Learn the story of #booster2014 via my tweets and others I saw and appreciated.
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Wednesday
@Maritwitt #kaizen #Booster2014 pic.twitter.com/CL364iTpYG
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSV) March 12, 2014
Great crowd, fantastic setup at #booster2014 pic.twitter.com/pToLmxBVHX — Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSV) March 12, 2014
The setup at #booster2014 is top notch – power, wifi, coffee, tea, food, breakout areas & conf rooms all spot on.
— anette (@anettebgo) March 12, 2014
My Lightning Talk: The Sound of Just One Voice
I was lucky enough to be in the big room, straight after Gary McGraw’s opening keynote (and coffee), so benefited a little from attendee inertia and “Where are all the other rooms?” plus I’d Purple Cowed the talk a bit by tagging it Chamber Music
.
The Booster Organisers have really set up the main room to be kind to speakers. As well as the 2 big screens at the front, there’s a repeater screen half way back. You can’t see any of these screens directly, so you also have a good sized TV on the corner of the stage as a slide monitor. The Lightning Talks were run strictly to time, so there was an additional screen next to the monitor with a countdown timer on. At the end of your ten minutes, a bell rings and That’s. It. My talk obviously has a lot of media in it, not all of which can be particularly cut short. I know I can do it in 10 minutes in private, but the previous outing went on to nearly 15. Here, I was one summary slide away from completion, and I wittered a bit right at the start. So, overall very pleased with my delivery and the comments both in tweets and in person afterward were just about all positive. I await the formal feedback with interest…
@MartinBurnsSV talking with Simon and Garfunkel playing in the background. #booster2014 pic.twitter.com/yDF1OV2u0h
— Elad Sofer (@eladsof) March 12, 2014
More talks should include Eric Johson shredding. #booster2014
— Austin Bingham (@austin_bingham) March 12, 2014
We wanna be free, and improvise! But skill acquisition (Dreyfus) means we can’t just be free. We need patterns. @MartinBurnsSV #booster2014 — lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) March 12, 2014
@lisacrispin I would so love to get an audience try the Steve Reich piece http://t.co/YLRFj2NHkj #booster2014
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSV) March 12, 2014
@kjscotland @MartinBurnsSV @lisacrispin We did that at conservatory once. It’s hard even with music students!
— John Stoneham (@sirlyric) March 12, 2014
Software devs need cadence, too. But there is individual freedom to improvise around the patterns. @MartinBurnsSV #booster2014
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) March 12, 2014
I’d like to hear more from @MartinBurnsSV. That lightning talk was good stuff. #Booster2014 — anette (@anettebgo) March 12, 2014
Agree. As a musician what @MartinBurnsSV said about improvisation is right. BUT it takes LOTS of practice @drunkcod http://t.co/WpSLlgfSqB — Gary McGraw (@cigitalgem) March 12, 2014
#booster2014 "working as a relatively small team in a large codebase can be lonely, disorienting and confusing" – Robert Smallshire
— Ørjan Taule (@ortau) March 12, 2014
Halflife of people -v- code suggests that 20% of 20 yr old codebases have been worked on by anyone still there @robsmallshire #booster2014
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 12, 2014
Usecases describe *intentional* affordances #booster2014 @sivmhollup
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 12, 2014
Docs are a communication to your future self @sivmhollup #booster2014
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 12, 2014
@lisacrispin Running tests are like Theseus' string when you walk out in the shantytown http://t.co/zyuyHRreb2 @sivmhollup
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 12, 2014
"de-nicify" the ScrumMaster. Dare to challenge the system! @gamsjo #Booster2014 (we need more on this in the open space!)
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) March 12, 2014
Team Double Rainbow @drunkcod & @NativeWired #pink #Booster2014 pic.twitter.com/2GtZ6XDOCl
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 12, 2014
like running, learning requires not only "exercise", but rest and nutrition. @drunkcod #booster2014
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) March 12, 2014
having connections gives you courage – someone you can trust to talk to, help out #booster2014 @drunkcod @NativeWired
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) March 12, 2014
Thursday
Lisa Crispin’s Test Workshop
The wonderful @lisacrispin talking a powerful test cycle model at #Booster2014 cc @dfalconer2000 #atdd pic.twitter.com/qQz5PiVDgG — Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSV) March 13, 2014
"CodingAndTesting is a process that happens together" @lisacrispin #booster2014
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 13, 2014
. @Sivmhollup scribing user personas & exploratory test charters in @lisacrispin's workshop #booster2014 pic.twitter.com/6eT2nKeyIs
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 13, 2014
Timelines as input to #storymapping @lisacrispin #Booster2014 pic.twitter.com/ijWKDTvlVn
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 13, 2014
Upcoming @lisacrispin & JanetGregory book sounds superb for environments with complexity factors – distributed, regulatory etc #booster2014
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 13, 2014
Session Outputs
We prefer bad-stuff to unknown stuff. How smart is that? #booster2014 @pawelbrodzinski exposing some of the flaws in our thinking.
— Tobbe Gyllebring (@drunkcod) March 13, 2014
https://twitter.com/anishakejriwal/status/444149087768952833
Bloom's Taxonomy link I use for creating learning outcomes; Revised Cognitive Domain is 2nd table down. http://t.co/rLtcMaAIn9 #booster2014
— Liz Keogh (@lunivore) March 13, 2014
Fishbowl
This was a great evening session, open to everyone, not just conference attendees. This let the value spread further into the local community.
It’s a boisterous session — not least because it’s straight after the Speaker Dinner, and some strong drink had been partaken — and works as a tag-team: 5 people, 6 chairs. Questions to the panel are put in a fishbowl (on fish shaped cards). Anyone can join the panel at any time, and if that happens, someone already up there has to leave. If you are in the crowd, and are noticed contributing from the floor, you’re dragged up to the platform.
All in all, far better (and for our community, funnier) after dinner improv than you’d get from ‘proper comedians’.
"How do we improve CSS?" "Use tables. You get a better result every time." "OUT, SATAN! OUT!" @MartinBurnsSV exorcises #booster2014 fishbowl
— Liz Keogh (@lunivore) March 13, 2014
"Nobody's defending Powershell, right?" "I will… It's the only thing us windows devs have!" #booster2014 fishbowl
— Liz Keogh (@lunivore) March 13, 2014
"50% of Americans think HTML is an STD. Does that tell us more about Americans or HTML?" Everyone giggling at #booster2014 fishbowl.
— Liz Keogh (@lunivore) March 13, 2014
@halr9000 The fishbowl questions change every 5 minutes. No one tweet is reflective of #booster2014 as a whole.
— Liz Keogh (@lunivore) March 13, 2014
Fish bowl #booster2014 pic.twitter.com/UgNNJ8nuh1
— Anders Hefre (@andershefre) March 13, 2014
"There's a dark side to speaking" "yes, drinking mostly" #booster2014 fishbowl
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 13, 2014
@lisacrispin @anettebgo I think rather than @sivmhollup
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
Friday
You're going to want @eladsof's slide deck for the useful tips on giving feedback. Tho @karianneberg is abt to tweet a pic! #booster2014
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) March 14, 2014
Great advice for effective feedback from @eladsofer #booster2014 pic.twitter.com/J1lwTD9HD2
— Karianne Berg (@karianneberg) March 14, 2014
Having given feedback to a workshop presenter at #booster2014 I'm wondering whether it lives up to @eladsof's standards
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
Show Tuckman's model – forming/storming/norming/performing – to your team members! #booster2014 #eladsofer @eladsof
— Kine Lunde (@kinelu) March 14, 2014
Tuckman curve applies to conferences too. I feel I'm entering the adjourning/mourning phase of #booster2014. So many great ideas and people.
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
.@eladsof mentioned the fabulous Perfection Game in his Leadership workshop at #booster2014. Online version http://t.co/rEVy5APlo4 — Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSV) March 14, 2014
Leadership development at #booster2014 with @eladsof pic.twitter.com/EfhoOHIzQ5 — Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSV) March 14, 2014
Grown leader: chicken, has learned a lot, able to influence environment, and ready to hatch eggs i.e. "new leaders" @eladsof #booster2014
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) March 14, 2014
Opportunity to learn leadership skills w/ @johannarothman in Israel for a week in Nov., contact @eladsof #booster2014
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) March 14, 2014
Top coffee at #booster2014, made by standardised work, so volunteers achieve similar results to baristas pic.twitter.com/ChgOIN9BsK
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSV) March 14, 2014
Closing Keynote
Gojko Adzic’s keynote was so strong that it deserves a section to itself.
"In other industries, flexibility is something customer pays more for. Why do we have to beg for it?" @gojkoadzic #booster2014
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
s/w only industry where we fight to get flexibility w/ biz owners. Other industries u pay more for flexibility. @gojkoadzic #booster2014
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) March 14, 2014
A user story needs a victory condition. Great idea! @gojkoadzic #booster2014 — Elad Sofer (@eladsof) March 14, 2014
“Roadmap? NO! That’s a road. Inside a tunnel! Roadmaps have OPTIONS” @gojkoadzic #booster2014
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSV) March 14, 2014
We are using the word roadmap to describe a tunnel which you enter on one side and exit after 9 month. @gojkoadzic #booster2014
— Elad Sofer (@eladsof) March 14, 2014
Better model for Software Roadmapping: SatNav that dynamically replans, even if you miss turnings, block roads etc @gojkoadzic #booster2014
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
FABULOUS SatNav model idea for Adaptive Software Planning from @gojkoadzic #booster2014. I'm using this one.
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
.@gojkoadzic describing basic Direct Marketing Champion/Challenger practise http://t.co/lAYNusXQJm applied to features #booster2014
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSV) March 14, 2014
.@gojkoadzic smartly prewriting the tweetable quotes on his #booster2014 slides pic.twitter.com/ftiyvNaLJ7
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSV) March 14, 2014
Hierarchical Backlogs are far more flexible than Linear ones, as they give more *Options* @gojkoadzic // Linear Backlogs are Queues
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
"User Stories are Survivable #Experiments" @gojkoadzic #booster2014 cc @hakanforss
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
Scaling Agile is about maximising IMPACTS and OUTCOMES not amount of SW delivered=> just complexity to maintain @gojkoadzic #booster2014
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
Don't scale impact by writing more software. Strive to scale impact by writing less software. The right software. #booster2014 //@gojkoadzic
— Tobbe Gyllebring (@drunkcod) March 14, 2014
Summary Thoughts
Running to the airport – Hej då #booster2014 Vi ses nästa år!
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
@MartinBurnsSV bye Martin, it was so awesome to meet you at #booster2014, and I am going to use your cadence ideas!
— lisacrispin (@lisacrispin) March 14, 2014
Definitely some ideas, formats and people I'd love to see at #lascot14 and to bring to @avegagroup
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
I'm *particularly* glad to see some amazing women presenting at #booster2014.
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
I hugely anticipated @lunivore @lisacrispin but @sivmhollup & @NativeWired both joyfully discovered. All tops in person as well as on stage.
— Martin Burns (@MartinBurnsSCO) March 14, 2014
As a first time attendee and speaker, I’m hugely impressed with Booster. I felt welcomed by the local community and the organisers fell over themselves to be helpful to me even as a lowly lightning talk speaker, to the extent of providing a (musical) keyboard to allow live add-on examples based on a request made very late the previous night. I know that there was so much going on that I couldn’t possibly see, but André Heie Vik was very much front and centre for me.
@MartinBurnsSV I can bring a keyboard.
— André Heie Vik (@andrev) March 12, 2014
I like that it is targeted at the entire software team, and selected talks that appealed far beyond the core code/test community (even if some of the speakers did make the “everyone here is a dev” assumption). It had space for behavioural sessions, and for mob hacking sessions. This was really clear in the attendees, having business and management clearly represented.
The conference is very friendly, and even the ‘star’ speakers are fully integrated into the body of conference goers. I had great conversations with a whole range of people, and was super happy to meet (amongst others) Lisa Crispin, Elad Sofer and Gitte Klitgaard in person for the first time after Twitter discussions, and to get to know Liz Keogh and Pawel Brodzinski a lot better.
Three days away from client work is a heavy investment, but definitely worthwhile. It’s already on my list of conferences for next year, and as I don’t expect to be emigrating over the CFP period, I’ll be submitting a full workshop proposal.
- Compulsory Basic Training - May 14, 2019
- New Slides: Meaningfully Reframing PI Planning - May 14, 2019
- SAFe RTE Class Review - November 22, 2018
Booster2014 By Tweets by Martin Burns is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Thanks for this writeup, Martin. I like how the twitter timeline reminds me of what it was like to be there. 🙂 And, super glad that you want to come back!
Love this post, almost like being back there! Looking forward to meeting you next year!