysfunctional
interpersonal communication born of learned "bad" behaviors.  On
Agile teams, these stifling exchanges inhibit forward progress.  In
this 90-minute workshop, Jim shares a different approach based on his
experience teaching Agile teams techniques from improvisation to help
them find creative ways to discover and deliver customer value.
Participants will learn how to avoid responding in a way that
obscures possibilities.  They will also learn how to heighten their
own awareness and understanding during an exchange so that they can
respond with agility and purpose. (Jim conducted this workshop at
Agile 1007.)

Presenter:  Jim York is founder and president of FoxHedge, Ltd, a
process and management consultancy specializing in training and
coaching for individuals and organizations seeking to radically
reduce time to value through the adoption of Lean and Agile
principles and practices. Jim's training focus is on creating,
promoting, and delivering innovative workshops where participants
explore lean and agile thinking and discover how to apply a lean and
agile mindset to the way they and their organizations deliver value
to their customers. He is a Certified Scrum Trainer.

Please RSVP to aplnmd@... if you are interested in
attending.

Directions: From I-695. Proceed to I-83 North (exit 24). Continue
north on I-83 about 10 miles to Belfast Road (exit 24). Turn right
onto Belfast Road. Turn right at the first stop sign onto York Road
(MD45 south). At the first traffic light, turn right from York Road
onto Ridgebrook Road. Proceed to 940 Ridgebrook Road (right side of
road).

View the website for more information:  http://apln.agilemaryland.org

Hosted by: Project Cooks (Linda M Cook)
                 iDIA Computing (George Dinwiddie)
		 CC Pace (Sherri Dotson and Frank Varisco)

Agile Open California 2007: Sustainable Agility - Thriving in the
Mainstream.

If you are:
- experienced in Agile practices in software development, business or
leadership
- challenged or inspired by the emergence of new techniques in
traditional environments
- ready to spend two collaborative days in an Open Space format
exploring the concerns, puzzles, hopes and opportunities for the
future of Agile

Then join us for Agile Open California 2007: Sustainable Agility -
Thriving in the Mainstream.

When: October 22-23
Where: Ft. Mason Conference Center, San Francisco, USA
Cost: Early Bird registration $200.00 until Sept. 21, after that $250

Due to space constraints attendance is limited to 100 – so register
early!

For more details and to register, see
http://www.agileopencalifornia.com/

Hello,

I would like to invite you to the Europe edition of the Continuous
Integration and Testing Conference in Brussels:

---

Jeffrey Fredrick and Paul Julius, on behalf of the Open Information
Foundation, are pleased to announce CITCON Europe 2007 will be held in
Brussels on October 19 & 20. CITCON is free to attend.

CITCON (Continuous Integration and Testing Conference) brings together
people from every corner of the software development industry to
discuss Continuous Integration and the type of Testing that goes along
with it.

CITCON follows an OpenSpace format which means there is no single
speaker, per se. Instead, it's an exchange of ideas based on an
initial topic and agenda. It works amazingly well and you'll learn a
ton, especially with the caliber of people that attend a CITCON.

If you would like to register for CITCON, please visit the website.
http://citconf.com/brussels2007
http://citconf.com/brussels2007/register.php

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. We hope to
see everyone at CITCON Brussels in October!

Attendance is limited to 100 delegates on a first-come, first-served
basis, so register now!

I thought you might be interested to know I will be be co-presenting
a training workshop "Retrospectives for Agile Teams" on Monday 17th
September in Brussels, Belgium in association with PairCoaching.net

We've designed the workshop for people who have some familiarity with
agile development who would like to facilitate retrospectives on agile
teams. This training is suitable for any job role such as Managers,
Technical Leads, Change Agents, etc so please pass this message on to
people who you think might like to attend.

Our workshop covers how to plan a retrospective, how to run a
retrospective and how to integrate retrospectives into agile
development life-cycles. The workshop includes practical exercises so
you get the opportunity to try out facilitation techniques yourself.

I will be co-presenting with  Emmanuel Gaillot from Octo Technology.
We both work as agile coaches and between us have a lot of experience
facilitating retrospectives with agile teams that we can share during
discussions in the workshop.
More information and registration available at
http://www.paircoaching.net/workshop_en.php?cursusID=6&title=Retrospectives+for+\
Agile+Teams

Places are limited and will be allocated on a "first-come,
first-served" basis. Registration is 390 Euros per person and includes
a copy of "Agile Retrospectives" by Esther Derby & Diana Larsen.


Hope to see you there!

Rachel Davies

Hi everyone,

I am the HR manager for Cyrus Innovation, an small Agile shop in NYC.
We are looking for a Senior Agile Developer to join our team. Please
see the details below.

Regards,
Debbie Madden
www.cyrusinnovation.com

-------------------------------------------------

Cyrus Innovation uses the latest Extreme Programming/Agile
methodologies to create highly customized software for our clients. We
are looking for a bright, analytical thinker to join our team.

As a Senior Developer you will
- Create complex software solutions
- Use Object Oriented languages â€" Java/J2EE and Ruby on Rails
(Experience with Rails isn’t required.)
- Work with highly analytical, experienced programmers
- Code in a Test Driven Development, Paired Programming environment
- Constantly learn and implement the latest Agile practices
- Use open source tools including Google Web Toolkit, Apache, Tomcat,
FIT, JUnit, Webwork, PicoContainer, Hibernate, Velocity, Subversion
and more
- Lead/mentor junior developers
- Interact directly with clients to gather and analyze business
requirements
- Be involved in all phases of software development from design to
implementation
- Drive design decisions
- Create quality software that you will be proud of
- Gain experience in finance, education and other industries

As a Cyrus employee, you will enjoy
- A quarterly bonus based on company revenues
- A true 40-hour work week
- An energized yet casual working environment
- A flat organization where your opinion is heard
- An annual personal budget and paid time off for professional
development (conferences, workshops, etc)
- Weekly knowledge-sharing brown bag sessions
- Weekly process improvement sessions

We are looking for you if you have
- A true passion for coding
- The ability to learn new technologies quickly
- The ability to inspire others to create great code
- 5+ years experience with Object Oriented languages (Java/J2EE,
Ruby/Rails, etc.)
- Knowledge of design patterns and refactoring

Other Qualifications include
- Working knowledge of Extreme Programming/Agile is preferred
- Knowledge of Test Driven Development is preferred
- Ability to work in New York City
- Ability to travel 5% of the time
- Ability to interact well with clients
- Strong interpersonal skills


Cyrus Innovation (www.cyrusinnovation.com) is a Software Consulting
and Agile Development company located in New York City. If you are
interested in joining our team, send a cover letter and resume to
Debbie Madden at dmadden@....

Agile Development Practices
December 3-6, 2007 * Orlando, FL
Shingle Creek Resort
http://www.sqe.com/go?adp07ng

Conference Web site
http://www.sqe.com/go?adp07ng
Master Schedule
http://www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices/Schedule
Keynote Sessions
http://www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices/Keynotes
Pre-conference Tutorials
http://www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices/Tutorials
Concurrent Sessions
http://www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices/Concurrent
Register Now
http://www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices/register

****************************************************************
Special Offer!
Save up to an additional $100 off your registration fees when you use promo code NGAE during the registration process. For more information, call 888-268-8770 or 904-278-0524.
****************************************************************
 
Software Quality Engineering is pleased to announce the first Agile Development Practices conference coming to Orlando in December. Whether you're investigating or implementing agile development practices, processes, technologies, or leadership principles, this new conference has solutions for you. Brought to you by the producers of the STAR conference series and the Better Software Conference & EXPO, you have our guarantee that you will experience the first-rate quality and commitment that have defined Software Quality Engineering's conferences for the last 15 years.

Why Attend?
Benefit from the experience of leading industry experts for the latest agile practices used my the most innovative companies today. Get solutions to your real-world challenges and see how others in the industry have conquered those same challenges.

KEYNOTES PRESENTED BY INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS
-------------------------------------------
http://www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices/Keynotes
World-class experts come armed with new ideas, technologies, and techniques in agile development to inspire you with their real-world successes and challenges. Attend these innovative and imaginative presentations and get your wheels turning. 
     Mary Poppendieck  |  Mike Cohn  |  Jutta Eckstein  |  Andrew Hunt

PRE-CONFERENCE TUTORIALS
------------------------
http://www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices/Tutorials
Gain access to leading industry experts delivering the latest technologies, trends, and practices in agile development. Attend these in-depth tutorials structured in both half and full day formats.

CONCURRENT CLASSES
------------------
http://www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices/Concurrent
Attend these hour and a half classes packed with information covering critical agile issues giving new real-world approaches to solving them for the beginner to the seasoned software professional.

THE EXPO
--------
http://www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices/EXPO
Visit top industry providers December 5-6, offering the latest in agile solutions. Meet one-on-one with representatives from some of today's most progressive and innovative organizations.

We look forward to seeing you in Orlando!
 
For registration information, please email sqeinfo@... or call our Client Support Group at 904-278-0524 or 888-268-8770. To register on the Web, visit http://www.sqe.com/agiledevpractices/register

• Practical, project-proven practices
• The essentials of getting a project off on the right foot
• How to write user stories for the product backlog
• Why there's more to leading a self-organizing team than buying pizza and getting out of the way
• How to help both new and experienced teams be more successful
• How to successfully scale Scrum to large, multi-continent projects with team sizes in the hundreds
• Tips and tricks from the instructor's ten-plus years of using Scrum in a wide variety of environments

Everyone,

I'm re-sending a previous post because I'd messed up the title (thanks
Joe for pointing this to me).

With my apologies for the confusion,
-- Emmanuel.

====================================================================

Rachel Davies and I are running a day-long workshop on Monday 9/17 in
Brussels, Belgium, called "Retrospectives for Agile Teams."  This is a
great opportunity to learn from seasoned facilitators about
retrospectives, how to facilitate them, how to fit them in your agile
(or not-so-agile-yet) process.


You may register online on the PairCoaching Network website.
--> http://www.paircoaching.net/register_en.php?cursusdataID=14

The fee is EUR 390 per person and there are several opportunities for
discounts.

For more information about the workshop:
--> http://tinyurl.com/yrfl5h


Feel free to drop me a line if you have any question.
Regards,
-- Emmanuel.

I work for Industrial Logic, a leading agile training and coaching
firm. We need a good communicating C++ expert who is enthusiastic
about and experienced in TDD for an assignment in New York City. If
you know of someone who fills those requirements, pleas contact me at
bruce@.... Thanks.

Believe it or not, this isn't spam.  I'm a developer currently looking
for another agile developer...

*TDD Position Available at Matrix Solutions*

-About the position
My team is currently looking to expand with the addition of one more
developer. This is a mid-level software developer position, ideally
for someone with around 3 years of software development experience.
This is a C#.NET position so C# experience (or even VB for that
matter) is a plus, but is by no means a requirement. Languages change
but fundamentals don't (as quickly :) so anyone with around 3 years of
experience with any object oriented language will be considered.
Since C# is statically typed, experience with a statically typed
language is more relevant but comparable experience with a dynamic
language would also be welcome.

So, why am I so lenient on the language requirement?
Firstly, because I believe that anyone with significant experience in
any OO language can easily pick up another language given the proper
amount of time and guidance. By that same token, I also would much
prefer to have someone with a strong grasp of OO fundamentals and
design patterns rather than someone who has spent their lives
memorizing the finer points of all 17 overloads of the constructor of
some obscure API that we could just have easily retrieved from MSDN in
a few seconds.
Secondly, I'm more concerned with building out a team with developers
willing to pursue TDD than anything else at this moment. We will be
practicing TDD and therefore it is imperative that the successful
candidate either have experience with and a passion for TDD or at
least a burning desire to learn it and embrace it. At this point,
your TDD aptitude is much more important to me than whether or not you
have significant experience with C#.

-About the team
This is currently a small team with two developers (counting myself),
a *very* good pair of QA engineers, and a very talented tech writer.
We are currently in the midst of a "rebuilding season" for the
developers with neither developer having been with the company for
more than 6 months.  This makes us incredibly lucky in the
sense that it gives us an excellent chance to start from the ground up
and build something amazing. The team will grow slightly from here on
out but will likely remain, overall, a small team with no more than 5
developers in total. Finally, you will be managed by a great director
of software development who, aside from being very easy going and very
easy to work with, is incredibly open minded about whatever ideas his
team can bring to the table.

-About the company
The company, Matrix Solutions, is currently the leading CRM solution
in the media sales market. We list a range of customers on our ticket
from your smallest hometown television station all the way to largest
networks. We currently have around 9000 users nationwide and are in
the midst of developing our next generation product which will
revolutionize media sales as it is known in the industry. We are
currently located on the North Side, just below the Mexican War
Streets, in award winning office space. We offer a comprehensive
benefits package, competitive salary as well as a number of unofficial
benefits such as onsite, free massages once a month and "beer o'clock
friday". We are also a forty hour per week team as we firmly believe
that more than eight hours a day invariable leads to more harm than good.
Plus, you get all of the books and training material you can eat, time
off for for local training events such as the upcoming MSDN event and
lunchtime user groups, as well as ReSharper and TestDriven.NET
licenses for all.
We're located in Pittsburgh, PA, which is a beautiful town with a
great tech market and that was recently named "America's Most Livable
City" by the Places Rated Almanac and one of America's Top Ten
Technology Cities by Wired Magazine.

Hopefully, I've piqued your interest. If I have and this sounds like
the type of team that you'd like to be involved with, please forward
me your resume and cover letter (and informal, introductory email will
do) and we can take it from there. Also, if you have any questions
about the position or the company that you would like to clear up
before you apply please don't hesitate to contact me and I would happy
to answer anything that I can. And if I can't, I promise you that I
will find someone who can.

You can always get in touch with through my company email at
jjarrell@...

Thanks for your time,
Jeremy Jarrell
Software Developer
Matrix Solutions

Everyone,

Rachel Davies and I are running a day-long workshop on Monday 9/17 in
Brussels, Belgium, called "Retrospectives for Agile Teams."  This is a
great opportunity to learn from seasoned facilitators about
retrospectives, how to facilitate them, how to fit them in your agile
(or not-so-agile-yet) process.


You may register online on the PairCoaching Network website.
--> http://www.paircoaching.net/register_en.php?cursusdataID=14

The fee is EUR 390 per person and there are several opportunities for
discounts.

For more information about the workshop:
--> http://tinyurl.com/yrfl5h


Feel free to drop me a line if you have any question.
Regards,
-- Emmanuel.

Hi all,

We are meeting on Thursday, Aug 30th with Kert Peterson at 6:30pm.
This will be the first real meeting of the group.  Please come.

Location: Reggiano's Inc.
18740 Stone Oak Pkwy
San Antonio TX 78258-4100
off 1604.

Topic: How would I start if I wanted my firm to be Agile?

See you there!  Invite others.

Please tell me or Stephanie Stone if you are coming.

Regards, Joe



Joseph Little
917-887-1669 (cell)

Hi Avi,

That's just another example of why I love Agile.  Can't beat
incremental improvements with short feedback loops.

And pairing of all sorts is usually improving collaboration as well.

Agile is right in the flow with life and with nature.

With a wink.  And then a nod.

Regards, Joe


--- In Agile-ANN@yahoogroups.com, "Avi Naparstek" <avinap77@...> wrote:
>

> What if it happens in incremental iterations with short feedback loops?
> ;-)
>

Hello, dnobles1956.  On Friday, August 24, 2007, at 2:45:58 PM, you
wrote:

> I've worked an Agile project, a couple of hybrid Agile/Waterfall
> project and been involved with PMOs trying to implement one or the
> other and I haven't run across the slave-driver mentality. I see a lot
> more interaction with Agile than Waterfall and things broken down into
> smaller bites so your readdressing things more often which takes a
> change in perspective but didn't really experience a significant shift
> in work-load. In fact, it was mainly politics going vertical than
> anything else.

> Maybe I should knock on wood and count myself lucky or maybe having
> spent so long in the DC area politics just come natural :-)

Isn't this supposed to be an announcements group?

Ron Jeffries
www.XProgramming.com
Just because XP doesn't talk about how to make fire, should we assume it
requires us to use sticks? -- Richard MacDonald

Come join us for a seminal 2-day event at MIT in Cambridge, MA. with
Mary & Tom Poppendieck, Jeff Sutherland and Nancy Van Schooenderwoert.

This will be a unique opportunity to be in a relatively intimate
conversation with these Lean/Agile/Scrum/XP thought leaders for two
days.  This will be an in-depth discussion of Lean/Agile/Scrum
software development challenges, principles and practices.

The event is all volunteer run and produced by the Agile Bazaar, an
Agile Alliance Affiliate and newly an ACM chapter in the Boston Area.
  For a very competitive price, you will get:
   - 2-day registration,
   - a formal set of lecture notes
   - breakfast, lunch and snacks

You are invited to dine and socialize with the speakers and volunteers
on Saturday night at your expense.

For details on the agenda, pricing discounts and registration, please
see www.AgileBazaar.org.  We expect online registration to open around
Labor Day and possibly earlier.  Note that space is limited and we
expect a lot of interest.

Deep Lean will be targeted to people familiar with Lean, Agile, Scrum
and XP software development.  For those needing more background, we
recommend reading Mary & Tom's 1st book: Lean Software Development -
An Agile Toolkit.

Jay Conne
Deep Lean Event Chair
Agile Alliance / ACM VP
GBC/ACM Volunteer Coordinator

I've worked an Agile project, a couple of hybrid Agile/Waterfall
project and been involved with PMOs trying to implement one or the
other and I haven't run across the slave-driver mentality. I see a lot
more interaction with Agile than Waterfall and things broken down into
smaller bites so your readdressing things more often which takes a
change in perspective but didn't really experience a significant shift
in work-load. In fact, it was mainly politics going vertical than
anything else.

Maybe I should knock on wood and count myself lucky or maybe having
spent so long in the DC area politics just come natural :-)

--- In Agile-ANN@yahoogroups.com, "Rob Evans" <objectiveous@...> wrote:
>
> Not sure if this is the proper list for the topic but...
>
> I've heard similar statements. I had one developer tell me how much
work is
> was to do scrum. I've even experienced this slavishness myself after
weeks
> on end of pair programming 7-8 hours a day.
>
> I think these a newbie sentiments and can be easily resolved during a
> retrospective by having a conversation about sustainable pace. This
isn't
> something agile is telling you to do. Agile doesn't prescribe
practices that
> burn people out or dehumanize them. We humans seem to be able to do that
> without trying. ;-)
>
> I will say, however, that the degree of accountability goes way up when
> employing agile practices and you have to be mindful of evasion.
>
> On 8/24/07, Jain <jain.shleymovich@...> wrote:
> >
> >   I got a question for you. Most developers I see and work with
complain
> > about agile, the usual comment is "I like to check my email at work,
> > from time to time." I read in to it as the developers are terrified of
> > the "slave driver" approach. I have tried to stay away from this
> > during my PM rule in Agile environment, but what do the rest of you
> > feel?
> >
> > Thanks, Jain
> >
> >
> >
>

I got a question for you. Most developers I see and work with complain
about agile, the usual comment is "I like to check my email at work,
from time to time."  I read in to it as the developers are terrified of
the "slave driver" approach.  I have tried to stay away from this
during my PM rule in Agile environment, but what do the rest of you
feel?

Thanks, Jain

--- In Agile-ANN@yahoogroups.com, "Niraj Khanna" <niraj@...> wrote:
>
> Should we be worried about monitoring the list so we don't have to
> read about how you can add 12 inches to your...umm...vertical?
>
What if it happens in incremental iterations with short feedback loops?
;-)

Hi,

I would like to hear comments about how this group helps you or us.

Let me start... with perhaps a bigger one than you might think.

Postings of local agile group meetings...

By Example: Why would an Agile group in San Antonio wish to post here?
  So that people who know people in San Antonio will find out that the
group exists, and refer them to the group.

....and your ideas people...

Thanks, Joe

Should we be worried about monitoring the list so we don't have to
read about how you can add 12 inches to your...umm...vertical?

Thanks,
Niraj.

Pragmatic Agile Adoption & Scaling Workshop.

Sept 5-6, Washington, D.C

Do you want to learn more Agile methods and also how to implement them?  Are you considering adopting Agile methods to reduce time-to-market or to improve team delivery? Have you been tasked with implementing Scrum in your organization?  Are you having difficulties with your Agile adoption – resourcing challenges, cultural resistance, low business customer satisfaction, etc?

LitheSpeed is pleased to announce its upcoming workshop in Washington, DC for those of you involved with Agile adoption in your companies: Pragmatic Agile Adoption & Scaling. This workshop will be delivered by Sanjiv Augustine, leading Agile and Lean trainer, consultant and coach; and Arlen Bankston, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Certified ScrumMaster Trainer.

This two-day course is designed to prepare organizational leaders and change agents for adopting Agile methods including Scrum and eXtreme Programming (XP) in pragmatic fashion.  First, we will spend time on the basics of Agile methods, with a focus on Scrum.  Next, beginning with the premise that each organization is different, we will explore how best to deploy Agile practices like integrated teams, iterative and incremental delivery and close customer collaboration.  We will cover aspects of Agile adoption with real-life references to several organizations large and small. Finally, we will spend time discussing how to scale Agile methods in your organization.

Participants are elibible for 15 PDUs towards PMI CCR.

To register, visit the course page at Agile University: http://www.agileuniversity.org/course_pragmatic.jsp?courseid=phli0827.  Click here to learn more. To see information on our other courses, visit the LitheSpeed training page: http://www.lithespeed.com/training.htm.

Contact us for more information.

Sanjiv Augustine & Arlen Bankston

Should we be worried about monitoring the list so we don't have to
read about how you can add 12 inches to your...umm...vertical?

Thanks,
Niraj.

Diaspar Software is proud to present another installment of the XP Day
North America series: XP Day Manhattan taking place on October 13, 2007.

The focus of XP Day is to bring top extreme programming practitioners
to North American XP communities to share their successes, failures
and perspectives on how to release high-value software sooner.

Our program for Manhattan includes:

1)A keynote address by Steve Freeman. Steve is a fixture in the London
software development community, a regular organizer of the original XP
Day, well known for his contributions to test-driven development
practice and co-recipient of the 2006 Gordon Pask Award.

2)A tutorial by JB Rainsberger, a recipient of the 2005 Gordon Pask
award. JB will talk about why XP works using the Theory of Constraints
model developed by Goldratt.

3)A tutorial by George Dinwiddie, a respected member of the XP
community, and author of an insightful blog about coaching XP teams:
http://blog.gdinwiddie.com. George will talk about sustainability at
multiple levels in XP.

4)Open Space. There’s plenty of room, the space is superbly run and
the conversation is lively.  Collaborate intensively with both local
and invited advanced practitioners on issues that interest you most.

Cost of the conference is $249 USD and includes breakfast and lunch.
Registration is limited to 100 attendees.  To register visit
http://www.xpday.info.  For group rates, contact me at the address
provided in the header of this message.

Check out the following links for pics of our last conference:
http://tinyurl.com/2ysz6v and http://tinyurl.com/23ktwx

Thanks for reading,
Niraj.

I'll start the ball rolling... I'm a Java developer based in Portland,
OR. Is anyone running an Agile shop in the area and looking for one or
two additions?

cheers,
merlyn

Hi,

We have just started a group called Agile-ANN, where we hope to draw
a large crowd interested in Agile Announcements.

Here: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Agile-ANN/

The announcements can be about almost anything:
* courses
* jobs
* new or existing groups
* groups meetings
* services offered
* etc.

And any discussion of such announcements.

These will be announcements for any flavor of agile.  Including Agile
oriented toward software dev and toward more business implementations.

Scope is worldwide.

Hope this helps.  Hope everyone joins...I at least think some of
these announcements are actually quite useful.

We have just started.

Regards, Joe


Joseph Little
917-887-1669 (cell)