September Meeting: Agile Software Development with Kanban

Are you struggling to change your team to be more agile? What about changing agile to make your team more productive? Kanban is a system motivated by finding sustainable pace while also fostering continuous improvement. Adoption is easy because you start with what you're already doing. It exposes that process, makes it visible and malleable while giving you better metrics to track your performance and make more accurate predictions.  We'll explore the underpinnings of how Kanban works, why it works the way it does, and the basics of getting started. 

Doug Alcorn is a Co-Founder of Gaslight Software and a senior level programmer steeped in agile development. He has done development using traditional "waterfall" methodologies at Big Companies; but prefers to use lighter processes like SCRUM and eXtreme Programming at smaller companies that are still hungry. Doug's past is littered with Unix systems programming, interprocess communications, and kernel hacking, but now he focuses exclusively on web application development using Ruby on Rails.

When: September 12, 2013 (Second Thursday)
Networking: 5:30 - 6pm
Program: 6 - 7:30pm.
Where: Max Train, 4900 Parkway Drive, Suite 160, Mason, 45040

PMP's: This event counts for 1 (one) PDU

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August Meeting - Agile & Waterfall Development, A Friendly Debate

If you have been in software development for any amount of time, you have probably heard or maybe even been a participant in, a debate between those supporting plan driven approaches, like a Waterfall model, and those supporting flexible approaches such as those promoted by Agile development. There are definitely plenty of staunch supporters of both paradigms, many claiming that their preferred method is the best.

However, like most ideas that are argued with such intense fervor, there is truth on both sides. There is not only black and white, but there is, in fact, a happy gray middle ground where both parties have valid points. Waterfall and Agile development each have their own set of strengths as well as their own shortcomings. It is up to the individual organization to decide which approach would work best within their context.

Come join the debate as we explore both Agile and Waterfall development.  Where these models work well and where they don't.  Our local agilist Troy Bitter of Cohesion will provide the Agile perspective and Anette Stewart of SEI will provide the Waterfall perspective.

Troy Bitter is Director of Advisory Services at Cohesion where he enjoys being an Agile leader and advocate. He has led organizations in improving time-to-market for customer requests and in one case, reduced time-to-market by 20% vs. a waterfall approach.

Anette Stewart is a graduate of the University of Dayton with a Degree in Computer Science and Business Administration.  She started her career as a software developer at Reynolds & Reynolds where she eventually moved to Project Management.    In 1994 she became a consultant with Systems Evolution where she currently helps clients get the most out of their technology investments. Anette as been a PMP since 2003 and has managed projects that have used both the agile and waterfall approach.  

When: August 8, 2013  (Second Thursday)
Networking: 5:30 - 6pm
Program: 6 - 7:30pm.
Where: Max Train, 4900 Parkway Drive, Suite 160, Mason, 45040


PMP's: This event counts for 1 (one) PDU

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Update on Monday, September 2, 2013 at 8:30PM by Agile Cincinnati

August 2013 Meeting - Promenade

August 2013 Meeting - PromenadePeg kicked off the debateTroy Bitter and Anette StewartAnette Stewart

Troy Bitter

Friends in a Friendly DebateThe debate was well received by audience.Troy and Anette

Peg Haustetter

Troy, Steve and Anette

Joe picked the "Managing the Unmanagable" from Pearson Education

July Meeting: Ask the Agilists

Ever have a question about Agile at one of our meetings, but were too shy to ask it in a public forum? Have you ever wanted to have a more meaningful conversation about Agile, but felt rushed due to the time constraints of our regular monthly meetings.  Have a topic or expertise you'd like to share but feel more comfortable talking one on one, rather than in front of a large group? Miss one of our meetings or think to yourself "I wish I could get all their great speakers together in one room"?  Want to know more about Agile Cincinnati and how you can get involved?

If you answered yes to any of these questions or just value a good time discussing customer focused and lean based methods and their place (past, present, and future) within the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky business community, then this meeting is for you.

Join us at Fricker's in Mason (notice venue change this month!) where we will have several "Featured Agilists" on hand to answer your questions about what it takes to become Agile and discuss the direction the industry is going.  We also want to hear from YOU! We will have name tags on hand, where you can let other members know to "Ask Me About: [insert your passion here]" or "Tell Me About: [insert interest here]".

IMPORTANT: Please register through Eventbrite (see form below) so we know how many people are likely to attend.

Food Sponsors

Cohesion and Eliassen Group will provide appetizers, so please be sure to thank them at the event. Members will be responsible for their own alcoholic beverages and food (beyond the sponsored stuff)

Featured Agilists

Troy Bitter – Ask me about: The Transparency Effect, within the Agile Organization.

Troy is Director of Advisory Services at Cohesion where he enjoys being an Agile leader and advocate. He has led organizations in improving time-to-market for customer requests and in one case, reduced time-to-market by 20% vs. a waterfall approach. Troy advises that achieving such gains requires maximum transparency. 

Alan Bustamante – Ask me about: Scaling Agile Development for the Enterprise

Alan is a Principal Consultant (and Owner) at Xcelerate Partners. He has helped numerous development organizations of various sizes become Agile using various techniques. Most recently he guided Blue Cross through a large transition using the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). Alan is also on the leadership team at Agile Cincinnati

Peg Haustetter – Ask me about: Distributed Development within Agile Teams

Peg is a Principal Consultant with Systems Evolution, where she provides her clients the skills they need to become successful at adopting Agile development within distributed teams. She is also on the leadership team for Agile Cincinnati.
 

Scott Jacobs – Ask me about: Fostering Creative Teams using Innovation Games

Scott is CEO (and CFO or Chief “Fun” Officer) at Harvest Consulting. He has been using Innovation Games the past several years to help his clients create strategic marketing plans that are designed to increase sales, market share and profitability; while having fun at the same time.

Rob Keefer – Ask me about: Agile User Experience Design (UX)

Rob is the Founder and Innovation Director of POMIET, a software innovation company. By seeking the best ways of incorporating User Experience (UX) into an Agile process, Rob ensures that the user's perspective is valued throughout a product's development. He has led the development of highly interactive products with Raytheon, Major League Baseball (mlb.com), FedEx Office, and more.

Joe Schweickart – Ask me about: Agile Engineering Practices

Joe is a consultant for Systems Evolution, specializing in software architecture, design and development. He has guided teams within the health care, retail, insurance, high-tech manufacturing and telecommunications sectors in the adoption of Agile development practices on numerous projects.

Paul Spencer – Ask me about: Agile Engineering Practices

Paul is Director of the Agile Development Center at SDS. He has been in the software industry for over 14 years and enjoys mentorship on Test Driven Development and Product Development strategy.

 

Stephen Wagner – Ask me about: Deploying Agile Teams in Regulated Environments

Stephen is a Principal Consultant with Cardinal Solutions where he is currently leading an Agile team at Vantiv, a local provider of services to the financial industry. He is also on the leadership team for Agile Cincinnati.

 

Steve Lyle and Levent Gorur  – Ask us about: Contributing your talents (volunteering/leading) to Agile Cincinnati and our great organization

When: July 11, 2013  (Second Thursday).
Program: 5:30-7:30pm.
Where: Fricker's, 8850 Governor's Hill Drive Mason, OH 45249

PMP's: This event counts for 1 (one) PDU

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Eliassen Group Becomes Gold Sponsor!

Eliassen Group became our latest annual Gold level sponsor!  Please thank them for their support when you see them at the meeting this month.  Agile Cincinnati would not be able to cover our operating costs or provide great programs to you without the sponsorship of organizations like Eliassen.  Click on the image below to find our more about our latest sponsor or directly navigate to www.Eliassen.com.