Speaker Series
"Creative Process as Seen Through Creative Language"
Who: Jon Wettersten, IDEO
When: October 27, 2009
In this lecture, Wettersten examines communication across the languages of art, mathematics, programming, and music and the implications for the creative process. Wettersten’s topic of discussion centers on the idea that languages used during the creative and design process have themselves also been designed.
Wettersten’s multi-disciplinary background includes major concentrations in mathematics, classical music and fine art—his current occupation finds him in a Senior Application Designer role at IDEO in Chicago.
Speaker Bio
An application developer and design strategist who helps lead IDEO Chicago’s digital experience efforts, Jon Wettersten encourages project teams to push the limits of technological feasibility and supports IDEO’s more strategic projects through their later-stage development processes. Since joining the company in 2007, he’s worked on projects spanning financial services, telecommunications, health, and web and mobile application development.
Jon comes to IDEO with over 10 years of experience in the design and development of user-centered software applications and web-related server-based technologies for a wide range of clients and industries including financial services, retail, publishing, education, and not-for-profits. Immediately prior to IDEO, Jon served as a managing technology partner for a research, design, and development firm where his duties included providing appropriate technology strategies and collaborating with research and design teams on rapid prototyping, among other responsibilities. He holds a BA degree with a concentration in Fine Art from St. Olaf College with continued education in computer science at Northwestern University. A classically trained violinist and avid cyclist, Jon also enjoys sewing, playing tennis, figure painting, and volunteering in his community.
"Software Craftsmanship: Raising the Bar of Professional Software Development"
Who: Doug Bradbury, 8th Light
When: September 22, 2009
Agile began as a developer centered set of values and practices that aimed to uncover better ways to develop software. As the movement has grown, the Agile community has been flooded by managers and agile coaches who see the improved productivity and want to harness it for their companies. As a result, much of the discussion in Agile has moved towards managing people, managing backlogs, managing those typists who write the code. Well typists, where have those eXtreme values that first excited you so much gone?
In the last year, many people have begun talking about Software Craftsmanship. Pete McBreen first coined the term with his 2002 book of the same name. This year a summit in Chicago, a conference in London, a google group, a manifesto, and the recent Software Craftsmanship North America conference in Chicago have brought together craftsmen from all over the globe to refocus the conversation on writing good code.
In this talk, we will explore why the craft meme works in talking about software and the kinds of things being learned from historical craft work. We will look at the values in the Manifesto for Software Craftsmanship and the related ethics statement. We will also talk about what it means to be a professional and to work towards mastery of your craft.
Intentional practice is one of the ways in which many craftsmen are building their skill sets and improving the way they write code. In the second half of the evening, we will do a bit of practice ourselves with a randori. Randori is a group coding exercise where we take turns working on the same piece of code. Your disciplines of testing and writing clean code will be put to the test in a fast and high pressure couple of minutes when you take the stage in front of your peers.
Speaker Bio
Doug joined 8th Light with more than 5 years of software development experience. Doug has written everything from assembly level digital signal processing algorithms to web application with Ruby on Rails. He adds strong real-time embedded C++ experience to 8th Light’s talented and diverse group of software craftsmen. He has worked for companies serving several niche markets including pro audio and speciality printing.
With 8th Light, Doug has contributed to several projects in Ruby, C++, and Java. He was a team member on the Fidelity Life project. He helped craft the Manifesto for Software Craftsmanship and is continuing to contribute to this emerging movement. Doug is the creator of the web based (rails) app Gift of Admin.
Doug and his wife, Jen, are avid travelers, hikers, and skiers. Much of their time is also devoted to teaching and mentoring junior high and high school students in a suburban church.
Summer Networking Session No. 3
When: August 25, 2009
Where: HopCat, 25 Ionia Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
It’s summer! We’ll be taking it easy this summer. No speakers; just each other. Join us to just hang out, network, eat, and drink. We’ll be at HopCat at the usual time.
About HopCat
HopCat was envisioned, designed, stocked and staffed with one mission in mind: to bring you great beer. We specialize in Michigan brews, but also offer a wide range of global beer, with a large Belgian selection. If you’re not in the mood for a beer, you can get a glass of wine or cocktail from our full bar.
Summer Networking Session No. 2
When: July 28, 2009
Where: Bar Divani, 15 Ionia Ave SW, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
It’s summer! We’ll be taking it easy this summer. No speakers; just each other. Join us to just hang out, network, eat, and drink. We’ll be at Bar Divani at the usual time.
About Bar Divani
Divani is Hindi for being crazy in love – something we anticipate you will be experiencing shortly. Our friendly and knowledgeable staff is available to make exploration of the vast beverage selection as dauntless as possible. With over 200 liquors to choose from we will be sure to recommend one that is well suited for you.
In addition to liquor, we have an overwhelming list of wines by the glass, half bottle, or bottle. And beer is fun too: there are plenty of bottle options to choose from as well as a rotating set of local and national hand-craft beers on tap.
Summer Networking Session No. 1
When: June 23, 2009
Where: The Green Well, 924 Cherry Street, Grand Rapids, MI 49506
It’s summer! We’ll be taking it easy this summer. No speakers, just each other. Join us to just hang out, network, eat, and drink. We’ll be at the Green Well at the usual time.
About The Green Well
At the Green Well, an Essence Restaurant Group establishment, we serve honest fayre with local flair in a green, neighborhood setting that keeps customers coming back. Our innovative gastro pub is green beyond its name: Our building is LEED® certified inside and out which means it’s environmentally safe, ultra efficient and leaves behind the smallest possible carbon footprint.
Our creative, ever-changing menu features a global range of eclectic flavors prepared with ingredients from local farmers, and our beverage offering includes a wide array of local craft brews and wines, all to support our local economy.
Our greenness also spills over to our guests who benefit from affordable prices and outstanding service by a fun, welcoming staff.
"jQuery"
Who: Karl Swedberg, Fusionary Media
When: May 26, 2009
jQuery is a powerful JavaScript library that can enhance your websites regardless of your background.
For designers, jQuery leverages existing CSS and HTML skills, allowing you to dynamically find and change any aspect of a page. This talk provides a gentle introduction to jQuery concepts, allowing you to add interactions and animations to your pages – even if previous attempts at writing JavaScript have left you baffled.
For programmers, jQuery offers an open-source, standards-compliant, unobtrusive approach to writing complex JavaScript applications.
Speaker Bio
After having taught high school English, edited copy for an advertising agency, and owned a coffee house, Karl Swedberg began his career as a web developer four years ago. He now works for Fusionary Media in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he specializes in client-side scripting and interaction design. Karl is an “Evangelist” for the jQuery JavaScript Library and the co-author of two books, Learning jQuery and jQuery Reference Guide.
"Software Disasters and Lessons Learned"
Who: Jack Ganssle, The Ganssle Group
When: April 28, 2009
Civil engineers have learned how to avoid failure from their rich history of bridge collapses, tunnel floodings, and building disintegrations. The firmware world is quite different; it seems we all make the same mistakes, repeatedly. Yet most problems have similar root causes. In this talk we’ll examine a number of embedded disasters, large and small, and extract lessons we must learn to improve our code.
Speaker Bio
Jack Ganssle helps developers build better embedded systems faster.
He started, developed and sold three electronics companies; including one of the world’s leading producers of embedded development tools.
He developed or managed the development of over 100 embedded products, including in-circuit emulators, underwater navigation equipment (some used to recover Space Shuttle Challenger’s wreckage), steel thickness gauges, near-IR protein measurement instruments, the White House security system, compilers, colorimeters, numerous classified Government systems… and even one device that analyzed cow poop!
Writing
Jack is the Technical Editor of Embedded Systems Programming magazine as well as author of the magazine’s monthly column “Breakpoints”. He has published over 600 articles on different aspects of embedded development, as well as six books on the subject. On-line, he writes the weekly Embedded Pulse column on embedded.com and is editor of The Embedded Muse, a free bi-weekly email newsletter.
Also an avid sailor, he has written numerous articles on ocean voyaging and a book about his offshore debacles.
Lecturing and Teaching
For over a decade Jack has lectured at symposiums and conferences on electronics and software all over the world. His Better Firmware Faster seminar has helped thousands of developers get products to market faster with fewer problems.
He has presented the Keynote speech at many major events, including the two Embedded Systems Conferences.
Other
Jack currently serves on Embedded System Design’s Editorial Review Board, as well as the boards of several pre-IPO corporations. He has also worked as an Expert Witness.
Jack is a member of NASA’s Super Problem Resolution Team, a team of advisors formed in the wake of Columbia’s loss to help NASA with issues requiring special expertise not available in-house.
“What’s the Right Level of Testing?” and “Pair Parody”
Who: Tyler Jennings, Andy Maleh & Jake Scruggs, Obtiva
When: March 24, 2009
Part 1: Jake Scruggs: "What’s the right level of testing?"
I’ve been on teams with way too little and (heresy) way too much testing. There have been lots of talks about how you should test more, but I’m going to dare to talk about when you should test less. Too much testing can lead to backlash, gridlock, morale problems, and poor velocity. Of course lack of testing can lead to bad design, gridlock, morale problems, and poor velocity. Balance is key.
The level of testing a team can support depends on many factors including: team size, developer buy in, managerial approval, company size, IT support, and testing experience of the team. In my talk I’ll be discussing each of these factors in turn as well as how they interact with each other (for instance: Rabid manager support of testing combined with developer hesitancy can spell disaster). In addition, I’ll be sharing my experiences trying to bring testing to many different teams of varying skill and size. There are strategies for integrating testing that can overcome most obstacles.
Part 2: Andy & Tyler: "Pair Parody"
Of all the XP practices, few have generated as much controversy and misunderstanding as Pair Programming. To help people understand what it is, what it isn’t, and how to do it effectively Andy & Tyler will demonstrate common pair programming patterns and anti-patterns.
Speaker Bios
Tyler Jennings
Tyler Jennings is an active member of many Chicago area user’s groups including CJUG (Chicago Java User’s Group) and CHAD (Chicago Agile Developers). Tyler is passionate about writing software and sharing his experience with others. Currently Tyler Jennings is a Senior Consultant at Obtiva, a firm that specializes in helping development teams transition to Agile methodologies.
Andy Maleh
Ever since he’s written his first computer program at the age of 7, Andy has always been interested in computers and technology. He has been involved with a number of projects in Ruby and Java, utilizing technologies such as Rails, JEE, Eclipse RCP, and Swing. Andy likes to follow agile XP software practices and user interface design best practices. He holds a bachelor degree in Computer Science from McGill University and a master degree in Software Engineering from DePaul University.
Jake Scruggs
{“High School Physics Teacher” => 7.years, “Object Mentor Apprentice” => 3.months, “ThoughtWorker” => 4.years, “Obtivian” => 1.year}
"UE and Agile: Two Great Tastes that Taste Great Together"
Who: Lane Halley, Cooper
Open talk: February 24, 2009
Registration-only workshop: February 25, 2009
This talk will be followed by a workshop on User Experience design. Seats are limited! Registration is now open. More info and registration.
Agile is very popular, and has produced successful products. However, even highly-functional Agile teams can fail because a successful product is more than just well-executed technology delivered on time. Many core Agile techniques (e.g. peer programming, integrated testing, refactoring) are focused on effective development. Often, Agile projects are staffed exclusively with people who write code. How does the Agile process best integrate the contributions of business stakeholders, and other team members? Even if there’s someone on the team who knows and represents the customer, what do you do when you have multiple customers? How do you know that your product will deliver a coherent user experience over time as it evolves? How do you balance feedback from team members and users so you can correctly prioritize and sequence user stories?
In this talk, Lane will draw on her experience with Agile teams to share how user experience design methods contribute to Agile projects and how UE activities can be coordinated with Agile development activities.
Speaker Bio
Lane Halley is a Principal Design Consultant with Cooper in San Francisco, CA. Her career spans the formative years of the interaction design profession. Prior to joining Cooper in 1997, Lane worked in marketing, training development, technical account management and product management roles at SSC, Microsoft, Mindscape and SenSage. While at Cooper, she has helped companies ranging from start-ups to large corporations create compelling design solutions for enterprise and consumer applications, websites and devices and is a popular teacher of CooperU courses. Lane believes that interaction design is a bridge between product management and development, and that user experience design informs and enhances Agile product development.
"Extreme Interviewing: Finding the Right People for Your Agile Team"
Who: Lisamarie Babik, Menlo Innovations
When: January 27, 2009
Some Extreme Programming practices — such as paired programming and open and collaborative workspaces — present challenges to the traditional hiring process as most interview candidates have trouble imagining the transition to such an environment. A traditional interview process might yield candidates who are technically competent, yet ill-prepared and perhaps even unwilling to undertake such a dramatic change to their own ideas of software development practices. This is obviously a problem.
Because the existing team needs to work very closely with new hires, using such practices as paired-programming, their participation is central to the selection effort during Extreme Interviewing.
This talk examines how one organization meets those challenges head on with a practice called “Extreme Interviewing.” During this highly interactive session attendees will attend a simulated interview and participate as both interviewers and interviewees.
Speaker Bio
I have nearly 20 years of experience in the software industry spanning several domains including medical oncology, statistical process control, automotive testing, ISO/QS9000 certification, and FDA Pre-Market Notification (510K). I have been working full-time with Agile teams for almost seven years and have presented on the topic extensively at many conferences (including two international conferences). I am also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).