Cool Agile Stuff in Atlanta... In September

Retrospectives Workshop with Esther Derby

Esther Derby is doing a one-day retrospectives workshop here in Atlanta. Esther is awesome and co-wrote the de-facto book on agile retrospectives. If you've spent any time with me, this is one of the books I always mention... and I'm not shy about drawing ideas from Esther's work when I'm in need of something new. The course is on September 21st at the AMA Atlanta Executive Conference Center. The price is $350 for folks attending the Web Industry Conference, $450 standalone. I asked Esther if she would give us a discount code, and she was able to make it happen... the problem is, I don't know how much off the code is! Give it a try WDUSA-DERBY.

Follow this link for more information or to register:
http://usa10.webdirections.org/workshops#agile-retrospectives

Agile Atlanta/Scrum Meetup with Esther Derby

So, as you know... Esther is in town to do here retrospectives workshop. I wonder where you heard that ;-) She is also going to do a talk for the Agile Atlanta group the very next day on September 22nd. Since that was the same day as the Scrum Meetup here in town, we are going to combine both events. The combined meeting will be at the normal Agile Atlanta location at Matrix Resources in the Perimeter Mall areas. Go to http://www.agileatlanta.org/ for the address, time, and directions to Esther's talk. I will be there, so if you are in town, come meet me too ;-)

Certified ScrumMaster Training with Lee Henson

VersionOne is hosting a local Certified ScrumMaster training course. They are doing the course in their Alpharetta offices. Lee Henson will be your CST. I used to work directly with Lee back in the day at VersionOne. He is a great guy and you will have a blast taking his course. Lee was the person that did my CSM training, so I can attest to that first hand. VersionOne is offering early bird rates and a 20% off promotional code. The code is V1Scrum.

Follow this link for more information or to register:
http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?eventid=869442&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRoiv6jKZKXonjHpfsXx6%2BsrW6Gg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YAJScN0dvycMRAVFZl5nRpdCPOcc45P9PA%3D

Innovation Games Workshop with Jason Tanner

Here is another great opportunity in September. Jason Tanner from Enthiosis is doing an Innovation Games Workshop on September 29th and 30th. These are also being held in the VersionOne training facility in Alpharetta, so the location is excellent. I don't know how much you guys know about Luke Hohmann's work on Innovation Games, but they are great facilitation techniques for helping people get really creative in the product development process. I use Luke's games in a variety of settings... from product visioning to retrospectives. It's is excellent material, and you will get a ton out of this course.

Follow this link for more information or to register:
http://innovationgamesatl.eventbrite.com/

I hope you can make one or more of these events. It is great to see world class thought leadership here in town. There is a lot we can learn from these folks!

Note: Each individual in this post asked me personally to promote their offering. I'm happy to do this kind of stuff when I can. If you are in town and have something valuable to offer the agile community, please let me know and I'll do what I can to help you out. I am not affiliated with any of these courses in any way, other than I really, really like the people offering them ;-)

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Agile Training from Mike Cottmeyer and Pillar

A few weeks ago, I put together a custom two-day course on Agile and Agile Project Management. I was so pleased with how it turned it out, I've decided to offer it publicly here in Atlanta. The course uses real life examples and project simulations so folks leave with some really solid anchor points and confidence that they can go back to their companies and actually do this stuff.

Since this is my first public course, I am practically giving the training away. Super early bird is $295 for both days, early bird is $395, and full price is $495. If you ask, I might even send you an additional 20% off for being a reader Leading Agile ;-) It is a great course and I think you'll get a lot out of it. Hope to see you there!

Register for Agile: Beyond the Basics

Course Overview:

Agile is not a one size fits all methodology... your Agile training shouldn't take a one size fits all approach! This course is designed to create an emergent experience based on the unique needs of each individual class. We use the same planning techniques to run the class that you will learn while in the class. Be prepared to fully immerse yourself in learning the fundamentals of agile project management and leadership, by participating in a class that is structured to run just like a real agile project.

Who Should Attend?

• Managers and Project Managers that will be actively running agile projects
• Team Members that need to know how to deliver working software on an agile project
• Senior Leaders that want a hands on experience working in an agile environment

What You Will Learn?

Here is our preliminary backlog, but like we said, be prepared to inspect and adapt and change as we go!

Day One

• Background and history of Agile methodologies
• The importance of collaboration (exercise)
• Overview of agile principles, values, and practices
• The basic mechanics of Agile
• The importance of flow (exercise)
• The cultural impact of Agile
• User stories, estimation, and release planning

Day Two

• Learn how to run an effective sprint/iteration planning meeting
• Learn how to run an effective daily stand-up meeting
• Learn how to run an effective sprint/iteration retrospective
• Understanding Scrum Roles: ScrumMaster, Product Owner, and Team
• Servant leadership (exercise)
• The role of traditional managers
• Common impediments to adopting agile
• Advanced topics as defined by the class

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