Comments on: A Personal Retrospective on the Agile 2009 Conference

By: johanna

johanna — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:44:46 +0000

Mark, there are two parts to the submission system: reviewing each submission, and decision-making. I agree that using a spreadsheet for decision-making is a good idea. I was referring to the lack of comments on each submission. Not getting feedback doesn’t help proposers know what to do to help a session be accepted.

By: Mark Levison

Mark Levison — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:12:03 +0000

First of all thanks for all the hard work and effort you put into the conference. It was a great success.

You remark it was frustrating that stage reviewers didn’t use the review system. Personally I only made limited use because I found the system awkward when trying to deal with 80+ sessions on our stage. I needed a way of seeing all the sessions at once – to appreciate the tradeoffs we were making. 80+ tabs in firefox doesn’t help. In the end we used a spreadsheet since it makes a bit easier. See: http://www.notesfromatooluser.com/2009/03/reviewing-the-review-process-for-agile-2009.html for more details.

By: Rachel Davies

Rachel Davies — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:30:28 +0000

Johanna, I appreciate all of the time you put into Agile2009. You did a fabulous job and made many tough but sensible decisions (such as no conference CD, no printing presenter handouts, no presenter supplies).
I was chair for Agile2008 and I did try to track time spent but after April I didn’t have time to keep tracking it :-)

By: Chet Frame

Chet Frame — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:36:20 +0000

Congratulations, Johanna! It sounds as if you did the main things right. Site selections, programming simultaneous tracks, getting people (speakers and attendees) to show up at the right time and the right place, are the main things. Getting the participants’ feedback into the speakers’ hands in minutes or hours is a small thing for most event managers, but it is really important. Simplifying the registration process and payment, and getting it all done on time. It requires a great project team and it sounds like you had one. A synthesis of committee members, speakers, and service companies that all came together. Great news!

By: Mike Russell

Mike Russell — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 02:37:12 +0000

Echo the previous comments!

Enjoyed it both as a speaker and attendee …

Thanks!

By: Olivier Dupuis

Olivier Dupuis — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:27:12 +0000

Johanna, I attended the project portfolio session and wish to thank you again for what was probably my highlight of Agile2009. I took out many valuable lessons that are already being used with my team.

Thanks again!

By: Christopher Avery

Christopher Avery — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:47:50 +0000

Johanna,

I join George Dinwiddie in appreciating you and your leadership. As I told you in Chicago, it was evident you not only made a bunch of great decisions about Agile2009, but that you built/led/herded or otherwise collaborated with a great team.

I had an absolute blast in Chicago. The energy of the conference was great. I also enjoyed the review process both as a proposer and a reviewer. As a speaker I felt 100% supported by your event team, speaker service area (Natalia and team were amazing), and in-room volunteers. And I didn’t think any of the problems with wifi, cell reception, or distance between meeting rooms was that bad. I quite enjoyed getting to pass through the hotel lobby frequently enough to see the light of day.

From my vantage the community has much to appreciate about the organization and execution of Agile2009. Thank you.

By: johanna

johanna — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:51:06 +0000

George, wow, blush! Thank you.

By: George Dinwiddie

George Dinwiddie — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:36:35 +0000

Johanna, I doubt that it’s visible to most people how much effort you put into the Agile 2009 conference. That’s the nature of competence–it doesn’t show as much as when things go wrong.

I never doubted that you would do an excellent job. I did doubt that you would be able to earn a living at the same time. You amazed me by not only doing so, but also writing a book. Incredible!

Johanna, I appreciate you for leading a truly wonderful conference, and for doing so with so much openness, transparency, and accessibility. Sure there were problems and complaints–that will always be true. But your leadership avoided the serious problems that often beset such a large endeavor. Thank you.

By: Eric Lefevre-Ardant

Eric Lefevre-Ardant — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:06:22 +0000

“I thought I’d asked enough questions when I asked for commitment, but I did not.”

I wonder how much information you obtain, though? Consciously or not, I’m not sure many people would tell things as they are. Also, their situation may change between September and August.