Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Monday's Agile Day in Edinburgh

Here's a better link to the rational user group Agile day: http://www.rational-ug.org/groups.php?groupid=20. You do have to register, but it's free and you won't get any spam. It takes less than a minute.

Also, just to clarify that the session is focused on Agile, in general, rather than RUP in particular.

And if you didn't notice ... Scott Ambler is speaking too.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Second event .

Sorry, I accidently hit send too quickly

2.  UK BCS - Scottish Testing link - Glasgow, November 24th

John Isgrove is talking on Agile ("Delight your customers, increase your job satisfaction, and  Maximise your potential")

http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.9731


And Stephen Allott is talking on Pairwise Testing.  A fascinating topic which I personal
think all Agile folk should immediatley google.

I can't make this event unfortunately, but it looks good.  I don't know if it's free, but if you're interested the you'll find contact details on the site.


Two Agile events

Hi everyone,

Here're details of two Agile events taking place very soon.  I'm talking at the first and a friend of mine, DSDM expert, John Isgrove is speaking at the second.


1.  UK Rational User Group - Edinburgh, 23rd of November.  Free - but you have to join the group (for free) and register.: https://secure.rational-ug.org/check_user?type=meeting&meetid=1037

Date:
 Nov 23rd, 2009

Meeting time:
 09:30 to 16:45
Meeting location:
 IBM, 21 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 1AY
Meeting topic: 
UK RUG "Achieving Agility" in Scotland
Agenda:


This agenda is subject to change, but most of the speakers have now confirmed their availability. 

09:00 - Registration 
09:30 - Welcome - Julian Holmes 
09:45 - IBM Rational Update and summary of RSC - Anthony Kesterton 
10:30 - Break 
10:45 - The Agile Way: Agility as a way of thinking - Clarke Ching 
11:30 - Break 
11:45 - Getting Started in Agile, Part 1: The safety Net - Paul Oldfield 
12:30 - Lunch 
13:15 - Zero to Hero: An RTC SCM Quick Start for Agile Development - Andrew Harmel-Law 
14:30 - Break 
14:45 - Agility @ Scale - Scott Ambler (Live from Toronto) 
15:45 - Break 
16:00 - Agile "Goldfish bowl" - All presenters 
16:30 - Wrap-Up - Julian Holmes 
16:45 - Close 


2.  UK BCS - Scottish Testing link - Glasgow, November 24th

John is talking on Agile ("Delight your customers, increase your job satisfaction, and 

http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.9729 


I'm uncertain of

Saturday, November 07, 2009

CodeRetreat Glasgow, November ...

Hi all,

1.  Good news!  Two long-term AgileScots, Rob Lally and Adrian Mowet, along with Joe Wright present the UK's first CodeRetreat.  It's hosted by the kind folk at Glasgow Caledonian University; it's free; it's only a couple of weeks away and ... there are only 5 spots left. 

Here's the official announcement:

This November the first ever Code Retreat in the UK will be hosted in Glasgow.  We are inviting developers of all skill levels to tackle Conway's Game of Life using Ruby.

BACKGROUND

A Code Retreat is a day long programming session based around a simple coding challenge.  Developers of different skill levels are invited to engage in deliberate practice as equals. The goal is to learn, teach and improve with fellow software developers in a non-competitive setting.

If you are looking to improve your software development skills and network with people in your industry then please come along and embrace the challenge.

FORMAT

Pairs will attempt to solve the problem in 40 minute iterations.  At the end of each iteration one person swaps with another pair and all code is deleted.  The new pair then try to make a better solution based off their experiences.

We will be providing breakfast and lunch.  After the event finishes we will be heading to a nearby pub.



Join up here:

http://coderetreatscotland.eventbrite.com/?ref=elink


2.  I'm currently working with a strong development team in a well known computer manufacturer.  We're looking for "a highly skilled, first rate designer/developer with experience of  working on complex projects and  an excellent understanding of object orientated design and development, UML and software architecture."  If that describes you and you're looking, or, if you know someone you'd be happy to recommend the please email me and I'll pass your details on to the appropriate people.

3.  I should have details of our next event out very soon.  I've gotta get the logistics sorted out first.

Thanks,
Clarke

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Brian Swan's slides - TDD pitfalls.

http://www.codedexterity.com/presentations/tdd_pitfalls

Monday, October 19, 2009

Ruby on Rails training - Edinburgh, November

Hi everyone,  
 
If you are interesed in Ruby on Rails then you may be interested in this training course, taking place in November, in Edinburgh.  IMHO, this is world class stuff and a very rare opportunity.
 
Clarke 
 
Here are the detais, from long time AgileScotlander, Paul Wilson, who writes:
Over the past five year Ruby has moved from being a language of hobbyists to to the main stream of business application development, and a much-sought after skill.  While this has been largely down to the tremendous success of the Ruby on Rails web framework, Ruby is much bigger Rails.  It is finding popularity in niches in areas such as  Enterprise integration, and in acceptance testing of .Net and Java applications through the Cucumber testing framework.
 
We're excited to announce Ruby and Rails training here in the UK (Edinburgh)  from Ruby stars Jim Weirich and Joe O'Brien, assisted by Paul Wilson.
 
Jim Weirich is a cornerstone of the Ruby community.  Amongst other things, he is responsible for Rake, the Ruby build tool, Flexmock, XML Builder, and much of RubyGems.  He is also one of the keynotes for next year's Scottish Ruby Conference, along with Tim Bray.
 
Joe is also an experienced programmer and instructor.  He has spoken recently  in Edinburgh on the business case for Ruby.  He also organises an Enterprise Ruby Conference in the US, and organises Columbus Ruby Brigade.
 
Paul is a Ruby coder, recovering Java programmer, and co-owner of EdgeCase UK.  He is an active member of the local Ruby and Agile communities, and co-organiser of the Scotland on Rails conference.  He has spoken on a range of topics at events including European Rails Conference, The Naked Agilist Conference, and as a guest lecturer at Glasgow Caledonian and Napier Universities
 
 
Two courses are being offered:-
 
9-10 November:  Vital Ruby is a two day course that will bring you up to speed on the language, the environment and the tools that surround the Ruby language.  This course also provides a glimpse into the culture and community that is such an important ingredient to success.  Test-driven development is a natural part of what we do and will be reflected in this two day course.
 
11-13 November: Vital Rails is a three day course that will leave you production-ready for building web applications.  We drive through the major components of Rails, while building an actual application that you will be able to take home with you and look at as you develop the next killer app.  Learn how to build, test and deploy a web application and all the pieces that go along with it.  Learn how to use plugins, how to use ActiveRecord as a stand alone ORM and see how to test your application in units or as a whole.  This course has something for everyone.
 
These courses are being offered at special introductory and Early Bird rates.  Booked on or before October 26 :-
 
- Vital Ruby: £495
- Vital Rails: £790
- Combined courses: £1120
 
 
After October 26:
 
- Vital Ruby: £595
- Vital Rails: £890
- Combined courses: £1220
 
You should book by following the link below:
 
 
 
PS You can see Jim in action talking about "The Building Blocks of Modularity" and both Joe and Jim in "The EdgeCase Dialogue" (Day 2) at Scotland on Rails here:
 

Thursday, October 15, 2009

[AgileScotland] October 26th, Glasgow: Avoiding the Pitfalls that Cripple Test Driven Development

Hi  everyone,
 
Here's a great chance to hear from one of Scotland and the UK's best Agile/XP coaches about how to do TDD in a way that makes it stick. 
 
Brian Swan is presenting an AgileScotland session on "Avoiding the Pitfalls that cripple Test Driven Development".  The talk will start at 7pm, sharp, on Monday the 26th of October, at Dell's Glasgow software development centre in the City Park, Alexandra Parade, Glasgow.  Send me a note if you'd like to book a spot and get joining instructions.  My thanks to Paula Heenan, from Dell, who has kindly sponsored this venue.
 
Here's Brian's outline and bio:
Outline
 
Test Driven Development is now more than 10 years old yet is still causing controversy as a development technique. Common pitfalls can reduce the value of Test Driven Development, this talk will highlight those pitfalls to help teams and individuals get the maximum benefit from this powerful technique.
 
Bio
 
Brian has been developing software professionally for nearly fourteen years and since 1999 has been applying agile practices, primarily Extreme Programming, to the projects he has been involved with.
 
Brian has worked in a variety of languages from COBOL and Visual Basic to Java and Ruby, with a smattering of C# and Objective-C. He has
successfully led a variety of teams transitioning to Agile, and trained both developers and managers in Agile thinking and practice.
Brian told me that anyone who is interested in agile software development will find the session useful, but the folk who'd get the most benefit are probably already doing TDD but struggling because they're not got some of the basics quite right.
 
Remember: if you want a spot then please send me an email: clarke.ching@spiceUpIT.com.  We've only got room for 20-25 people so don't leave it until the last minute.
 
Clarke
 
p.s. We've had to delay Peter Aitken's Cucumber session for a few months due to work related travel commitments.  Our November session will be a nice gentle introduction to Kanban and Flow systems from Rob Lally.

Saturday, October 03, 2009

fw: Ruby, The Agile Language. Edinburgh, Thursday 8 October.

This looks like an excellent session.  It's nice to see Ruby taking off.

Clarke

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Paul Wilson <paul.wilson@merecomplexities.com>
To: AgileScotland@yahoogroups.com


Hi all,

It's great we've got already some talks lined up for October and
November.  Here's another one for next week: top Rubyist and Agilist,
Joe O'Brien, is going to be in Scotland next week and he's agreed to
talk on "Ruby, The Agile Language" next week in Edinburgh.  This
should nicely complement  Pete's talk on Cucumber, as Acceptance
Testing using Cucumber is one way Ruby is making inroads into
enterprise Java and .Net development.

The talk starts around 19:30  at The Edinburgh Training Centre, 16 St
Mary's Street, EH1 1SU.

Full details are here:

http://edgecaseuk.eventwax.com:80/joe-obrien-ruby-the-agile-language

I'm afraid numbers are limited.  Follow the link below to sign up (for
free).  (Don't worry about filling in all he fields  - just name and
email).

http://edgecaseuk.eventwax.com:80/joe-obrien-ruby-the-agile-language/register


----------------
Paul Wilson
http://merecomplexities.com

Scotland on Rails
http://scottishrubyconf.com


Wednesday, June 24, 2009

[AgileScotland] Agile and Lean: Crash Course - Glasgow, Wednesday 1st of July.

Good news!

1. We'll be holding our next low-cost "Agile and Lean Software Development: Crash Course", next week, on Wednesday the 1st of July in Glasgow. Better still this course is absolutely FREE, but with a limit of 3 people per company, per course.

2. It's free for everyone, this time round, since some very switched-on folk at Glasgow Caledonian University (where they've been teaching Agile to their students for a half dozen years) have very kindly sponsored the venue. This is awesome and I'm very grateful! But it does mean that I don't expect to repeat the course in Edinburgh this summer (unless I find a sponsor).

3. I'll be repeating this course twice in July, both in Glasgow, but if you are able to make the 1st course then please send me an email quickly. I'll confirm the other dates soon, but we'll be in a smaller room for those sessions and you may miss out if you wait. If you can't make the 1st then send me a note and I'll see what I can do.

4. I've gotta warn you though - we've already had an aweful lot of interest ... so get in quick.

5. Let me put that another way: it's short notice, but if you can make the 1st then please send me an email. It'll be easier for me, and you're more likely to get a spot. And, if you're based in Edinburgh ... come to the course in Glasgow

Clarke

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

[AgileScotland] When it just *has* to work: Agile Development in Safety-Critical Environments

Hi Everyone,

Nancy Van Schooenderwoert, a very experienced Agile coach with a very long name, is in Edinburgh next Friday afternoon, the 26th. She's presenting a one-off session, running from 3-5, about Agile in Safety-Critical Environments to the agile team at
Toshiba Medical Visualizaton Systems (they're one of Scotland's agile success stories). You can see details of Nancy's talk, below.

The folk at Toshiba have very kindly set aside a few spaces for the general public.  If you are interested then get back to me - clarke.ching@gmail.com and I'll let you know if you've got a spot early next week.  I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to turn some of you away.  If you are particularly interested in safety-critical code then let me know and I'll prioritize you.

Clarke

When it just *has* to work: Agile Development in Safety-Critical Environments

Traditional thinking holds that the more critical the application, the more tightly its development must be planned, staged, and controlled. The truth is that a flexible culture is stronger, safer, and more robust. FDA regulatory standards are designed to support a learning organization – fully compatible with Agile! This session gives you practical tips for moving your customers and auditors to a flexible agile approach to planning, team interactions, and risk management. When the culture shifts, the result is not just that teams achieve their goals sooner, but safety is greatly enhanced.
Process/Mechanics

Learning outcomes

   * Get ammunition for conversations with managers, to show why incremental design is safer than up-front design
   * See examples of how several medical device companies are already reaping increased ROI from using agile team discipline
   * Understand how the traditional method of hazard analysis is more dangerous than the agile approach
   * Be able to explain to your customers (internal and external) the benefit - to them - of working collaboratively with you
   * Grasp how the regulatory requirement for separate reporting chains for development and QA need not prevent Agile collaboration


Who Should Attend
Key attendees are described here as "Personas"

Patricia - a seasoned project manager. She prefers agile development to her old attempts to force teams to conform to an overly prescriptive plan. But, her stakeholders still ask for the same predictability and schedule commitments. And the regulatory documentation needs seem to force a "big design up front" approach so she ends up with a mix of agile and waterfall practices that is only marginally better than waterfall.

Don - the product Quality Assurance representative. Don is responsible for quality concerns of the overall product, only part of which is the embedded software. In particular, Don has to make sure all the requirements of the regulatory agencies (in his world, the FDA) have been fulfilled, and wants to be sure the Agile approach will result in the kind of information he needs to provide.

Saturday, June 06, 2009

Glasgow's clinic & Agile lunch ...

Hi everyone,

This week's clinic is full up.  Well be holding another one in Edinburgh shortly and then we'll be back in Glasgow next month.

I'm wondering though, would anyone like to meet up for lunch before the clinic?  I'm thinking noon at Wagamamas.  Send me a note if you're keen.

Clarke

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

West Coast Clinic Bios.

Here're the bio's I promised.

Let's start with Rob. 

Rob Lally has successfully managed and delivered over 20 Agile projects in the last ten years.

Rob blends Agile and Lean with a pragmatic, commercial focus. He's experienced Agile from many different perspectives; having worked as a developer, architect, coach, project, programme and product manager. He's built in-house applications for a Fortune 50 company, public-facing web apps and retail products, using both distributed and co-located teams.

A technologist at heart, Rob always makes time to write code, learn new languages and stay on top of emerging technologies. Rob, formerly, worked as a Vice President at JPMorgan. He now runs his own consultancy company.

And now for Pete:

Peter Aitken has spent the last decade working as an Agile coach and developer.  During this time he has worked mostly in Java environments working on  a diverse range of applications including  DVD and Blu Ray authoring tools for Universal Studios and fund management tools for investment banks.

Peter currently works as an Agile Coach and Developer in a small team creating Ruby on Rails applications.  Peter is an expert in developer-lead acceptance testing. He created Marjoree (http://marjoree.com), a ruby gem (library) used to test-drive sybase store procedures. His current favourite toy is Cucumber (http://cukes.info/ ),  a BDD framework which teams use to describe in plain text how software should behave.

Peter is scheduled to present to AgileScotland on Cucumber over the summer.

I vouch for both of these guys.  I've learnt plenty from both of them during the years. 

And finally, me:

My name is Clarke Ching.  I teach - and do - a very simple version of Agile - one that works well for people who haven't read too many books on Agile, who really don't want to be "extreme" about anything, and who, maybe, use COBOL, or Java, or .net, or maybe don't even develop software at all.  I call it everydayAgile because it's designed to bring the benefits of agile - more projects finished, happier customers, happier developers, and so on - to everyday people who work in everyday businesses.  It's the 80/20 version of Agile where you get 80% of the benefits, with only 20% of the effort.

If you are familiar with Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (as used by manufacturers like Intel and Ford) then EverydayAgile is TOC applied to software development.  If you're not familiar with TOC then think of Lean as Toyota do it (rather than how it's described in the books) instead.

I run my own consulting business and chair the not-for-profit AgileScotland special interest group.  Between engagements and in my spare time I write.  Later this year the Pragmatic Programmers will publish my business novel Rolling Rocks Downhill which explains everydayAgile in detail.  It's just like Goldratt's The Goal, but set in corporate software development.  You can buy my first book RocksIntoGold - a business parable, like "Our Iceberg is Melting" or "The One Minute Manager", which explains why businesses should do Agile, without mentioning anything technical or even the word agile (hint: it's all about cashflow) - from amazon or you can read it at rocksintogold.com for free.

Clarke

AgileScotland clinic - Glasgow City Centre, 2pm, June 11.

Hi everyone,

I am astounded at the turnout we've had at our AgileClinics and at last weeks Lean, Agile and Kanban "Crash" course.  I regret not kicking these off years ago. 

More Courses: Thirteen people turn up last friday - 6 paying, 7 free - and the feedback was excellent. We're definitely running another course in Glasgow sometime in June once I find a suitable venue - if you can suggest somewhere then please give me a yell; at this stage most of the positions are filled, but email me if you'd like to go on the waiting list.  We're also looking to run 2 more courses in Edinburgh - one exclusively for Spring Recruitment's linked in group, in their offices, and one open to eveyone using the same venue we used last week. 

The Next Clinic - Glasgow City Centre, 2pm, June 11.:  Peter Aitken, Rob Lally and I are available for free consultion at next week's AgileScotland Clinic.  We'll be meeting in one of the Starbucks or Costas near Borders but we'll give you more details nearer the time.  If you'd like a little helping hand then you can learn a lot in an hour.  So far we've helped Agile veterans and newbies; managers and techies.  The conversations are 100% confidential.  Email me now at clarke.ching@gmail.com.

I'll send out Pete and Rob's bio's shortly.
---
Clarke Ching -  
1.  Author of "Rolling Rocks Downhill" ... a business novel about software development; coming soon from the Pragmatic Bookshelf.
2.  Author of "Rocks Into Gold" ... a biztech parable for developers who want to THRIVE during the recession.  www.RocksIntoGold.com 
www.clarkeching.com
Phone: 079 2011 4893



Monday, May 25, 2009

[AgileScotland] Edinburgh training day ... now Friday the 29th

Hi everyone,

We've had very good uptake so far,  which isn't surprising, I guess...

Please note: we've had to move the training day to FRIDAY the 29th, rather than Thursday. 

Clarke

Friday, May 22, 2009

Full day "Introduction to Lean and Agile" training in Edinburgh & Glasgow ... FREE

Do you work in Software Development? Do you want to enjoy your job more? Do you want to ship more projects?

update: date now Friday 29th May.

Today I'm delighted to announce the first of our very low-cost AgileScotland "open source" training courses.
Title: "An introduction to Lean and Agile - for Scottish Businesses"

Presented by: Clarke Ching and Rob Lally.
Where: Princess Street, Edinburgh
When: Friday 29th (was Thursday 28th May), starting 9:15 for 9:30; finishing around 4pm;
Cost: FREE if you are currently not employed; otherwise £30; we'll provide coffee & tea but you'll need to provide your own lunch.

Learn Agile and Lean from two of the UKs most experienced Agile and Lean practitioners/coaches.

After attending this course you will understand why Agile (in it's many flavours) works, why it is sometimes hard work, and what you can do to make it easier. You will know Agile well enough that you'll be able to explain it to your bosses, your staff, your colleagues. You'll know enough to sell the financial benefits of Agile to your bosses and to plan your first agile initiative.

We will cover:
* Why? The business reasons for doing Agile
* What? The technical reasons for doing Agile
* Yes, but ... why do Agile projects stuggle (hint: they execute the practices superbly, but miss the prinicples)
* A solid overview of Scrum, Kanban, and Extreme Programming
* An introduction to Test Driven Development.
* Agile / Lean for the IT department (i.e. when you run more than 1 project).

Prerequisites: You must already have at least 2 years professional experience working on (or with) Software Development teams. You must live or work in Scotland.

Restrictions: Only 2 people maximum from each company;

Book now
by emailing me at clarke.ching@gmail.com giving me an idea of your employment status, job title, and why you'd like to attend, then very early next week I'll confirm your position. We expect to fill up very quickly so it's first come, first served. If you'd prefer to attend the course in Glasgow then email me too - if you don't ask, you don't get.

Please forward this on to anyone who might be interested ... We will try to repeat any popular courses.

--- Clarke Ching, Linlithgow, Scotland.
1. Author of "Rolling Rocks Downhill" ... a business novel about software development; coming soon from the Pragmatic Bookshelf.
2. Author of "Rocks Into Gold" ... a biztech parable for developers who want to THRIVE during the recession. www.RocksIntoGold.com
www.clarkeching.com
Phone: 079 2011 4893

Monday, May 18, 2009

[AgileScotland] London Lean & Kanban (Europe) 2009 Sep 27-29

Hi everyone,
 
Some of you many be interested in the Lean / Kanban conference being put on in London later this year.  See below.  They're got a fantastic lineup.
 
Speaking of conferences with fantastic lineups ... Rob Lally and I spent the last month or so speaking with some of Scotlands most gifted Agile / Lean / Other practitioners and we now have a fantastic lineup for our as-yet-un-named mini-conference.  I can't name names, nor specific dates, just yet but you're all going to be very impressed with some of the stuff that's going on out there. 
 
---
Clarke Ching -  
1.  Author of "Rolling Rocks Downhill" ... a business novel about software development; coming soon from the Pragmatic Bookshelf.
2.  Author of "Rocks Into Gold" ... a biztech parable for developers who want to THRIVE during the recession.  www.RocksIntoGold.com
www.clarkeching.com
Phone: 079 2011 4893


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David J Anderson <netherby_uk@yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Mon, May 18, 2009 at 5:03 PM
Subject: [agilemanagement] ANN: Lean & Kanban (Europe) 2009 Sep 27-29 London
To: agilemanagement@yahoogroups.com


Rob Hathaway (and his colleague Jason Smith @ Indigo Blue) with Karl Scotland (EMC Consulting) are organizing the European version of the Lean & Kanban Conference in London this coming September.

http://ukleanconference.com/

Mary Poppendieck, Alan Shalloway, Don Reinertsen and I will be key note speaking. Other notable speakers include Kenji Hiranabe and Jeff Patton (both Gordon Pask Award winners), John Seddon, Hal Macomber and Corey Ladas.

Online registration isn't open yet but you can call the number on the web site and pre-register with Jason. The event is strictly limited to 200 people because of the venue. Quite a few folks have already pre-registered - many more than registered early for Miami. We do expect the event to sell out given the high level of interest in Kanban in London and the stellar speaker line up.

David
http://www.agilemamagement.net/



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Tuesday, May 12, 2009

AgileScotland clinic - Edinburgh, Thursday afternoon, 21st of May

Hi everyone,
 
If you'd like a little free, confidential* Agile or Lean (or even Kanban or TOC) advice from a local expert then .. we're holding the next AgileScotland Clinic next Thursday, the 21st of May, in Edinburgh.  Send me a note and I'll book you in with one of the experts.  
 
Yours leanly ...
 
Clarke
 
* Don't worry, your conversations will remain 100% confidential.

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

[AgileScotland] Clinics ... East Coast

Hi everyone,
 
Wow! I've been very pleasantly surprised by the overwhelmingly positive response to the Agileclinics.  I was a little nervous that people might think it was a daft idea, but apparently not.  Take a look here to see how Agile Austin are running their AgileExpert sessions.  I've taken a slightly different direction in that rather than dropping in, I'm asking people to book.  I'm not sure what's best but I was concerned about confidentiality and scheduling issues.
 
So here are the Bio's of our east coast based contacts. I've known all three for at least 5 years and they really know what they're talking about.
 
1.  Alan Francis - http://cardboardsoftware.com/
With 15 years experience as a developer, I've built systems for clients that include Power Stations, Multimedia Authors, Breweries, Retail Stores and Investment Banks.  I am a Rails and RubyGems contributor, spoke at RailConf, RailsConfEurope and RubyConf, and organised the wildly successful Scotland-on-Rails Ruby conference.  I can do Java, but these days, I mostly do Ruby or iPhone work.
 
I'm also a consultant,  I made an early move towards Agile Methods and attended the first XP Immersion course hosted by Kent Beck and Martin Fowler in 1999.  I became an active member of the XP community, speaking and teaching at conferences such as XP200x, XPDay, XPUniverse.
 
I like building software, but I *love* building teams.
 
Brian is an Agile mentor with extensive experience in both the technical and the management aspects of Agile.
He has successfully led a variety of teams transitioning to Agile methods helping them to improve quality and customer satisfaction and deliver software into production with substantially reduced lead times.

Brian has over 14 years development experience and a particular interest in test automation and continuous integration. He developed EXACTOR, an open source acceptance testing framework for Java, (http://exactor.sourceforge.net) that has been successfully used by many teams to test both web and rich client applications.
3.  Paul Wilson - http://merecomplexities.com
I am an Agile/Extreme Programming coach and coder who has worked with many teams to improve their
process and ʻAgilityʼ.  I have been practising Test-Driven Development since 2000, and other Agile practices
since 2002.  Over the past ten years, 70% of my positions have been repeat-business, or through recom-
mendation.

I am an active member of the local Ruby and Agile communities, and co-organiser of the very successful Scotland on Rails
conferences.  I currently code mostly in Ruby, Java, and Objective-C but am open minded about other languages.
I'll send out the West Coast list shortly.  If you'd like to volunteer to help or if you'd like a little friendly advice then send me a note. 
 
Clarke 
 

Friday, May 01, 2009

[AgileScotland] - Talk at Napier University - "Don't blame the Project Manager-the problem can be the status of your IT Governance"

Hi everyone,
 
Pritam Chita from Napier University forwarded this on to me.  It looks VERY interesting and I hope to go along.  Maybe I'll see you there.
 
Clarke
 
****
 
The following talk will be given by Shirin Sherkat-Khameneh on Monday 4th May 2009 at 4pm in Room F29. Merchiston Campus, Edinburgh Napier University
 
Title:      "Don't blame the Project Manager-the problem can be the status of your IT Governance"
 
 
Abstract:   Project Management needs IT Governance to deliver the right solutions at the right time effectively and efficiently.  Using examples from the Technology and Public sectors, this seminar will discuss the symptoms of ineffective IT Governance and how they impact Project Management and what Project  Managers can do to help address the issues.
 
 Brief Bio:  Shirin Sherkat-Khameneh is a Management Consultant with over 25 years experience working in the Technology and Public sector. She has been involved in business process  improvement for over 20 years and has championed the delivery of a number of IT Governance frameworks. Her most recent appointment was for the Scottish Parliament.
 
 If you wish to attend, please contact me ( p.chita@napier.ac.uk )  to reserve a place
 
Pritam Chita
  
Lecturer in Software Project Management
School of Computing
Edinburgh Napier University
 
 
Tel: +44 (0)131 455 2708
Fax: +44 (0)131 455 2727
Mob: +44 (0)777 556 0717

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Re: [AgileScotland] Introducing our day time "Agile clinics" - a little free, friendly help if you're struggling.

Hi everyone,

Looks like we're holding the first clinic in Glasgow, Thursday the 7th
of May. It'll be in the Starbucks next to Borders book shop next.

I have 2 appointments left.

Clarke