Having sold out early in the past two years, next year in Toronto the Agile Alliance will scale up their annual conference from the 1100 limit of the past two years to 1600+ attendees. They'll also try a new formula, hoping to inject more agility and intimacy into the creation and execution of the conference: it will be modeled on a Music Festival. The last conference is barely over, and already practitioners are taking stock of what they have to contribute to their community of practice, in preparation for the formal call for submissions to come out in December.
The "stages" within the "festival" have been selected already, esigned and organized by experts, acting as stage producers. Each stage will have a feel of a smaller, focused mini-conference while providing the conference attendee with a wide choice of stages to choose from, including a French language stage! The program committee (headed by Grigori Melnik) welcomes submissions targeted at audiences of all experience levels (beginners, intermediate, advanced). Members and non-members of the Agile Alliance are invited to submit ideas and proposals for sessions to a specific stage via an online submission system which will be available in December. Watch for further information here and on the conference site.
There is now incentive to start early: applying the core agile principles of iterative development and feedback, this year review will begin as soon as a submission is received, rather than waiting for the cutoff date. The real benefit of submitting early: this year submitters can respond to feedback received and update their submission before final acceptance decisions are made.
All proposals will be open to review by the entire community as well as by the experts committees, with the exception of research papers (which require confidentiality).
With so many changes happening at once, it will be interesting to see how the community responds to the process and events of Agile2008.
The "stages" within the "festival" have been selected already, esigned and organized by experts, acting as stage producers. Each stage will have a feel of a smaller, focused mini-conference while providing the conference attendee with a wide choice of stages to choose from, including a French language stage! The program committee (headed by Grigori Melnik) welcomes submissions targeted at audiences of all experience levels (beginners, intermediate, advanced). Members and non-members of the Agile Alliance are invited to submit ideas and proposals for sessions to a specific stage via an online submission system which will be available in December. Watch for further information here and on the conference site.
Agile and Organizational Culture, Producer: Marc Evers; Assistant Producer: Linda Rising
Breaking Acts (New ideas), Producer: Laurent Bossavit
Chansons Françaises (French language stage), Producer: Emmanuel Gaillot; Assistant Producer: J. B. Rainsberger
Committing to Quality, Producer: Steve Freeman; Assistant Producer: Keith Braithwaite
Counterpoint (experience reports, critics, the questioners), Producer: Jon Bach
Breaking Acts (New ideas), Producer: Laurent Bossavit
Chansons Françaises (French language stage), Producer: Emmanuel Gaillot; Assistant Producer: J. B. Rainsberger
Committing to Quality, Producer: Steve Freeman; Assistant Producer: Keith Braithwaite
Counterpoint (experience reports, critics, the questioners), Producer: Jon Bach
Customers and Business Value, Producer: Kent McDonald; Assistant Producer: Greg Goodman
Designing, Testing, and Thinking with Examples, Producer: Brian Marick
Developer Jam (Improving programming skills), Producer: Jeff Nielsen; Assistant Producer: Kirk Knoernschild
Distributed Agile, Producer: Naresh Jain; Assistant Producer: Jutta Eckstein
Leadership and Teams, Producer: Johanna Rothman; Assistant Producer: Mike Griffiths
Learning and Education (Industry and Academic), Producer: Brian Hanks; Assistant Producer: Robin Dymond
Live Aid (observe/participate in a live agile project), Producer: Bob Payne; Assistant Producer: Matt Scilipoti
Main Stage (Big names, innovations, sane and insane ideas), Producer: David Hussman, Producer: Jutta Eckstein
Open Jam (Making it up as we go), Producer: Esther Derby
Research (Reports, debate, innovation), Producer: Philippe Kruchten; Assistant Producer: Yael Dubinsky
Tools for Agility, Producer: Rick Mugridge; Assistant Producer: Charlie Poole
User Experience, Producer: Jeff Patton
Sure, like too many of us, you can wait until midnight on the last day to submit... but before the holiday rush begins, this seems a good time to start mulling it over and looking for co-conspirators. Designing, Testing, and Thinking with Examples, Producer: Brian Marick
Developer Jam (Improving programming skills), Producer: Jeff Nielsen; Assistant Producer: Kirk Knoernschild
Distributed Agile, Producer: Naresh Jain; Assistant Producer: Jutta Eckstein
Leadership and Teams, Producer: Johanna Rothman; Assistant Producer: Mike Griffiths
Learning and Education (Industry and Academic), Producer: Brian Hanks; Assistant Producer: Robin Dymond
Live Aid (observe/participate in a live agile project), Producer: Bob Payne; Assistant Producer: Matt Scilipoti
Main Stage (Big names, innovations, sane and insane ideas), Producer: David Hussman, Producer: Jutta Eckstein
Open Jam (Making it up as we go), Producer: Esther Derby
Research (Reports, debate, innovation), Producer: Philippe Kruchten; Assistant Producer: Yael Dubinsky
Tools for Agility, Producer: Rick Mugridge; Assistant Producer: Charlie Poole
User Experience, Producer: Jeff Patton
There is now incentive to start early: applying the core agile principles of iterative development and feedback, this year review will begin as soon as a submission is received, rather than waiting for the cutoff date. The real benefit of submitting early: this year submitters can respond to feedback received and update their submission before final acceptance decisions are made.
All proposals will be open to review by the entire community as well as by the experts committees, with the exception of research papers (which require confidentiality).
With so many changes happening at once, it will be interesting to see how the community responds to the process and events of Agile2008.