Early Bird Rate Extended until September 24th

We are interested in helping as many people as possible attend the
APLN Leadership Summit next week. Yes... next week... it is nearly here.

To that end, we are extending the $399 early bird price up to the day
before the summit. This is going to be an excellent event and well
worth the price of admission.

Michele Sliger from Sliger Consulting and former Rally consultant is
speaking on bridging the PMI world to the agile world.

Roland Cuellar is speaking on agile portfolio management and agile metrics

David Hussman from DevJam is speaking on buidling test driven
organizations and agile architecture

Peter Hodgkins from Enthiosys is discussing agile product roadmaps and
their relationship to quality

Last but not least, Mitch Lacey is going to discuss roles on agile
projects and the challenges when we wear multiple hats.

In addition to the outstanding lineup of speakers, we have 5 leaders
from Atlanta that have led or are leading agile transitions and mature
agile teams. We are fortunate to have the following leaders come to help:

Paul King - VP Products and Engineering, Agentek, Inc. - Alpharetta, GA
Rick McMichael - VP Product Development, CheckFree - Norcross, GA
Bob Myer - Pillar Technologies, President/COO - Columbus, OH
Steve Cover - Sage Software, VP R&D - Lawrenceville, GA
Bud Phillips - Valtech (former VP at CapitalOne) - Richmond, VA

Come talk to these guys and see how they did it.

Finally we have three awesome keynote presentations.

Robert Holler from VersionOne will be speaking on the need for Agile.

Bud Phillips from Valtech will be exploring the creation of a
development value chain

One of my personal favorites, Christopher Avery will be talking about
leading responsible agile transitions.

Needless to say, we are going to feed you some great food the two days
you are with us and we'll have an open bar Thursday night... just in
case you needed one more selling point to throw you over the edge!

Time is running out. Register today to secure your spot!

For more information visit: http://summit.aplnatlanta.org

To register: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=628805

Early Bird Rate Expires on August 31st for the Atlanta APLN Leadership Summit

Early bird rates expire on August 31st. After the 31st, the price of the conference goes from $399 to $599. The conference is an exceptional value at $399 so make sure to register this week to take advantage of the early bird pricing!

"Leading the Agile Transition"

September 25th and 26th
Marriott Atlanta Perimeter Center

http://summit.aplnatlanta.org

We are proud to announce that the next APLN Leadership Summit is coming to Atlanta!

For the past few years, local APLN chapters have organized and hosted regional Leadership Summits. These events have been very well received and attract fantastic speakers and exceptional local thought leaders.

This is your chance to attend an Agile conference specifically designed to address the needs of the Agile community in Atlanta and the Southeast. Our speakers will discuss topics ranging from Product and Portfolio management to Agile Architecture and Metrics. Each speaker will present two talks, one geared toward the practitioner that is looking for tools and techniques they can use on a daily basis, the other toward leaders considering, or leading, a switch to Agile.

The summit is geared toward new and seasoned Agile leaders at all levels: organizational leaders, product leaders, development leaders, and project leaders. This is your chance to spend a whole day with some of the leading experts in the area of Agile Leadership, to network with with other agile leaders, and to share your experiences and concerns with those who are in the same situation as yourself.

The Dallas and Seattle Summits were a huge success! Next up is Atlanta!

The APLN Leadership Summit format includes:

• Networking opportunities throughout the day
• Speakers addressing how to lead their organizations to become agile.
• "Think Tank" sessions on Agile Leadership with topics addressing advanced leadership tools, experiences, lessons learned, and issues yet to be resolved.
• Networking social at the end of the first day to review think tank solutions and suggestions.

The APLN Atlanta planning committee has lined up an all star group of speakers and local Agile leaders. The conference is limited to 120 participants so you need to act now. If you are in the area, or able to make a the trip, the Atlanta Summit will be well worth attending.

For more information (including speaker bios and abstracts) and information on how to register, please visit the APLN Summit home page: http://summit.aplnatlanta.org

Who is APLN Atlanta?

APLN Atlanta is the local chapter of the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN), a international non-profit organization whose mission is “Connecting, developing, and supporting great project leaders.”

Mike Cottmeyer established the Atlanta chapter in September of 2007 because he was involved in APLN and wanted to create a stronger community of project leaders within the Atlanta area. Since its inception, the local chapter has facilitated speaking engagements with project management experts, such as Mary Poppendieck and Mike Griffiths, and is hosting the APLN Atlanta Leadership Summit in September.

APLN Atlanta will support project leaders in the Atlanta area by

• Bringing in nationally recognized speakers to present the latest trends in project leadership
• Presenting agile software development over lunch at companies interesting in getting more agile
• Facilitating quarterly Open Space sessions to create a space for collaboration with other project leaders
• Organizing an annual the Leadership Summit for the Southeast

If you’d like to join the adventure, please signup for the APLN Atlanta Yahoo group and attend the upcoming APLN Atlanta Leadership Summit.

Announcing the APLN Atlanta Leadership Summit

"Leading the Agile Transition"
September 25th and 26th
Marriott Atlanta Perimeter Center
summit.aplnatlanta.org

We are proud to announce that the next APLN Leadership Summit is coming to Atlanta!

For the past few years, local APLN chapters have organized and hosted regional Leadership Summits. These events have been very well received and attract fantastic speakers and exceptional local thought leaders throughout the agile community.

This is your chance to attend an Agile conference specifically designed to address the needs of the Agile community in Atlanta and the Southeast. Our speakers will discuss topics ranging from Product and Portfolio management to Agile Architecture and Metrics. Each speaker will present two talks, one geared toward the practitioner that is looking for tools and techniques they can use on a daily basis, the other toward leaders considering, or leading, a switch to Agile.

The summit is geared toward new and seasoned Agile leaders at all levels: organizational leaders, product leaders, development leaders, and project leaders. This is your chance to spend a whole day with some of the leading experts in the area of Agile Leadership, to network with with other agile leaders, and to share your experiences and concerns with those who are in the same situation as yourself.

The Dallas and Seattle Summits were a huge success! Next up is Atlanta!

The APLN Leadership Summit format includes:

• Networking opportunities throughout the day
• Speakers addressing how to lead their organizations to become agile.
• "Think Tank" sessions on Agile Leadership with topics addressing advanced leadership tools, experiences, lessons learned, and issues yet to be resolved.
• Networking social at the end of the first day to review think tank solutions and suggestions.

The APLN Atlanta planning committee has lined up an all star group of speakers and local Agile leaders. The conference is limited to 120 participants so you need to act now. If you are in the area, or able to make a the trip, the Atlanta Summit will be well worth attending.

For more information (including speaker bios and abstracts) and information on how to register, please visit the APLN Summit home page: http://summit.aplnatlanta.org

Announcing the 3rd Annual 'State of Agile Development' Survey

It is that time of year again - Version One has launched it's 3rd Annual 'State of Agile Development' Survey.

This is not a vendor or tool survey, it is meant as a global survey on the general state of Agile development (hence the catchy name). Last year the survey received 1,700 completed surveys from 71 countries. The results from past surveys have been written up in publications ranging from CIO Magazine to InfoQ to SDTimes and the Agile Journal. The results are also e-mailed directly to participants.

Learn more and take the survey HERE

It should take 5 - 10 minutes to complete and your participation is greatly appreciated.

What do you get for participating? By contributing and sharing data anonymously, you will help create the largest data collection on the value of Agile development practices and have direct access to the aggregated results. VersionOne is also giving away participation prizes consisting of 3 Amazon.com gift certificates totaling $1,250.00.

Thank you in advance for your participation.

June 16th Chapter Meeting

Planning for the APLN Atlanta Leadership Summit is well underway. We have secured a venue, set the date, and have started locking in speakers. There are several things that will need to be discussed during our meeting this month:

1. Communicate out to everyone the venue and the date
2. Review list of committed speakers and current openings
3. Discuss potential local executives for the panel discussions
4. Review conference format and preliminary schedule
5. Review sponsorship packages and create a target list to contact
6. Discuss marketing for the event

If you are new to the list, interested in helping to plan this conference, or just getting more involved in the local Agile community, please feel free to stop in and introduce yourself. We are all happy to bring you up to speed on what APLN Atlanta is all about.

Once again we will be meeting at Taco Mac on the corner of P'Tree Industrial and Pleasant Hill Rd. The address is 3545 Peachtree Industrial, Duluth, GA 30096 (678) 387-3403 Please shoot the list a note if you plan to attend.

I will be travelling this week. Andy Powell from VersionOne will be faciliating the meeting. Andy is looking forward to seeing everyone there!

Mike

May 19th Chapter Meeting

Hello everyone. It is about that time again. We missed last month so it is pretty important that we get together and finalize plans for the Summit. There are three main areas that we will discuss:

1. Accomodations: There are two hotels that we have visited and have paperwork on. I would like to make a decision on which hotel, talk about catering, AV support, amenities, etc.

2. Speakers: David Anderson has broken the traditional Summit model and really branched out his speakers. I would like to brainstorm a shortlist of people that we would like to invite. These can include national speakers and local leaders.

3. Sponsorships: I am hoping to get the sponsorship packages from David, but this is something we need to get moving on as soon as we have the date and venue set.

We will not be meeting at CheckFree this time. We are going to meet at the Taco Mac on the corner of P'tree Industrial and State Bridge. Here is the address for your convenience.

3545 Peachtree IndustrialDuluth, GA 30096
(678) 387-3403

Please shoot the list a note if you plan to attend.

Thanks. Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Mike