Exploring The Rock Crusher: A Flow-Based Model for Backlog Management
The latest publication from the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA®), "The Rock Crusher," offers an agile approach to backlog management, highlighting the power and simplicity of this essential tool in modern agile organizations. This concept emphasizes the importance of the backlog as a single repository from which a team pulls its next most valuable work item, enabling agility through the ability to add, remove, reprioritize, and visualize potential work for a product.
Date and Time
Wednesday, 09/27/2023
5:30 PM - 6:15 PM Free Food and Networking
6:15 PM - 7:45 PM Presentation and Q&A
Location
Concurrency Inc 13600 Bishops Ct, Brookfield, WI 53005 Click here for map.
Cost
FREE - Thanks to our sponsors!
Speaker Bio:
With over 25 years of IT experience, Ms. Wilterdink holds multiple business analysis and agile certifications. As a consultant, Rachael has served clients in the financial, retail, manufacturing, healthcare, non-profit, government, education, and insurance industries. Very active in the professional community, Ms. Wilterdink has served on the boards of both her local IIBA® and PMI® chapters and chaired the Advisory Committees for two local colleges. As a passionate public speaker, Rachael presents various topics at conferences and user groups across the country and the world. Rachael is also a blogger and the author of the popular eBook “40 Agile Transformation Pain Points (and how to avoid or manage them).”
Introducing LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®
Join Dave Snyder, certified LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® facilitator, as he introduces you to LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®. Formally, the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) method is defined as a facilitated thinking, communication and problem-solving technique for organizations, teams and individuals. It draws on extensive research from the fields of business, organizational development, psychology and learning, and is based on the concept of “hand knowledge.” In this introductory session, we will explore some of the theory behind the methodology and look to understand how it can be applied in a software organization or team.
Date and Time
Tuesday, 05/16/2023
5:30 PM - 6:15 PM Free Food and Networking
6:15 PM - 7:30 PM Presentation and Q&A
Location
Landmark Credit Union Corporate office 555 S Executive Dr, Brookfield, WI 53005 Click here for map.
Cost
FREE - Thanks to our sponsors!
Speaker Bio:
Dave Snyder is an experienced software engineer, agile practitioner and Adult Fan of LEGO (AFOL). He believes in using non-traditional methods for achieving business results, as a way to engage people and make sure that all voices not only have a place at the table but can also contribute to a solution. When Dave stumbled across LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®, he was intrigued. After attending training, he was hooked.
Our approach was so hot we messed up our Deployment!
There is no IT value until a service is fully delivered. This includes not only the application being developed, but the ongoing infrastructure management capabilities. Hear a highly entertaining talk on how development projects fail for lack of operational planning and readiness. Learn a successful approach used at other companies that insert operational planning and readiness into their software development lifecycles to ensure a holistic solution is being developed. Learn how operational readiness can be built in parallel with development activities. Hear examples of what works and not works from real industry companies (names withheld to protect the guilty…).
Date and Time
Tuesday, 04/25/2023
5:30 PM - 6:15 PM Free Food and Networking
6:15 PM - 7:45 PM Presentation and Q&A
Location
Concurrency Inc 13600 Bishops Ct, Brookfield, WI 53005 Click here for map.
Cost
FREE - Thanks to our sponsors!
Speaker Bio:
Randy Steinberg has over 25 years of hands-on IT Service Management, development and operations experience gained from many clients around the world. He was the lead author for the ITIL Service Operation book. He was a Global Head of Service Management for a worldwide media company with 176 operating centers around the globe. He recently led a major IT Service Management transformation project for a large government agency crossing implementation of management technologies, process, organizational and governance changes that was awarded an ITIL project of the year award from itSMF. Randy is also the author of several popular ITIL books: Implementing ITSM, Measuring ITSM, Servicing ITSM and Architecting ITSM focused on IT operations support for application development. One client went on to win a Malcolm Baldrige award for the quality of their IT services. He carries ITIL Expert, ISO20000 and PMP certifications.
The secret to getting agile and staying agile
Imagine a world in which organizations grow larger, remain profitable, and fulfill their vision without sacrificing agility. We are about two decades into the agile revolution. As we enter the "Roaring ‘20s of Agility" the need for being adaptable in the fast-paced world we live in is exponentially increasing.
Unfortunately, the majority of organizations are still structured and operated with management models and practices created more than 100 years ago! The default mindset that people won’t “be their best” without pressure from management is still very pervasive.
We’ll discuss changes required to reshape our organizations to be adaptive and responsive.
Date and Time
Tuesday, 03/21/2023
5:30 PM - 6:15 PM Free Food and Networking
6:15 PM - 7:45 PM Presentation and Q&A
Location
Milwaukee Tool, 13135 W Lisbon Rd, Brookfield, WI 53005 Click here for map.
Meeting will be held in the new office building in Brookfield.
Cost
FREE - Thanks to our sponsors!
Speaker Bio:
Chad Beier
Chad is an organizational agility advisor, external change agent, and Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) with Scrum.org. He promotes organizational agility and positive pressure for change through speaking, advising, coaching, and training.
As a trusted advisor, he works with all levels of the organization to optimize your business to respond to change. Developer, project manager, product owner, business owner - Chad has a diverse background that helps him connect with people throughout the entire organization.
In addition to speaking at conferences across the United States, Chad is active in the Wisconsin agile community - organizing meetups in multiple regions (Mad City Agility and Central Wisconsin Agile) and founder of the Mad City Agility Conference.
Jeff Bubolz
Jeff is a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) with Scrum.org, organizational agility advisor, and speaker. He has been a Product Owner, Scrum Master and Development Team member and has worked with companies ranging from enterprise to small start-ups.
While working with many teams across many companies Jeff has found that most problems are not technology problems, but are organizational structure, process, and people problems. Jeff brings storytelling, a broad array of experience, along with a collaborative approach to teaching and speaking.
Jeff is the co-host of The Agile Wire podcast where he speaks with industry leaders around the world. He also speaks at conferences across the United States. Jeff is active in the Wisconsin agile community - organizing meetups in multiple regions (Mad City Agility and Central Wisconsin Agile) and founder of the Mad City Agility Conference.
Thanks to Wisconsin Agility: https://www.wisconsinagility.com/
Join us for our roundtable discussion focused on quality software where we will be discussing QA involvement in a project's lifecycle, test automation, and much more!
Date and Time
Monday, 02/27/2023
5:30 PM - 6:15 PM Free Food and Networking
6:15 PM - 7:30 PM Roundtable and Q&A
Location
Broken Bat Brewing Co. 135 E Pittsburgh Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53204 Click here for map.
Cost
FREE - Thanks to our sponsors!
Speaker Bio:
Moderator: Nick Remme
Panelists : Lee Barnes, David Cox, Michael Koepke and Isaac Neher
Nick Remme – Nick is Cuna Mutual’s Director IT Engineering Competency. In his role as a competency leader, he is dedicated to staff development and focused on removing barriers to individual growth, development, and opportunity. As one of the founding members of the Accessibility Council within CUNA Mutual Group, he has been an advocate and change agent in fulfilling our company’s promise – believing that a brighter financial future should be accessible to everyone.
Lee Barnes – Lee is Chief Quality Officer at Forte Group. Lee has over 25 years of experience in the Software Quality Assurance and Testing field. He has been involved in the implementation of test automation and performance testing solutions in hundreds of environments across a wide array of industries. Most recently, Lee has been focused on bringing quality practices (with a focus on automation and performance) to agile and DevOps teams.
Lee regularly speaks at industry conferences including StarEAST/WEST, DevOpsDays, Agile+DevOps East/West, STPCon, EuroStar, and TestCon Europe
David Cox - David is Director of Quality Assurance for HSA Bank, bringing over 20 years’ experience to the role. In three years with the bank David has automated the software testing program for improved quality and speed of delivery. HSA Bank is in the midst of executing a multiyear revamp of public-facing portals and core systems.
Michael Koepke - Mike is the Director of Software Quality Assurance at AccuLynx in Beloit, leading a team of QA Analysts and Engineers in testing SaaS and mobile applications for the roofing industry. AccuLynx is the leading all-in-one software solution for roofing contractors, designed to manage and streamline every aspect of a roofing business.
Earlier in his career, Mike worked as a software developer until moving into QA through opportunities in test automation and performance testing. He developed a passion for automation and consulted with various companies in the greater Chicago area for about 7 years until moving into a leadership position and back to his home state of Wisconsin.
Prior to AccuLynx, Mike spent 14 years at Milwaukee-based Zywave, helping lead their QA team through Agile transformation and the implementation of automated and performance testing frameworks.
Outside of work, Mike is an avid photographer, musician, cyclist, and general lover of any outdoor activities he can find the time for.
Isaac Neher - Isaac is a seasoned software quality professional with over 10 years of experience in software testing. Currently, he leads the Software Quality Automation team at Pkware, a company that specializes in discovery and protection of sensitive data. At Pkware, Isaac is responsible for developing and implementing the company's testing strategy. He also specializes in continuous integration and deployment, enabling teams to get fast feedback on all code changes.
20 Great Agile Debates
After being an Agile practitioner for a dozen years, I still hear debates about many Agile topics that people are passionate about. In this interactive presentation, you’ll hear both sides of 20 highly contested topics so you can decide for yourself.
Date and Time
Thursday, 01/26/2023
5:30 PM - 6:15 PM Free Food and Networking
6:15 PM - 7:45 PM Announcements Followed by the Interactive Agile Discussion
Location
Continuus Technologies 301 N Broadway Suite 204, Milwaukee, WI 53202 Enter on Buffalo Street just west of Broadway Click here for map.
Cost
FREE - Thanks to our sponsors!
Speaker Bio:
Ms. Wilterdink is a Principal Consultant with Infotech Enterprises. With over 25 years of IT experience,
she holds multiple business analysis and agile certifications. As a consultant, Rachael has served clients
in the financial, retail, manufacturing, healthcare, government, non-profit, and insurance industries.
Giving back to the professional community, Ms. Wilterdink served on the boards of her local IIBA® and
PMI® chapters. As a passionate public speaker, Rachael presents various topics at conferences and user
groups across the country and the world. Rachael is also the author of the popular eBook “40 Agile
Transformation Pain Points (and how to avoid or manage them).”
A holiday networking happy hour!
Celebrate the Christmas and Holiday season!
Eat, drink and connect with the MKE-SPIN community at Reunion Restaurant in West Allis on Tuesday December 13th from 5pm to 7pm.
Space is limited and only those registered will be provided with free refreshments and appetizers.
Invite a coworker or business associates.
Hope to see you there!
Date and Time
Tuesday, 12/13/2022
5:00 - 7:00 Happy hour with 2 drink tickets and free appetizers
Parking available in the rear of the entrance after 4pm
FREE - Thanks to our host New Resources Consulting and the Sponsors of MKE-SPIN
Improving Product team process
This workshop focus will be to examine the effectiveness of current internal processes with product teams; we will explore gaps, create goals, strategies, and ideate plans for improvement by building shared collaboration and understanding.
Do you feel like your product teams have good communication or are in silos?
Do you feel like launching new features or products is an efficient process?
Does your company have an aligned product vision?
Do you feel like there is shared alignment on priorities of what comes next in the development cycle?
Date and Time
Monday, 11/14/2022
5:30 PM - 6:15 PM Free Food and Networking
6:15 PM - 7:45 PM Announcements Followed by the Workshop
Location
Continuus Technologies 301 N Broadway Suite 204, Milwaukee, WI 53202 Enter on Buffalo Street just west of Broadway Click here for map.
Cost
FREE - Thanks to our Host - Continuus Technologies
Speaker Bio:
Kristine Howell and Elise Georgeson of Lyssna Method
Kristine builds long-lasting, ongoing client relationships. She aims to approach projects as a strategic partner while building and cultivating a highly collaborative, goal-oriented, and measurable outcome. She has worked on projects including Aetna, Verizon, Milwaukee Bucks, Harley Davidson, and Disney with hundreds of hours in qualitative and quantitative research.
Certifications: NN/g (Nielsen Norman Group) exam-based UX Strategy Masters Certification.
Elise brings 15+ Years of award-winning digital experiences with an emphasis on product and experiential working with such clients as SAP, MTV, Adobe, NFL, and BlueCross. Her approach to creating amazing user experiences is through listening, using data, and user feedback to inform the best possible outcome that aligns with every business.
When people talk about agile at their organizations, they often say they are "agile-ish".
What does "ish" mean? "Ish" typically comprises the things that are holding us back from realizing organizational agility.
Join us for a discussion on how to move from agile-ish to agile.
We will cover the three stages of agile maturity and how to take it to the next level in each of them.
Date and Time
Thursday, 10/20/2022
5:30 PM - 6:15 PM Free Food and Networking
6:15 PM - 7:45 PM Presentation and Q&A
Location
Milwaukee Tool, 13135 W Lisbon Rd, Brookfield, WI 53005 Click here for map.
Meeting will be held in the new office building in Brookfield.
Cost
FREE - Thanks to our sponsors!
Speaker Bio:
Chad Beier
Chad is an organizational agility advisor, external change agent, and Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) with Scrum.org. He promotes organizational agility and positive pressure for change through speaking, advising, coaching, and training.
As a trusted advisor, he works with all levels of the organization to optimize your business to respond to change. Developer, project manager, product owner, business owner - Chad has a diverse background that helps him connect with people throughout the entire organization.
In addition to speaking at conferences across the United States, Chad is active in the Wisconsin agile community - organizing meetups in multiple regions (Mad City Agility and Central Wisconsin Agile) and founder of the Mad City Agility Conference.
Jeff Bubolz
Jeff is a Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) with Scrum.org, organizational agility advisor, and speaker. He has been a Product Owner, Scrum Master and Development Team member and has worked with companies ranging from enterprise to small start-ups.
While working with many teams across many companies Jeff has found that most problems are not technology problems, but are organizational structure, process, and people problems. Jeff brings storytelling, a broad array of experience, along with a collaborative approach to teaching and speaking.
Jeff is the co-host of The Agile Wire podcast where he speaks with industry leaders around the world. He also speaks at conferences across the United States. Jeff is active in the Wisconsin agile community - organizing meetups in multiple regions (Mad City Agility and Central Wisconsin Agile) and founder of the Mad City Agility Conference.
Thanks to Wisconsin Agility: https://www.wisconsinagility.com/
First annual golf social
Join the Milwaukee Software Process Improvement Network (MKE-SPIN) as we host our first annual social golf outing.
Network with Peers and the MKE-SPIN board members while playing 9 holes and enjoying an open bar. Tee times start at 2:45.
The cost is $25 and will include golf, cart. We encourage you to invite a coworker or two to join the fun.
Date and Time
Tuesday, 09/27/2022
2:30 pm Register and get cart assignments
2:45 pm - Golf with happy hour to follow
Location
New Berlin Hills Golf Course 13175 W Graham St, New Berlin, WI 53151 Click here for map.
Cost
$25.00 for golf and cart
What keeps CEOs up at night?
Join our panel of UX experts to share the top 5 challenges businesses face today and UX trade secrets to stay above the competition, experience sustainable growth and build predictability in customer loyalty.
Date and Time
Thursday, 05/19/2022
5:30 PM Free Food and Networking (2 drink tickets provided)
6:15 PM Announcements and board elections
6:30 PM Panel Discussion with Q&A
Location
The Hot House Tavern Second Floor Library N88W16631 Appleton Ave, Menomonee Falls, WI 53051. Click here for map.
Cost
FREE - Thanks to our sponsors!
Speaker Bio:
Moderators - Kristine Howell and Elise Georgeson bring a combined 30 years of experience in product leadership and design from startups to Fortune 500 companies. In 2021 they co-founded Lyssna Method, a UX consultancy that specializes in creating strategies for passionate product and entrepreneur leaders to increase customer loyalty and revenue growth by measured, actionable insights.
Registration is currently closed.
Protecting Wisconsin from the Cyber Threat
Wisconsin’s private and public businesses and organizations are under constant threat from ransomware and other cyber intrusions. This session describes those threats and identifies some possible mitigations for them. The importance of fostering robust public-private partnerships to combat these threats is highlighted.
Westallion Brewing Co. https://www.westallionbrewing.com/ 1825 S 72nd St, West Allis, WI 53214 Click here for map.
Cost
FREE - Thanks to our sponsors!
Speaker Bio:
Byron Franz is a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and has worked national security matters for 25 years. He currently serves on FBI Milwaukee’s Cyber Squad, where one of his responsibilities is to raise awareness of cyber and insider threats to business, academia, and state/local governments. He is FBI-certified to conduct cyber investigations and rated as proficient to work counterintelligence investigations by the U.S. Intelligence Community. He holds a B.A. in Russian and a law degree, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
