Give Thanks for Scrum 2014: Twenty Years of Scrum!

SCRUM: BORN IN BOSTON!!

And we CELEBRATE that…! ….GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM:

The SIXTH ANNUAL!!

EXAMINE THE EVENT SCHEDULE HERE

GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM 2014 tickets are now available, and are SUPER CHEAP compared to just about any Agile ticket you can buy in Boston! Prices range from $49 to $109. PLEASE NOTE: We have sold over 130 seats already and we only have 155 to sell. In light of the foregoing, if you plan to attend you might want to BUY A TICKET TODAY. Because real soon now, they will all be gone.

 

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PLEASE NOTE: The is the ONE OF A KIND event: GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM. More big announcements for 2014 are coming soon. We’ve already sold over NINETY TICKETS as of 11/14/2014 with absolutely no promotion whatsoever!

This year promises to be the best event yet. The max ticket price is just $109- and were as low as $49- BY FAR THE CHEAPEST AND BEST AGILE TICKET IN BOSTON. Tickets prices rise with each ticket sold, so if you plan to attend, NOW is a good time to get your ticket!

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Some notable aspects of this year’s event:

  • As always, this is the only time and the only place on earth where you can queue up your hardest Scrum questions for Jeff and Ken during an ENTIRE DAY.

 

  • The event is at the amazing MICROSOFT NERD CENTER (same as the CULTUREcon event)

 

  • This is the 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF Scrum. Born in Boston!

 

  • This is the 6th annual GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM event

 

  • We are honored and grateful to have Carol Mc Ewan, Managing Director of the Scrum Alliance giving a plenary session at this years event.

 

  • There might be some major announcements about Scrum at this year’s event!

Soon, the event will be SOLD OUT. Time to scoop your ticket!

 

You know GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM. The Boston event: Jeff. Ken. Scrum. Live music. Games. Socializing. Book signings. Food!

Venue:

MICROSOFT NEW ENGLAND RESEARCH CENTER

ONE MEMORIAL DRIVE

CAMBRIDGE, MA 02142

See the Map here

This event is a BOSTON TRADITION.

Only 155 total seats are available, get them HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/871725

Screen Shot 2013-10-22 at 3.25.18 PM

Jeff and Ken, 1st annual GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM, 2009. That’s Jeff trying to pass a tough Scrum question to Ken there.

It promises to be a great event. Here’s some pictures from prior years:

At GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM, we do A LOT of socializing!

Scrum was BORN IN BOSTON.

Boston has a big story to tell and GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM is big part that story.

Each year at GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM, the questions from the Participants are extremely interesting.

Jeff Sutherland answers your hardest questions at this event.

Sometimes it gets very quiet, after Jeff tells it like it is….

The GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM event is THE place for meeting people in the Boston lean/agile/Scrum community…

 

 

One big reason to attend: There is only ONE Ken Schwaber, and we got him !

Bring your hardest Scrum questions, Ken will answer them for you.

Right from the horses mouth!

 

Have you noticed? Scrum is not exactly simple. At this event you connect with others….and discuss you solutions. This is THE event for connecting with others in the lean/agile/Scrum community in Boston

 

The event has some activities this year…this is a picture of some folks doing an exercise, from the 2011 event

GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM always has a session by Ken, and a session by Jeff.

It also has a moderated panel at the end, when both of them take your hardest questions for a full hour. Anything can and does happen during this part of the event.

Bring your absolutely HARDEST questions.

 

Scrum was BORN IN BOSTON and there is no other place on the planet you can get Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber in the same room for a whole day.

This is it !!

Other cities cannot make this claim. Come and bring your most difficult Scrum questions.

This year we have some surprises for you– and some live music!!

SAVE THE DATE: NOVEMBER 25 2014

TICKETS RANGE FROM $49 to $109!! The tickets at $49, $59, $69, and $79 are ALREADY GONE as of 10/13/2014 so act fast to get in cheap:

There are only 155 seats. Once these tickets are gone, there’s NO MORE.

Bring your hardest Scrum questions, Ken will answer them for you.

Right from the horses mouth!

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

REGISTER FOR GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/871725

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

 

 

 

But Wait: There’s more: Even MORE Cool Stuff Happening at Lunch

Screen Shot 2014-10-12 at 11.38.48 AM

We’ve got a world-renowned and local Improv expert on tap: teacher Christopher Ellinger of TRUE STORY THEATER is with us this year.

He’ll offer some guided activities that will improve your ability to handle ambiguity and develop some Improv skills. He’ll be assisted by Heang Le of TEEN EMPOWERMENT. (You’ll remember Heang from last year’s activities and interactives during lunch.) As always, participation is these lunchtime activities is optional and OPT-IN.

You can expect to have fun, learn something, and meet lots of new people!!

Get the scoop on TRUE STORY THEATER here.

Get the scoop on PLAYBACK THEATER, a  form of Improv, here.

 

HEANG LE will be assisting Christopher in leading us through the activities at lunch. There will also be a table where you can purchase the book MOVING BEYOND ICEBREAKERS throughout the day.

Screen Shot 2014-10-12 at 11.48.59 AM

Get the scoop on the MOVING BEYOND ICEBREAKERS book here.

Learn more about Heang Le here and TEEN EMPOWERMENT here.

 

 

 

THE SCHEDULE:

0930AM Doors Open

0100AM DANIEL MEZICK on: Opening Remarks, and: THE YEAR IN SCRUM (15 mins)

1015AM JEFF SUTHERLAND on: DISRUPTIVE LEADERSHIP (45 mins)

1100AM BREAK (20 minutes)

1120AM DANIEL GULLO on: A PORTRAIT OF THE COACH AS A YOUNG PROJECT MANAGER

1150AM PAT ARCADY on: GIVING THANKS FOR SCRUM (10 minutes)

1202AM WENDY CLOSSON on: GIVING THANKS FOR SCRUM (10 minutes)

1215PM LUNCH BREAK (90 minutes) …lots of stuff to do during lunch! PLAYBACK THEATER with Chris Ellinger & company, and Heang Le…group games…and more!

0145PM DEB PONTES on: GIVING THANKS FOR SCRUM (10 minutes)

0155PM GEORGINA PRAGER on: GIVING THANKS FOR SCRUM (10 minutes)

0205PM KEN SCHWABER on: WHY THOSE FRAMEWORKS FIZZLE OUT (45 minutes)

0245PM BREAK (20 minutes)

0310PM JEFF and KEN on: ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS. We put questions up on the wall, crowd-source the prioritization of them with dots, and then feed them out to Jeff & Ken in a lively 80 minutes of Q&A.

0430PM RAFFLE

0445PM DONE

0500PM DONE DONE

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE PEOPLE:

 

 

 

JEFF SUTHERLAND is one of the inventors of the Scrum software development process. Together with Ken Schwaber, he created Scrum as a formal process at OOPSLA’95. Jeff helped to write the Agile Manifesto in 2001. He is the writer (with Ken Schwaber) of The Scrum Guide.

JEFF’s SESSION: DISRUPTIVE LEADERSHIP

What does Disruptive Leadership look like? Faced with finding faster ways to innovate and create value, today’s business leaders are discovering the competitve secrets behind hyperproductive teams.  Learn how Jeff Sutherland enables companies to use the power of Scrum and leverage disruptive leadership to shift these hyperproductive teams into high gear.

Jeff Sutherland has a new book, SCRUM: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time, which is filled with lessons learned through his years of building high performing teams. This is the first book to reveal how the tech world’s hottest management process can be used as a tool to hyper-accelerate work of all kinds and exposes what is wrong with the way we currently do work, and how productivity and quality can be boosted.

 

 

 Ken Schwaber

KEN SCHWABER (born 1945) is a software developer, product manager and industry consultant. Ken worked with Jeff Sutherland to formulate the initial versions of the Scrum development process and to present Scrum as a formal process at OOPSLA’95.[1] They have extended and enhanced Scrum at many software companies and IT organizations. Schwaber and Sutherland are initial signers of the Agile Manifesto. They are co-authors of the definitive Scrum Guide, which is made available for free by Scrum.org.

KEN’s SESSION: WHY THEY FIZZLE OUT

 

“…Jeff and I have been helping organization use and then scale Scrum for twenty five years. Imagine our interest in the recent announcements about SAFe, LeSS, DAD, and others. Each has merits, but more or less violates the basic Agile value of “Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools”. Which is why they fizzle out after a short time. During this talk I’ll present my thoughts on this matter, as well as some ideas about how organizational individuality and DevOps fit in. See you there.”

 

 

 

 

 

Daniel GulloDANIEL GULLO is a Certified Scrum Trainer and Certified Scrum Coach.  He is the founder of Agile Delaware and frequent reviewer, volunteer, and speaker for the Scrum Alliance, Agile Alliance, and PMI. He is an Agile community keynoter.  Daniel chaired the 2013 Scrum Gathering in Las Vegas, Nevada.  His other roles inside the Scrum Alliance include: Member,  Trainer Acceptance Committee, Member, Scrum Coaching Retreat Planning Committee and Host of Scrum Gathering Coaches Clinic events. He is a facilitator of Open Space Events and a frequent contributor to online forums, blogs, and other social media.  Daniel is currently pursuing a PhD in Organizational Development.  Reach Daniel on the web via www.apple-brook.com and Twitter: @danielgullo

DANIEL’s SESSION:

A Portrait Of The Coach As A Young Project Manager

Have you ever wondered about the journey that experienced members of the Agile community have made to get where they are?  Does it often seem like the “Agile thought leaders” were born Agile, while other REAL human beings have had to struggle through?

In this humorous testimonial, Daniel Gullo shares the story of his journey from “successful”, command and control Information Technology executive to enterprise level Agile Coach and Trainer.  Daniel will include various elements of what inspired him to make the conversion to an Agile mindset, including a quintessential text from one of the founding fathers of Scrum.

After this story is told, a question and answer session will follow.

 

PERSONAL STORIES OF APPRECIATION FOR SCRUM: Giving Thanks for Scrum!!

This year we have 3 short sessions from people from all walks of life, whose lives have been positively impacted…by playing the game we call Scrum. These 3 individuals are described below.

 

Wendy ClossonWENDY CLOSSON is a technology consultant and leadership coach who was introduced to Scrum at Best Practices 2004 in Boston. She took it back to her team, and has been spreading it around ever since. After a run in with cancer, a quest to find health, and co-founding a startup, Wendy combined her unique combination of expertise to create Just Add Wendy. Wendy lives with her family on Long Island, blogs for Attachment Parenting International and is actively seeking an agent to represent her memoir, From Head to Heart. You can hear more about Wendy’s story and business in this radio interview with Women 2 Watch.

WENDY shares her story of appreciation for Scrum during the GIVING THANKS segment of the event  (see schedule  here)

 

PatArcadyPat Arcady is a leadership architect. She coaches leaders and work with teams to increase employee engagement, team alignment, and collaboration.  Her work integrates core principles from three key knowledge areas: conflict resolution and mediation, the agile movement, and the new brain research.  Pat’s mission is to guide teams and leaders in creating dynamic work places where people are engaged, productive, and innovative.

Pat earned a doctorate in Higher Education Administration from the University of Memphis in Tennessee, an MS from Miami of Ohio, and a BA from Marian University in Indianapolis, IN.  She has completed three years of NVC Mediation training, in addition to the 33-hour Dispute Resolution training at the Community Dispute Resolution Center in Cambridge, MA.  Pat is also a licensed consultant for The Paper Room System. She resides in Somerville, MA, which gives her easy access to the city and the beach. You can reach Pat by email at PatA@FreeStandingAgility.com or on LinkedIn at http://LinkedIn.com/in/PatArcady

PAT shares her story of appreciation for Scrum during the GIVING THANKS segment of the event  (see schedule  here)

Daniel MezickDANIEL MEZICK is a management consultant, author and keynote speaker. He is the formulator of Open Agile Adoption, a technique for creating rapid and lasting enterprise agility. He is the author of THE CULTURE GAME, a book describing sixteen patterns of group behavior that help make any team smarter. The book is based on five years of experience coaching 119 Agile teams across 25 different organizations. Daniel’s client list includes INTUIT, Zappos Insights, CIGNA Insurance,  SEIMENS Healthcare, TheHartford Insurance Company, and dozens of  smaller enterprises. Learn more and contact Daniel at www.DanielMezick.com.

DANIEL opens the event, and shares his story of appreciation for Scrum during the GIVING THANKS segment of the event  (see schedule  here)


deb pontesDEB PONTES is the agile transformation leader at the QuickBase division of INTUIT. Her passion is to “hack” the organizational culture to provide the optimal environment for hyper performing teams to emerge.

Deb spent over 20 years across all phases of the software delivery lifecycle. She has repeated success in implementing small and large process improvements at Fidelity Investments, PerkinElmer, and INTUIT.

DEB shares her story of appreciation for Scrum during the GIVING THANKS segment of the event  (see schedule  here)

 

 

GeorginaGEORGINA PRAGER is a Senior Project Manager at Harvard University where she serves as a Scrum Master and a member of AgileBoston’s leadership Circle. She has been working on software development teams for 14 years and began her Scrum journey 6 years ago at Fidelity Investments. Georgina lives in Arlington with her husband and son.

 

 

 

But Wait: There’s more: Even MORE Cool Stuff Happening at Lunch

We also have some structured group games and interactives that focus on gaining direct experience with improv, self-organizing team concepts, team dynamics, and more. These folks will guide us:

 

Chris-Anne-EllingerANNE & CHRISTOPHER ELLINGER founded True Story Theater in 2001 to create more dynamic ways of creating dialogue in organizations and among leaders. They also  founded Bolder Giving, a national initiative that promotes stories of ordinary and extraordinary people giving with outrageous generosity. They are national presenters and award-winning authors.   They wrote the book Getting Along: skills for life-long love.

 

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Scrum: BORN IN BOSTON

There is only one event like it in the world. And it is in Boston.

Save The Date: TUESDAY November 25 2014

That’s the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

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

REGISTER FOR GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/871725

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

In years past, attendance has ranged from 102 to 209 attending. Seating is limited to 155 this year (2014) so if you want a ticket you need to act fact. As of 10/13/2014 over 80 tickets have already came and went. REGISTER for the 2014 Event

 

This is the event where you connect with your peers the Scrum community across all of New England. We get people from up to 1000 miles away attending this event! IN previous years we have had folks from ad far away as Canada, France, California and Seattle)

 

Compare the GIVE THANKS TO SCRUM event to any other kind of Scrum event,

like a Scrum Gathering, or a CSM or CSPO class, or some other big Agile event.

Kind of hard to do, isn’t it? Here’s why:

0/ AUTHORITY IS IN THE ROOM. This event is the only place in the world where you can get the co-formulators of Scrum in ONE SPOT and PIN THEM DOWN and ask them any kind of hard question you want. With your friends.Across an entire day with food, live music and lots of socializing!

1/ GET YOUR HARD QUESTIONS ANSWERED. If you are practicing Scrum in any manner whatsoever, THIS is the spot to bring your most difficult questions. And your boss! There is nothing else like it.

2/ THE TICKET IS PRICED LOW, ON PURPOSE. Most events with notable authorities keynoting do charge QUITE a lot. Normally, you’d expect to pay up to $300 a day for an event like this, right? However, that is not the case here. Here you are getting the most authoritative voices in the entire world of Scrum, WITH LUNCH, for less than $110. Some quick people paid just $49 or $59 bucks !! Community is the name of the game with GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM. We designed it so EVERYONE can afford a ticket to this event!!

3/ MAKE LOCAL CONNECTIONS. Come connect with your friends, and make lots of new ones in the Greater Boston Scrum Community.

The 6th ANNUAL GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM EVENT is almost here! And planned for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Jeff Sutherland. Ken Schwaber. The Managing Director of the SCRUM ALLIANCE. Improv experts, Scrum trainers and the the entire Scrum community of Boston. A good lunch. LIVE music!

There is only one event like it in the world. And it is in Boston.

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

REGISTER FOR GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/871725

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

 

It promises to be a great event. Here’s some pictures from prior years:

Jeff Sutherland answering questions during a break.

One of the coolest things about the event is the fact you can ask direct questions to the actual formulators of the Scrum framework.

Some of the questions are super-direct, and about hard Scrum problems. When these kinds of questions get asked, it gets real quiet.

Fortunately, Jeff Sutherland is also very direct. The answers are usually very detailed.

Independent thinkers often disagree. That might be what’s going on here.

There is only one Ken Schwaber, and he is from Lexington. We like that.

Not all the questions are big and heavy…there’s lots of funny question and answers too…

Some of the stuff that happens in Scrum you just can’t make up.

 

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

REGISTER FOR GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/871725

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

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Give Thanks For Scrum !! The FIFTH annual on Tuesday, 11/26/2013

GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM tickets are now available, and are SUPER CHEAP compared to just about any Agile ticket you can buy in Boston! Prices ranged from $49 to $109.  As of 11/3/2013, the last 20 seats available are $109.

Soon, the event will be SOLD OUT. Time to scoop your ticket!

You know GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM. The Boston event: Jeff. Ken. Scrum. Live music. Games. Socializing. Book signings. Food!

Venue:

BURLINGTON MARRIOT
ONE BURLINGTON MALL ROAD
BURLINGTON, MA 01803

See the Map here

This event is a BOSTON TRADITION.

Only 155 total seats are available, get them HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/500813

Screen Shot 2013-10-22 at 3.25.18 PM

Jeff and Ken, 1st annual GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM, 2009. That’s Jeff trying to pass a tough Scrum question to Ken there.

It promises to be a great event. Here’s some pictures from prior years:

At GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM, we do A LOT of socializing!

Scrum was BORN IN BOSTON.

Boston has a big story to tell and GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM is big part that story.

Each year at GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM, the questions from the Participants are extremely interesting.

Jeff Sutherland answers your hardest questions at this event.

Sometimes it gets very quiet, after Jeff tells it like it is….

The GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM event is THE place for meeting people in the Boston lean/agile/Scrum community…

 

JG w Guit at Harringtons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

….this year, we have music from Jamie Gaull at lunchtime!

 

One big reason to attend: There is only ONE Ken Schwaber, and we got him !

Bring your hardest Scrum questions, Ken will answer them for you.

Right from the horses mouth!

Have you noticed? Scrum is not exactly simple. At this event you connect with others….and discuss you solutions. This is THE event for connecting with others in the lean/agile/Scrum community in Boston

 

That’s Daniel Mezick in the middle there. It’s safe to say you already know the other two gentlemen in black.

The event has some activities this year…this is a picture of some folks doing an exercise, from the 2011 event

GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM always has a session by Ken, and a session by Jeff.

It also has a moderated panel at the end, when both of them take your hardest questions for a full hour. Anything can and does happen during this part of the event.

Bring your absolutely HARDEST questions.

Scrum was BORN IN BOSTON and there is no other place on the planet you can get Jeff Sutherland and Ken Schwaber in the same room for a whole day.

This is it !!

Other cities cannot make this claim. Come and bring your most difficult Scrum questions.

This year we have some surprises for you– and some live music!!

SAVE THE DATE: NOVEMBER 26 2013

TICKETS RANGE FROM $49 to $109!! The tickets at $49, $59, and $69 are ALREADY GONE, so act fast to get in cheap:

There are only 120 seats. Once these tickets are gone, there’s NO MORE.

You can REGISTER here and get in for $69 if you act FAST

Bring your hardest Scrum questions, Ken will answer them for you.

Right from the horses mouth!

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

REGISTER FOR GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/500813

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

 

JG Small at HarringtonsAgile Boston is pleased to announce that Jamie Gaull of LeapFrog Systems will perform acoustic classic rock tunes during lunch. He’s an Agile guy by day that plays in bars and clubs by night with his band “Plan B”. Visit the Plan B web site and check out some sample tunes .

Welcome back Jamie!

 

 

But Wait: There’s more: Even MORE Cool Stuff Happening at Lunch

At lunchHeang Ly on Beyond Icebreakers, we have some LIVE MUSIC from local Jamie Gaull, and we also have some structured group games and interactives that focus on gaining deeper insight and mastery of self-organizing team concepts, team dynamics, social complexity science and more. We have structured interactions expert Heang Ly of TeenEmpowerment of Boston as our Facilitator. Heang will open and hold space for these activities and interactives during some of the 90 minutes we have set aside for the lunch break. We’ll be using experience designs from the MOVING BEYOND ICEBREAKERS book to cook up some group fun via group play. No worries: All lunchtime group activities are optional and opt-in!! Learn more about MOVING BEYOND ICEBREAKERS here.

 

 

 

 

Ken Schwaber’s 2013 Keynote: JOYOUS VALUE

Scrum has restored the passion and joy of software development for many, while providing our customers with the software they need when they need it. For some, however, this link between our joy and their needs has remained elusive. The first step in restoration is the redefinition of project success. We are going to throw out the outmoded measures of scope, date and cost fulfillment. We are going to replace them with value. Let’s look at how to do so.

 

JEFF SUTHERLAND’s 2013 Keynote: THE FUTURE OF SCRUM

Scrum has been around for almost two decades, and has evolved, changed, and grown in those years, but its core insights and ideas have remained the same. We will take a look back at the origins of Scrum, explore how those early ideas continue to drive Scrum, expand on the current game changing moment, and look at future promise

  • Scrum jobs have increased in the U.S. by 3000% in the last year. What is driving this increase?
  • Over half of agile teams cannot deliver a successful project. What should we do about this?
  • What are proven practices that differentiate successful agile teams from those that cannot deliver?
  • How are large organizations transforming their structure to become Agile?

 

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

GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM: 9:30AM to 5:00PM on Tuesday, 11/26/2013 in Woburn, MA

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

Agenda:

09:30 Arrive, relax. Get some coffee. Announcements.

10:00 Opening Remarks

10:30 Jeff Sutherland’s keynote session; THE FUTURE OF SCRUM

11:30 BREAK

11:45 10-minute experience reports and testimonials from THREE Boston Scrum community members

12:15 LUNCH. Live music from Jamie Gaull. Socializing. Some structured fun and games facilitated by Heang Ly. Opt-in participation…socialize, cheer Jamie’s guitar tunes, get some food…play some games…have some fun!

01:45 10-minute experience reports and testimonials from THREE Boston Scrum community members

02:15 Ken Schwaber’s keynote session: JOYOUS VALUE

03:15 BREAK

03:30 Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland Authority Panel: Anything-goes Q&A on your hardest Scrum questions

04:30 RAFFLE & DONE

04:45 AFTER-EVENT social in the hotel restaurant & bar

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

Scrum: BORN IN BOSTON

There is only one event like it in the world. And it is in Boston.

Save The Date: TUESDAY November 26 2013

That’s the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

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

REGISTER FOR GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/500813

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

In years past, attendance has ranged from 102 to 209 attending.

 

This is the event where you connect with your peers the Scrum community across all of New England. We get people from up to 1000 miles away attending this event!

 

Compare the GIVE THANKS TO SCRUM event to any other kind of Scrum event,

like a Scrum Gathering, or a CSM or CSPO class, or some other big Agile event.

Kind of hard to do, isn’t it? Here’s why:

0/ AUTHORITY IS IN THE ROOM. This event is the only place in the world where you can get the co-formulators of Scrum in ONE SPOT and PIN THEM DOWN and ask them any kind of hard question you want. With your friends.Across an entire day with food, live music and lots of socializing!

1/ GET YOUR HARD QUESTIONS ANSWERED. If you are practicing Scrum in any manner whatsoever, THIS is the spot to bring your most difficult questions. And your boss! There is nothing else like it.

2/ THE TICKET IS PRICED LOW, ON PURPOSE. Most events with notable authorities keynoting do charge QUITE a lot. Normally, you’d expect to pay up to $300 a day for an event like this, right? However, that is not the case here. Here you are getting the most authoritative voices in the entire world of Scrum, WITH LUNCH, for less than $110. Some quick people paid just $49 or $59 bucks !! Community is the name of the game with GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM. We designed it so EVERYONE can afford a ticket to this event!!

3/ MAKE LOCAL CONNECTIONS. Come connect with your friends, and make lots of new ones in the Greater Boston Scrum Community.

The 5th ANNUAL GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM EVENT is almost here! And planned for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

Jeff Sutherland. Ken Schwaber. The entire Scrum community of Boston. A good lunch. LIVE music!

There is only one event like it in the world. And it is in Boston.

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

REGISTER FOR GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/500813

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

 

It promises to be a great event. Here’s some pictures from prior years:


Jeff Sutherland answering questions during a break.

One of the coolest things about the event is the fact you can ask direct questions to the actual formulators of the Scrum framework.


Some of the questions are super-direct, and about hard Scrum problems. When these kinds of questions get asked, it gets real quiet.


Fortunately, Jeff Sutherland is also very direct. The answers are usually very detailed.


Independent thinkers often disagree. That might be what’s going on here.

There is only one Ken Schwaber, and he is from Lexington. We like that.

Not all the questions are big and heavy…there’s lots of funny question and answers too…

Some of the stuff that happens in Scrum you just can’t make up.

 

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

REGISTER FOR GIVE THANKS FOR SCRUM HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/500813

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

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Innovation Games Course Coming to Waltham Jan 21 & 22

Certified Innovation Game® for Customer Understanding: 2-Day Course

Innovation-Games-MindMap-630x486

When:   January 21 & 22, 2014 from 9 to 5PM

Where: Hilton Garden Inn, Waltham, MA. (Directions)

Registration: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/510087

Join us on January 21 & 22 for our Innovation Games® Certification Course, “Innovation Games® for Customer Understanding,” in Waltham MA Completion of the course designates you as a Innovation Games Certified Collaboration Architect (CCA), Orange Belt Level.

AM coffee and your lunch is included.

image2

Course Description

Long before gamificationgamestorming and serious games became the latest buzz words, Luke Hohmann and his team were using a variety of serious games, Innovation Games®, to help companies like SAP, Qualcomm, Cisco, Reed Elsevier and Yahoo! build breakthrough products & services. These games (originally outlined in Luke’s groundbreaking book, Innovation Games: Creating Breakthrough Products through Collaborative Play) enable you to work directly with your customers, eliciting unique insight into what they truly want from your product or service.

 Dia25-650x400

This two-day certification course will teach you how to use a variety of games with your customers to:

  • Uncover unspoken needs & breakthrough opportunities
  • Understand where your offerings fit into your customers’ operations
  • Clarify exactly how & when customers will use your product or service
  • Deliver the right new features & make better strategy decisions
  • Increase empathy for the customers’ experience within your organization
  • Improve the effectiveness of the sales & service organizations
  • Identify your most effective marketing messages and sellable features
  • Discover what customers don’t like about your offerings

The course covers both in-person and online games, including our online sales enablement game Knowsy, and includes sections on facilitation and presentation skills.

image1

Content Outline

  • Discussion of Innovation Games® and market research
  • High-level planning, playing and post-processing of Innovation Games
  • Detailed planning, playing and post-processing the results of several case studies that enable participants to experience all phases of Innovation Games
  • Review and shared discussion; helping participants plan their adoption of these techniques
  • Facilitation and presentation skills

 

Who should attend?

  • Product Managers/Directors
  • Portfolio/Product Management Professionals
  • Marketing Professionals
  • Market Research Professionals
  • Software Engineers/Developers/Architects
  • Executive Management
  • Agile Coaches/Team Leads

 

boites

Theory of Instruction

The course is guided by a “learning by doing” model of education:

  • What participants will know after taking the class.
  • What participants will do during the seminar to reinforce key concepts.
  • What participants will have after the seminar to promote further practice and study.
Course Benefits

Our unique “learn-by-doing” model of instruction, along withInnovation Games Qualified Instructors’ wealth of practical, hands-on experience across multiple industries and domains, ensures that you will be able to put what you learn to work as soon as you return to the office.

All of our courses offer these benefits:

  • Small class sizes = personalized attention
  • Qualified instructors who are industry-leading experts, with real-world experience
  • Hands-on, on-your-feet interactive learning
  • LOTS of stickers. (We mean it)
  • Open, active discussion and feedback to help spark your creative spirit
  • Networking lunches with tasty grub
  • Training credits to equivalent to Yellow or Orange Belt Certification 

 

Prerequisites

Although not strictly required, it is helpful if participants read the book Innovation Games®: Creating Breakthrough Products Through Collaborative Play before the course.

 

Materials

  • Course Presentation
  • A variety of handouts used to stimulate thinking and apply the materials
  • Case studies

Innovation Games 002The results from the Prune the Product Tree exercise

 

Pricing & Payment

Course pricing for the two-day course is as follows:

$895 until January 3

$1195 after January 3

Registration: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/510087

 

Cancellation Policy

For information on our cancellation policy please visit the registration link.

 

Instructor Bio

 

JasonTannerJason Tanner is the president of Enthiosys, an agile product management consulting firm, and an Innovation Games Qualified Instructor. He joined Enthiosys in 2008 and has 18+ years of professional experience with software companies, a telecommunications company and the Marine Corps. His expertise spans agile software product management, product marketing, business planning, partner management, project management and leadership. Jason is an active member of the Agile User Group in Research Triangle Park, the Triangle Product Management Association in Raleigh, NC, and the North Carolina Council for Entrepreneurial Development. He holds a BS degree in mechanical and aeronautical engineering from Cornell University and a MBA with a concentration in entrepreneurship from Duke University.

 

COURSE SUMMARY:

What:  2-day Innovation Games Course

When:   January 21 & 22, 2014 from 9 to 5PM

Where: Hilton Garden Inn, Waltham, MA. (Directions)

Registration: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/510087

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2013-10-23 Meeting: PAT ARCADY on USING NVC FOR MANAGING CONFLICT

USING NVC FOR MANAGING CONFLICT

If you work with people, conflict is inevitable. Even the most dynamic, productive teams experience conflict; disagreements arise, ideas collide, and passions about principles can be tested. This could possibly describe your relationship with a customer or two. A key question is: does conflict on your team or with a customer lead to resentment, rivalry or hostility? Whether you answer yes or no, what is the outcome you want and how can you achieve that?

Agile teams value responding to change over following a plan; collaborating with customers to meet their needs; and prioritizing individuals and interactions over processes and tools. A core component for being in alignment with these values is developing individual and team skills for handling conflict so it serves the desired outcome.

In this interactive program, participants will explore key skills for navigating differences and conflicts at work. You will learn a simple four-step protocol to follow for achieving outcomes that work for all parties involved.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Pat is an Agile and Executive Coach with FreeStanding Agility. She coaches leaders and teams in strategies to increase employee engagement, team alignment, and collaboration.  Her work integrates core principles from three key knowledge areas: the agile movement, conflict resolution and mediation, and the new brain research.  Pat’s professional mission is to guide teams and leaders in creating dynamic work places where people are engaged, productive, and innovative.

Pat earned a doctorate in Higher Education Administration from the University of Memphis in Tennessee, an MS from Miami of Ohio, and a BA from Marian University in Indianapolis, IN.  She has completed three years of NVC Mediation training, in addition to the 33-hour Dispute Resolution training at the Community Dispute Resolution Center in Cambridge, MA.  Pat is also a licensed consultant for The Paper Room System. She resides in Somerville, MA, which gives her easy access to the city and the beach.

REGISTER HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/488767

 

Meeting Agenda:

6:30 pm Introduction

7:00 pm Food, beverages, and socializing

7:20 pm Main event

8:20 pm Done

8:45 pm Done Done

Meeting Location:

STAPLES
500 Staples Drive
Framingham, MA

Click here for DIRECTIONS

NOTE: This is a change in venue for September. We are in Framingham this month, not Waltham!

When you get there: The event room is located on the 1st floor. Enter the building through the main entrance after parking. Follow the AGILE BOSTON signs to the the meeting room

REGISTER HERE:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/488767

 

 

2013-10-24 Meeting: DANIEL MEZICK on OPEN AGILE ADOPTION

OPEN AGILE ADOPTION

Note: This was the KEYNOTE session of the Global Scrum Gathering in Paris, France on 9/24/2013.

Most Agile adoptions are struggles, and often miss the opportunity to really make a big cultural change. The fact that typical Agile adoptions are mandated in the command-control style might be a factor. Another factor correlated with difficult adoptions might be the fact that the people who do the work have no say at all the selection of Agile practices. Another factor might be the fact that imposing Agile practices on a team is contrary to Agile principles and has been from the very beginning, according to Martin Fowler. We can do better.

Open Agile Adoption (OAA) is a repeatable technique for getting a rapid and lasting Agile adoption. It works with what you are currently doing, and can be added at any time. It incorporates the power of invitation, Open Space, passage rites, game mechanics, storytelling and more, so your Agile adoption can take root. A hypothesis of Open Agile Adoption is that increases in engagement drives increases in productivity, after a brief delay. The purpose of Open Agile Adoption is to increase levels of engagement on the part of everyone involved.

The core concept of OAA is the rite of passage, or “passage rite”. A passage rite is a cultural event (and a kind of social game) that helps people who have membership make sense of complex social transitions. Agile adoptions are complex social transitions.

We’ll cover the origin story of Open Agile Adoption (it begins in Boston), cover the concepts and facilities of the method, and take your questions. This presentation is the same one delivered to the 400 people attending the Global Scrum Gathering keynote by Daniel Mezick on 9/24 in Paris France.

 

About the Speaker:

DANIEL MEZICK is a management consultant, author and keynote speaker. He is the formulator of Open Agile Adoption, a technique for creating rapid and lasting enterprise agility. He is the author of THE CULTURE GAME, a book describing sixteen patterns of group behavior that help make any team smarter. The book is based on five years of experience coaching 119 Agile teams across 25 different organizations. Daniel’s client list includes Zappos Insights, CIGNA, SEIMENS Healthcare, Harvard University and many smaller enterprises. Learn more and contact Daniel at www.DanielMezick.com.

 

REGISTER:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/488781

IMPORTANT: REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE 48 HOURS BEFORE THE EVENT at 6PM on 10/21/2013. If you plan to attend, make sure you register BEFORE THAT.

 

Meeting Agenda:

6:00 pm Introduction

6:30 pm Food, beverages, and socializing

6:50 pm Announcements

7:10 pm Main Event

8:10 pm Done (raffle)

8:20 pm Done Done

 

Meeting Location:

PAYPAL
1 International Place (6th floor)
Boston, MA 02110

 

REGISTER:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/488781

IMPORTANT: REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE 48 HOURS BEFORE THE EVENT at 6PM on 10/21/2013. If you plan to attend, make sure you register BEFORE THAT.

09-26-2013 Meeting: Jeremy Kreigel

SKETCH YOU CAN: DEMYSTIFYING A GREAT COLLABORATION TECHNIQUE

Note: This was a session accepted and delivered at the Agile2013 conference and got great reviews!

“This meeting is a waste of my time.” When was the last time you had that thought? Was it because the conversation wasn’t focused, or people couldn’t agree, or maybe they were in violent agreement, but couldn’t see it? How easily do you think you can get this meeting back on track? In this session, you will learn a skill that you can apply on the spot that will help you focus the conversation and drive to consensus. Everything you need is probably already in the room.

This technique is specifically for conversations around the features, functions, and behaviors of your product. Most people are visual thinkers, so give them something visual to focus on. You can do that by walking up to the whiteboard and drawing out what people are talking about. By visually capturing the conversation in a public way, you will help all participants understand each other and come to consensus faster. “But I can’t draw,” you say. Neither can I, and I’ve been successfully using this technique for over 15 years. If you can draw a straight-ish line and a box, you have all the drawing skills necessary.

In this engaging workshop, you will learn how to create a basic sketch of an interface using some simple sketching techniques and UX principles as well as practice thinking-on-your-feet that will help you comfortably do this with a group.

I have used this technique to help teams focus the conversation, visualize the requirements they were requesting, quickly experiment with new ideas, and provide detailed input that I can use to design the outcome. Often, the sketch (or a photo of it) acts as the deliverable for simple problems, eliminating the need for more formal wireframes. This technique is accessible to everyone. You don’t need any special software and anyone on the team can use it. Pick up the pen and get on track again.

 

About the Speaker:

JEREMY KRIEGEL

Jeremy Kriegel has been designing great user experiences (UX) for 15 years. Just as we need to understand the needs and context of users to craft a design solution, Jeremy believes that success also requires us to look at the business context to craft an appropriate design process. From start-ups to Fortune 100 companies, as a consultant or on an internal team, he has seen a lot of different scenarios that each required their own approach. He brings this diversity of experience to bear in adapting UX to agile methodologies, finding the balance appropriate for each business. Currently, Jeremy leads is the UX Director for Gemvara, a custom jewelry startup.

REGISTER:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/469465 

 

Meeting Agenda:

6:00 pm Introduction

6:30 pm Food, beverages, and socializing

6:50 pm Main event

7:50 pm Done

8:15 pm Done Done

 

Meeting Location:

PAYPAL
1 International Place (6th floor)
Boston, MA 02110

 

REGISTER:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/469465 

9/25/2013 Meeting: The MASTERCAM Agile Adoption

JOE TINDAL and BRIAN SUMMERS on: IMPLEMENTING AGILE COMPANY-WIDE AT MASTERCAM

MASTERCAM is the leading provider of software and tools to the toolmaking industry. Customers include HARLEY DAVIDSON, UNITED TECHNOLOGIES and thousands of smaller shops. The software MASTERCAM makes is used to control lathes and ‘CNC’ machines. These machines are capable of turning a block of metal into any arbitrary object, for example a tire rim, a gear, or any other object that can be sculpted from a piece of metal.

In late 2010, MASTERCAM leadership under Brian Summers decided to implement Agile throughout the company. They started with some experiments and a pilot team or two. Led by Joe Tindal as the change agent inside the company, MASTERCAM experimented with various forms of training and coaching. In 2011 New Technology Solutions provided training for over 90 employees. Shortly after that, all teams began working in an Agile way. Scrum was rolled out to all software teams.

Joe and Brian learned a lot an many many mistakes.  They also did many things right, and had a strong company culture to begin with. Attend this session to learn about the game, the players and the situation at MASTERCAM before, during and after the Agile implementation.

You exit this session with the real story from a real company, doing real Agile in the region. This is a very interesting story.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

  • The trials and tribulations of adopting an Agile mindset
  • The role of existing culture in the success of your adoption
  • How Agile adoption is a ‘culture hack’ from the start
  • What pitfalls to avoid as you embark on the Agile journey in your company
  • What practices for adoption actually WORK

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Screen Shot 2013-09-16 at 4.55.29 AM Joe Tindal is Senior Project Manager at MASTERCAM in Tolland CT . He spearheaded the study and adoption of Agile inside the organization. Joe attended numerous Agile-CT user group meetings, did web research and examined books in preparation for adopting Agile inside MASTERCAM.

 

Screen Shot 2013-09-16 at 4.54.08 AMBrian Summers is a founder and currently the Vice President of MASTERCAM, the leading CNC software company in the USA. MASTERCAM technology is used by thousands of manufacturing organizations, including some truly awesome companies such as Harley Davidson.

 

Register:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/469437

 

 

Meeting Agenda:

6:30 pm Introduction

7:00 pm Food, beverages, and socializing

7:20 pm Main event

8:20 pm Done

8:45 pm Done Done

Meeting Location:

STAPLES
500 Staples Drive
Framingham, MA

Click here for DIRECTIONS

NOTE: This is a change in venue for September. We are in Framingham thsi month, not Waltham!

When you get there: The event room is located on the 1st floor. Enter the building through the main entrance after parking. Follow the AGILE BOSTON signs to the the meeting room

Register:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/469437

Aug 29 DOWNTOWN Meeting: Jean Tabaka on DESIGNING EMPATHY IN

About the Speaker:

JEAN TABAKA

I’m an Agile Fellow with Rally Software in Boulder, CO. I love coaching others about Agile software development. My passion in this realm has led me to concentrate on practices in collaboration and leadership. I’m also now reaching into systems thinking, Lean, and Kanban (you can read blog posts I’ve written about these topics). I see a strong interdependency among these various processes and practices. This has led me to also look outside of software and IT to our larger community about sustainable and restorative practices within our physical world. I graduated Magna Cum Laude and as a University Scholar from the University of Missouri. I hold a Masters in French Literature from Michigan State University and a Masters in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University.  I’m a a Certified ScrumMaster and Practitioner, a Certified Scrum Trainer, and a Certified Professional Facilitator.

Session Description:

DESIGNING EMPATHY: A DISCIPLINE FOR GREAT BUSINESSES

You are a Product Owner working hard to maintain a value-driven product backlog. That means you continually check in with what you mean by value. For me, that means checking with what your customers in new heartfelt ways. What adds value to them? What provides them function, commodity and delight? How can you act in love and service to them? Designing empathy into your product feature sets brings you into a deep relationship with your customers. Design from your head and heart to your customers’ head and heart. Fortunately for all of us as product owners, George Kembel and his team at the d.School at Stanford University have been working for a number of years on approaches to help us develop customer empathy and to act on it. Having had the good fortune of working with George and his brother John, I have worked with my colleagues at Rally Software to create a design empathy approach that draws from the d.School work while adding in some of our own brainstorming divergence and convergence approaches for data collection and knowledge massaging. This session affords you the opportunity to learn the full spectrum of empathy activities: from empathy interviews all the way through to possible points of view for designing subsequent experiments. Interactively in a workshop setting, we’ll first complete an overview of the overall design thinking approach within which empathy practices fit. We then move to interactive work in small teams. Each team will create one component of the set of items that design the full empathy experience.

REGISTER:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/445699

Meeting Agenda:

6:00 pm Introduction

6:30 pm Food, beverages, and socializing

6:50 pm Main event

7:50 pm Done

8:00 pm Done Done

 

Meeting Location:

PAYPAL
1 International Place (6th floor)
Boston, MA 02110

 

REGISTER:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/445699

Aug 28 WALTHAM Meeting: Jean Tabaka on THE AGILE ART GALLERY

About the Speaker:

I’m an Agile Fellow with Rally Software in Boulder, CO. I love coaching others about Agile software development. My passion in this realm has led me to concentrate on practices in collaboration and leadership. I’m also now reaching into systems thinking, Lean, and Kanban (you can read blog posts I’ve written about these topics). I see a strong interdependency among these various processes and practices. This has led me to also look outside of software and IT to our larger community about sustainable and restorative practices within our physical world. I graduated Magna Cum Laude and as a University Scholar from the University of Missouri. I hold a Masters in French Literature from Michigan State University and a Masters in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins University.  I’m a a Certified ScrumMaster and Practitioner, a Certified Scrum Trainer, and a Certified Professional Facilitator.

 

Session Description: THE AGILE ART GALLERY
Very often, when we try to describe Agile to people, we tend to use words, technical words. Or we may add in a sketch of a Scrum process or how releases fit with programs and teams and cadences. But I think Agile is more than this. And I think that there is a part of our brain that is being under utilized as we describe Agile to others. In fact, perhaps we ourselves are not fully embracing Agile if we don’t move beyond these technical words. In this session, we explore Agile through a new lens. We apply are artistic sense of what Agile means by reaching into terms that we might not readily associate with Agile. In the end, we will share our interpretations and debrief about what this means to our views on Agile. Agile is truly expansive. And it is continuing to be so. My hope is that through this very interactive session and through fun, participants will be willing to delve into some of the Agile depth.

 

Register:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/445686

 

Meeting Agenda:

6:30 pm Introduction

7:00 pm Food, beverages, and socializing

7:20 pm Main event

8:20 pm Done

8:30 pm Done Done

 

Meeting Location:

WALTHAM PUBLIC LIBRARY

Phone: 781 314 3425
735 Main St  Waltham, MA 02451

Directions:  http://waltham.lib.ma.us/hours_directions.php

 

Register:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/445686

July 24 WALTHAM MEETING: Extreme Manufacturing

Scrum is used in all kinds of environments! One of the most exciting examples is Team WikiSpeed, which designed and built a 100 mile per gallon car in just three months. The team accomplished this amazing feat using “Extreme Manufacturing” –  a set of practices that combine Scrum, XP, and modular design to deliver hyper-productivity in a manufacturing environment. This brings the Agile revolution full circle, where agile practices with roots in Toyota that formed the foundation of Scrum are transformed in the software world and injected back into auto manufacturing. Imagine a new car design process where every week the latest design can be driven off the lot!

At this event, Scrum co-creator Jeff Sutherland and WikiSpeed founder Joe Justice will discuss how you can implement test-driven hardware development within Scrum. Get ahead of your competition and learn how WikiSpeed developed component architecture and produced hardware in one week sprints.

Register:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/418614

About The Presenters:

Jeff Sutherland is the co-creator of Scrum and a leading expert on how the framework has evolved to meet the needs of today’s business. The methodology he developed in 1993 and formalized in 1995 with Ken Schwaber has since been adopted by the vast majority of software development companies around the world.

Joe Justice founded and has grown WIKISPEED, a company building 100+ mpg, modular commuter cars using Agile process, to a multinational business in 18+ countries, and now applies Agile methodologies to reduce time-to-value in social good projects such as polio vaccine distribution and low-cost medical centers for developing communities. Joe Justice consults on behalf of SolutionsIQ to realize the benefits of Agile services in non-software-centered verticals such as scientific R&D, oil, entertainment, manufacturing, food service, hospitality, health care, transportation, government, merger management, and education.

Meeting Agenda:

6:30 pm Introduction

7:00 pm Food, beverages, and socializing

7:20 pm Main event

8:20 pm Done

8:30 pm Done Done

Meeting Location:

CORPORATE OFFICE PARK
200 West Street
Waltham, MA 02451

The event room is located on the 1st floor. Enter the building. Take the hallway to the left. Walk past the elevators. The door to the event room will be on your right before the restrooms.

Register:

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/418614