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AyeNewsletters2007

AYE News 8.1: Announcing AYE 2007

I hope your 2007 is off to a good start!

Your AYE hosts are back from their December hiatus and are busy planning the 2007 conference, scheduled for November 4-7, in Phoenix, Arizona.

As many of you know, last year the conference was different, in a way that wasn't part of the design. Last fall, one of our hosts, Jerry Weinberg, had a medical emergency that kept him from attending AYE. I'm happy to report that last week Jerry was given the "all clear" sign by his surgeon, and is working hard on regaining his strength so he can come back to the conference in 2007.

We've already lined up a wonderful group of guest presenters for the 2007 conference. We'll be bringing back some of the guest presenters you've come to know and love, plus we've added some new faces to the list. I'll be introducing each of our guest presenters over the course of the next few months.

Part of what makes AYE wonderful is the number of people who come back year after year. That makes the conference feel like old home week, as we greet old friends. Of course, we treasure meeting the newcomers, and meeting wiki-friends face-to-face for the first time.

As in the past, we'll cap attendance at the conference at 99 people. We believe this is crucial to creating a conference where it's possible to make contact, have conversations, and meet most, if not all the participants.

We encourage you to register early for the conference. If you register and pay in full by April 30th, you'll receive our biggest discount. Our very economical early-bird discount has held steady now for eight years.

To register or request more information, visit our website or contact Susie Brame at or , or send email to [email protected]

If you've missed some of our news messages, you can find all of them on the website. In addition to this newsletter, watch our blog and wiki for other AYE news and discussions. We're going to try some new things with the blog, so stay tuned!

Esther Derby

derby [at] estherderby.com <http://www.ayeconference.com/>

P.S. I'm the host in charge of distributing news of AYE, and have been told you might be interested. If you'd rather not receive more news items about our AYE Conference, drop me a line and I'll take you off our list.

And, if you know others who would like to have news of AYE, please let me know their names and e-mail addresses. Thanks.

Once again this year, we're posting articles by AYE Hosts, guest presenters, and AYE participants on our website. http://www.ayeconference.com/articles.html. Consider it a way to get to know us and sample the flavor of the conference, which will be held this year in Phoenix on November 4-7.

In this newsletter, I'll highlight our latest articles, plus some favorites from past years.

We're starting the year with two articles by past AYE guest presenters.

"The Risk of Embellishment", by Naomi Karten. http://www.ayeconference.com/Articles/TheRiskOfEmbellishment.html

You've probably heard the saying that a satisfied customer will tell three friends, and a dissatisfied customer will tell ten. But dissatisfied customers don't simply make a recitation of the facts, they give a dramatic re-creation of events. Naomi tells about the risks of poor customer experience stories, and suggests turning the tables with positive outcomes.

"An email to Jerry Weinberg, Paul Coyle, and other who may contemplate systems from time to time", by Dwayne Phillips http://www.ayeconference.com/Articles/ThinkingAboutSystems.html

Dwayne ruminates on words that have no rhymes, flaming food, and what they have in common.

In addition to these two, you'll find over a hundred articles in our archives, including these past favorites:

From 2000, "Aggressive Congruence", by Bob King http://www.ayeconference.com/Articles/AggressiveCongruence.html

Behaving congruently is hard. We don't always say those tough things that need to be said. But to reach our potential for effectiveness we must work congruently and aggressively. Bob shares what he learned about congruence while working at a start up company.

From 2001, "You Can't Test the Wings Back on an Airplane", by Elisabeth Hendrickson. http://www.ayeconference.com/Articles/wingsbackonairplane.html

Quality problems originate long before the testers get their hands on a product. Even in an environment where testers are involved early, testers without training in quality techniques are unlikely to lend much to a quality effort. In short, naming a group "QA" seems to make some people in other groups think they are officially absolved of the responsibility to promote quality practices. Everybody has part of the quality job. Testing's part of the job is to tell when something isn't right, but it can't fix what's wrong.

From 2002, "Climbing out of Technical Debt", by Johanna Rothman http://www.ayeconference.com/Articles/Climboutoftechnicaldebt.html

Technical debt is defined as what a company "owes" to a product they have persisted in shipping in an incomplete or unstable condition. As the technical debt increases, the load on the customer support staff becomes overwhelming, and the developers have trouble adding or changing system features. In this article, Johanna tells you how to recognize the signs, understand how you got there, and begin to dig out.

From 2003, "Beyond Blaming: Congruence in Large Systems Development Projects", by Jean McClendon & Gerald M. Weinberg http://www.ayeconference.com/Articles/Beyondblaming.html

Blaming cultures are too busy finding fault to solve problems. And since they aren't solving problems, there's plenty of blame to go 'round. See how blaming communication can affect projects.

From 2004, "Metrics: Lunches, Looks, and Loops", by Don Gray http://www.ayeconference.com/Articles/LunchesAndLoops.html

Measurement forms the foundation for project management and process improvement. Measurements occur in a system, and events in a system affect the system. In this article, AYE Host Don Gray shows how measurement affects the system, and what to do about it.

From 2005, "Safety Check", by Steve Smith http://www.ayeconference.com/Articles/Safetycheck.html

If you've ever participated in a meeting where you didn't feel free to share your ideas, see Steve's technique to making that information visible.

From 2006, "Peer-to-Peer Feedback", by Esther Derby http://www.ayeconference.com/Articles/PeerToPeerFeedback.html

Have you noticed that occasionally you want to share information with someone, but you aren't quite sure how to do it? Esther offers suggestions on helping difficult conversations go more smoothly.

If you've missed some of our news messages, you can find all of them on our website. In addition to these newsletters, watch our blog and Wiki for other AYE news and discussions. We're going to try some new things with the blog, so stay tuned!

Esther Derby

[email protected] http://www.ayeconference.com/

Greetings from the AYE Host Team.

The AYE Conference <http://www.ayeconference.com> in Phoenix, AZ, November 4-7, 2007 is only eight months away, and the program is starting to take shape. Each year we invite new presenters to add fresh ideas and new perspectives to the program.

Over the next few months, I'll introduce our guest presenters and hosts. You'll recognize some names from past AYE conferences. This week, I'll introduce a newcomer to the AYE conference, Diana Larsen.

I first met Diana several years ago through our mutual friend Norm Kerth. For months he'd been telling me I should meet Diana because we had complementary skills and he thought we'd enjoy working together. Unbeknownst to me, he was having a similar conversation with Diana, telling her she should meet me. Finally, he gave up on that approach and engineered a way for the two of us to work together. Diana and I have been having fun collaborating ever since. We even wrote a book together: "Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great" (Derby and Larsen).

Diana brings years of experience working with high-tech teams and leaders to create productive workplaces. Most recently, she's been bringing her talents to the Agile community.

Diana's three sessions will engage participants in building foundations for high-performance through trust and leadership.

1. Cultivating Trust in Teams: Six Approaches

Lots of folks talk about trust in teams, but few do anything about it. Team observers and members agree that trust plays an important role in teams reaching high performance, but how does trust happen? Team trust involves both trustworthy and trusting behaviors. In this session we'll investigate six ways to accelerate trust-building within teams.

2. Leading from the Middle

Caught between the grassroots and executive initiatives, middle managers experience the pinch of conflicting expectations. What to do? Lead from the middle. How? Get savvy about your organization, your boss, and yourself; then, communicate, collaborate and adapt. In this session you will practice strategies for leading from the middle.

3. Leading Appreciatively

Join in exploring the value of appreciation and an appreciative mindset as we step into leadership - shared or solo, formal or informal, defined or emergent. Looking through an appreciative lens can transform leadership into a magnifier for outstanding performance, for critical day-to-day contributions, for the joy of an unexpected moment, and for the lessons from a difficult experience. Try on the practices appreciative leaders bring to their organizations.

The AYE host team is thrilled that Diana will be joining us this year! Her sessions add practical wisdom to amplify effectiveness.

Watch for future newsletters to meet the rest of our guest presenters (and hosts) for 2007, and to get a sneak peek at the program.

If you've missed some of our news messages, you can find all of them on the website <http://www.ayeconference.com/>. In addition to this newsletter, watch our blog and Wiki for other AYE news and discussions.

For more information or to register for the conference, contact our registrar, Susie Brame. You can reach Susie at , or at [email protected]

One more thing--if you are receiving this email at your work email address, consider switching your subscription to your permanent email. That way you'll continue to receive AYE news even if the company (or the company you keep) changes.

Esther Derby

[email protected] www.ayeconference.com

Greetings from your AYE Hosts.

The AYE Conference will be held November 4-7, 2007, in Phoenix, Arizona.

We have a great line up of Guest Presenters, including Dale Emery, Elisabeth Hendrickson, Naomi Karten, Diana Larsen, and Jean McLendon. And your Hosts will be offering sessions as well: Jerry Weinberg, Johanna Rothman, Steve Smith, Dave Smith, Don Gray, and yours truly, Esther Derby.

This year we're offering a variety of new sessions along with our core offerings. Join us to explore and learn about:

Cultivating Trust in Teams Crossing Cultures Growing Through Differences Renegotiating Using Resistance as Resource (and much, much more!)

Our Super Early Discount rate is $1200, over 40% off the at-the- door price of the conference. This discount is available for participants who pay in full prior to May 1, 2007.

We haven't raised this special early discount since we started the conference in 2000--we know that many of our participants pay for AYE out of their own pockets. (Your company can also enjoy the same savings, if they are paying your conference tuition.)

For the complete discount schedule visit this page, see <http://www.ayeconference.com/conference.html>.

You can register using our secure on-line registration page <http://www.ayeconference.com/register.html> or by calling our registrar, Susie Brame, at or . You can also contact Susie by email at [email protected]

Of course, you'll want to know what you'll get for your money. Our Program Chair for 2007 has posted the preliminary program on our wiki <http://www.ayeconference.com/wiki/AyeSchedule2007>.

Registration is limited to 99 participants, on a first-come, first-served basis.

If you know someone who'd like to be on our mailing list, please forward this message to them. Or, let your colleagues know that they can sign up for these email newsletters on our site. Or, send their email address directly to me (Esther).

In addition to our occasional newsletters, we're posting news tidbits and article announcements (a new article every week) on our blog, <http://www.ayeconference.com>. You can subscribe to the RSS feed for the blog by clicking the bloglines button on our home page.

Writing on behalf of the AYE hosts,

Esther Derby [email protected] www.ayeconference.com

Greetings from your AYE Hosts.

The AYE Conference will be held November 4-7, 2007, in Phoenix, Arizona.

I'm writing to remind you that the deadline for the Super Early Discount is creeping up. In less than three weeks, this discount opportunity will be over (at least for this year).

Our Super Early Discount rate is $1,200, over 40% off the at-the-door price of the conference. This discount is available for participants who pay in full prior to May 1, 2007.

In spite of inflation, and rising costs, we've kept this low price for early registrants since we started the conference in 2000.

Registration is limited to 99 participants, on a first-come, first- served basis. When you register, you will also have priority in registering for the optional Warm-up Tutorial.

You can register using our secure on-line registration page <http://www.ayeconference.com/register.html> or by calling our registrar, Susie Brame, at or . You can also contact Susie by email at <[email protected]>.

For the complete discount schedule visit this page <http://www.ayeconference.com/conference.html>

Of course, you'll want to know what you'll get for your money. Our Program Chair is working on the final schedule, and has posted a preliminary version on our Wiki. To get a flavor of the conference, see <www.ayeconference.com/wiki/AyeSchedule2007>

If you know someone who'd like to be on our mailing list, please forward this message to them. Or, let your colleagues know that they can sign up for these email newsletters on our site. Or, send their email address directly to me (Esther).

In addition to our occasional newsletters, we're posting news tidbits and article announcements (a new article every week) on our blog, <www.ayeconference.com>. You can subscribe to the RSS feed for the blog by clicking the bloglines button on our home page.

One more special tidbit for our AYE News readers: After a five year hiatus, Jerry is offering PSL again, with new faculty (AYE Hosts Esther Derby and Johanna Rothman). The workshop will be June 24-29, in Albuquerque, NM. If you are interested, please correspond directly with Esther at [email protected].

Writing on behalf of the AYE hosts,

Esther Derby [email protected] www.ayeconference.com

... but not quite yet gone.

The AYE Conference will be held November 4-7, 2007, in Phoenix, Arizona.

There's only one week left to register at the Super Early Discount rate.

Our Super Early Discount rate is $1,200, over 40% off the at-the-door price of the conference. This discount is available for participants who pay in full prior to May 1, 2007.

In spite of inflation, and rising costs, we've kept this low price for early registrants since we started the conference in the year 2000.

While this is not your last opportunity for a discount, it is your last opportunity to attend the conference at the 2000 pricing level, the year we started the conference. Our complete price schedule for 2007 is available at <http://www.ayeconference.com/conference.html>.

Registration is limited to 99 participants, on a first-come, first-served basis. When you register, you also have priority in registering for the optional Warm-up Tutorial.

You can register using our secure on-line registration page <http://www.ayeconference.com/register.html> or by calling our registrar, Susie Brame, at or . You can also contact Susie at <[email protected]>.

If you haven't yet, take a peek at the program. A draft is posted on our wiki: <http://www.ayeconference.com/wiki/AyeSchedule2007>.

If you know someone who'd like to be on our mailing list, please forward this message to them. Or, let your colleagues know that they can sign up for these email newsletters on our site. Or, send their email address directly to me (Esther).

In addition to our occasional newsletters, we're posting news tidbits and article announcements (a new article every week) on our blog, <http://www.ayeconference.com/>. You can subscribe to the RSS feed for the blog by clicking the bloglines button on our home page.

To save the most, register by April 30, 2007.

Writing on behalf of the AYE hosts,

Esther Derby [email protected] www.ayeconference.com