Collaborative Technologies Conference, Boston, June 19-22

When implementing Agile methods, teams are usually encouraged to reorganize to maximize face-to-face communication, whenever possible.  For example: rather than running a team on two continents, do enough knowledge transfer to allow running two teams, one on each continent - to minimize time zone issues and other communication challenges.  But even co-located teams need tools to facilitate knowledge capture and sharing - a Wiki server being a common tool used by Agile teams, both locally and organization-wide as electronic "information radiators".

But how much technology is really needed in the Agile world of "do the simplest thing that could possibly work"?  How much is "too much" when it comes to tooling?  It's not uncommon to see a team waste significant effort implementing, learning and debugging tools that offer questionable value-add for team output.  A good way to ensure effective use of such technology is to implement it in response to actual, known problems - rather pre-emptively.  Each organization must weigh this carefully in light of their own needs and constraints - preferably in a dialogue involving the team members and customers who stand to benefit most from this collaborative software.

For those who decide there is value in improved technological support for their collaborative teams, the Collaborative Technologies Conference (CTC) may be of interest.  This year it takes place in Boston, June 19-22 and focuses on  "The Future of Collaboration," "Innovation" and "Rethinking Boundaries," featuring thought leaders and technology innovators who will explore both the power of collaboration and its potential pitfalls.  The program is designed to provide insight to allow IT and business leaders to develop and implement a collaboration strategy.

The first day features two notable speakers on Agile culture: Matthew Glotzbach, Head of Products at Google will speak on large-scale Collaboration Culture, and at the other end of the size spectrum, Jason Fried of 37 Signals will speak on Agile Collaboration.

The conference explores the breadth of collaborative solutions, including real-time and asynchronous technologies, from both strategic and tactical perspectives. CTC focuses on the tools and techniques that best leverage the technical, productive and social aspects of IT and workgroup environments to build a cohesive collaboration strategy and empower a connected workforce.

The complete list of the sessions for each theme is as follows:

• Globalization, Innovation and Collaboration in the Networked Age
• Innovations for Real-Time Workplace Business
• Show and Tell: Collaborating in the Networked Organization
• Collaboration Culture at Google

• Attention in an Always On World
• Generational Shifts: Brain Drain and Youth Culture
• Real-Time Communications Dashboards: Making Real-Time Communication Real
  

• Show and Tell: The World is Round
• CIO Roundtable: Moving Beyond Email
• From the Labs: The Best of Research in Collaboration
• A History of Human Communication and the Future of Collaboration

The sessions and workshops at CTC will cover technologies such as:

wikis	blogs	portals
VoIP	calendaring	instant messaging
unified messaging	decision support tools	social software
team workspaces	web conferencing	communication dashboards infrastructure
converged network infrastructure	meeting facilitation software	audio and video conferencing
collaborative content management systems	mobile collaborative applications

CTC is run by CMP Media, a subsidiary of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services.