Hi all,

I am on a train right now writing this and my internet connection is somewhat spotty, and by the time I get to where I am headed… well… I will try to sleep (smile).

So, you will see the next cartoon tomorrow. With a new guest blogger!

It is a great one. Something that made me think.

And.

I hope it does that for you too!

Have a great day or evening.

- mike vizdos

PS –> Want to “follow me” on Twitter? I am trying it out to see if people really do read about the details of personal lives that people are willing to share. Let me know and see my stuff at twitter.com/mvizdos.

Interested in becoming a Certified Scrum Master?
Come to my next workshop!

I am writing this blog entry from the beautiful city of Portland, Oregon. Nice place and I am having a great time teaching a CSM Class here earlier today and tomorrow.

Wednesday early early in the morning, I am “off” to Santa Clara for SD West. It is an awesome conference and one that I look forward to attending and speaking at each year.

Now, as most of you may know, I am a total introvert.

Or. This may come as a total surprise to you.

This makes it challenging for me to get up in front of people to speak (imagine that… and I am a Certified Scrum Trainer who does this regularly).

Does this mean it is impossible?

Nope.

I do it.

Why?

Because I really do love what I do for a living, and I hope it shows (from writings here and the public speaking that I do around the world).

Another “insider” tip — most of the times the speakers do not get paid or reimbursed in cash or expenses to speak at the conferences. Big names and Key Notes — probably different.

But folks like me, well, guess where this expense comes from?

My own pocket. Not some corporate expense report either.

Really.

And.

This is OK with me. I truly love what I do and am willing to spend my own money to talk about it.

Yeah, there are “perks” like a shirt and a pass to other speakers and working with an awesome professional conference staff… and what can really beat that (smile)?!?!?

I try to set an example for other introverts around the world to see that anything is possible if you are willing to try.

And learn.

And get over the feeling of wanting to barf in your shoes or die than rather talk to people.

So.

Today’s posting is about the topic of making the most of any “Conference” event.

You know, where there are a lot of similar people congregating in some city trying to learn some new things and and and….

Yes, even if you are an introvert, these things can be fun and actually help you in the future.

Here are my Seven Conference Survival Tips for Geeks

1) Network. Network. Network.

This means bringing along a good supply of current business cards to hand out to everyone you meet (people make fun of me for handing out cards… if that is the worst I can be known for, well….).

Keep an eye open for a “Networking Section” at conferences. This is where you may actually have to talk face-to-face with others.

Suck it up and do it. You may be amazed.

It is a small world.

Work on making contacts — there are people from all over the world here and it is amazing the contacts I have made over the years. Bring a current copy of your resume or be able to email it to someone if they ask — you never know who you may bump into (for me, I can just say “google me” and well, I am out there now…. something that did not happen overnight.

2) Attend Workshops.

And go to some of the night sessions or BoF’s (”Birds of a Feather” - usually an informal gathering with key people in the industry to chat about a specific topic — some like Star Trek (how much more geek can you get LOL?)) and keynote speakers you can grab a beer with. Or buy one for .

Figure out what courses / workshops / trainings / keynotes you want to see.

Conferences can be overwhelming. Listen to feedback from other attendees.

Be flexible and go with the flow when needed.

Maybe… and this may be a big leap for you… attend some workshop or talk on some technology or methodology or bla bla bla that you have never heard about.

Open your mind.

Make some connections to things out there in other parts of the world that may actually have something to do with what you are doing today.

Or…. something you may want to do tomorrow.

3) Spread out.

If you have multiple people from your organization attending - spread out and cover multiple sessions during the same time; when you return to reality (work) following this conference, the stuff you learn can be great input for brown bag lunches.

Or talk about via IM or blogging or even back to talking to yourself (smile).

A lot of what you hear may get you fired up and excited about making swift changes within your organization. Please remember do not make any career ending moves when your return to reality the following week.

4) Leave feedback.

Always.

Most conferences take the feedback of its customers (you and I) very seriously.

If some speaker is awesome — let them know about it.

If someone is absolutely terrible — let them know about it (and why).

Conferences are continually evolving and get better every year with feedback from you and me.

Even as introverts we have a say. Let it be heard! It only takes a few minutes…. and REALLY makes a difference.

5) Have fun.

Yeah, sometimes you are stuck hanging with fellow geeks.

So meet people and start talking to them. It is amazing to see that other people may have the same “problems” as you do in your development shop today — creative solutions flow freely here.

And if you are into male Dolly Parton Cover Bands… well…. I can tell you a story from a few years ago.

Expect the unexpected.

Really.

6) Learn.

Stretch yourself. There are plenty of topics here that you may not know about — now is the time to learn something about those topics.

7) Network. Network. Network.

Oh, I said that.

Hmmmm….. That is the most critical thing in my opinion (smile).

Here is a “final ask” before signing off tonight — if you are attending the SD West Conference — or any other one where I am attending or speaking around the world — PLEASE contact me to see if we can meet face-to-face.

And I promise as long as you are not some hot six foot four supermodel with some name I cannot pronounce, I will not barf on my shoes (I may barf on your hot shoes — shoot…. YOU are the six foot four supermodel).

Kidding.

Really.

Would love to meet fellow introverts.

Or.

Learn from friendly extroverts!
Got any other ideas? Share and leave copious comments. Consider it practice for real-world-networking!

Gotta run….Please send comments, questions, criticisms, ideas, or whatever here.

You can also enter The Forum to discuss this entry and other Scrum topics. Thank you!

Hi all,

OK. So I am not as geeky as I used to be. Especially to some of you reading this blog. But. Um. Errrr…. Uh…. I still code for fun, does that count? And. I work with teams and actually can code when I need to do that?!?!?!?

This coming week will be a three-city-tour for me.

On Monday and Tuesday I am teaching a CSM Workshop in Portland, Oregon. I have a seat or two left if you are interested — see www.michaelvizdos.com/enroll to sign up if you are local or want to hop on a plane there . Or drop me an email and I can offer you a discount for responding to this notice. Discounts are always good. I hope.

On Monday evening I will be meeting with a small group of APLN and other agile people at about 7:30PM local time…. good time for networking and drinking beer or whatever and talking about Scrum or not. If you’d like to attend the “meeting” please contact me off this list.

Wednesday and Thursday I will speaking at a conference (www.sdexpo.com). I’ll send more info later this week about my topic (funs stuff) and if you are interested in meeting please contact me off this list.

I hope you all have a great remainder of the weekend, or — if you are reading this on Monday morning — well…. welcome to Monday! Tony and I have a great comic strip coming to you — as usual — on Monday evening (where ever I am in the world!).

Thank you.

- mike vizdos
www.michaelvizdos.com
www.implementingscrum.com

Ok.

OK.

I surrender.

Please.

Let’s stop the misquotes and fires about the virus-like position that has been taken by multiple people I quoted and see if we can come up with an answer that makes sense for all of us.

Especially you — the reader.

If you recall… two nights ago I presented a comic strip and blog entry about something I had seen over the weekend.

Wow.

I did not even come close to expecting the traffic and responses related to that one.

The first response (of many) came in yesterday morning:

Hi Mike,

I didn’t see Jason’s post, but as a preacher’s kid (make that double preacher’s kid) and Scrum Master (woof), I would take Jason’s comments as a complement. I DO think you are like a preacher - but like you said - not preachy, more like a spiritual leader. Scrum and spirituality are very much linked in my mind because of the emphasis on continuous improvement.

As Ghandi said – “Be the change you want in the world.” I believe that you do that by helping people question their beliefs, behaviors and discuss them. Like you, my pastor does not us what to think or how to think it, but ask those probing questions to help us come to our own core values. I find this to be generally true in the UCC – United Church of Christ.

Anyway – I read your site religiously (ha ha). I use your cartoons to prompt discussion and to keep the humor in the air when things get hard. Please continue to post.

Thanks,
Christy Zuzelo

Ohhhhhhhh K. Um….. Daughter of two preachers kids? Yikes. I will not even delve into THAT topic here (smile) but I am sure Christy is a well-adjusted adult who loves my comics.

[Christy thank you for the note — yours was one of many I wanted to post up here as a follow-up!]

So then,

Out of the blue I see this posting. Ashwin has been a great supporter (albeit it quiet up to his posting!) as most of you are.

Really?

You?

Quiet on this topic?

Why?

Plenty of others are joining into the fray..

HL Arlidge here.

And then someone named Ashwin (another long time reader of the blog) posts this entry.

Wow.

Jason Gorman got the guts (this is an Americanism) to put up his original posting with the cartoon, located here.

Phew. I do not need to post it here! I have permission to do so by the way… but go to his site to see what is happening!

Arlin fired more back here.

And then Jason more here.

Following all of this?

Wow.

Will it continue?

Probably.

is this a good thing?

What do you think? Post a comment or on your blog and let me know!

I do understand that getting stuff like this is important to everyone inside — and “outside” the Agile Software Development Community.

And, for the record, check out my posting on “ScrumMaster and Snake Oil.” A fun read. Or at least I think so.

Thank you.

- mike vizdos
www.michaelvizdos.com
www.implementingscrum.com

PS — I may have missed something here. But please post comments to this posting at the end!

Gotta run….Please send comments, questions, criticisms, ideas, or whatever here.

You can also enter The Forum to discuss this entry and other Scrum topics. Thank you!

Wow.

The posting from yesterday seems to have started some additional conversations today.

And people are taking a stand.

More tomorrow as I see where it leads… and will send you an update on the fun conversations happening around this topic.

Thank you!

- mike vizdos
www.michaelvizdos.com
www.implementingscrum.com

Gotta run….Please send comments, questions, criticisms, ideas, or whatever here.

You can also enter The Forum to discuss this entry and other Scrum topics. Thank you!

Interested in becoming a Certified Scrum Master?
Come to my next workshop!

Good day.

I am sorry I was unable to write about this topic further last evening. Life happens and I thank you for staying with us.

You know how some days you just know things will not come out sounding correct? Last night I had one of those feelings.

So. I stopped.

Until tonight.

Without further ado….

I am blogging about Social Networking Sites.

Now…. before you think you hear crickets singing in the trees from the dead silence you may think this topic deserves…. please hold on and let me explain. There is actually a reason for using Social Networking Sites when you are on Scrum Teams.

Can you think of some off the top of your head?

Seriously.

Think of the possibilities!

Got some? Write them down, as that list — I hope — will motivate you to sign-up or become more active in some of the sites I mention this evening.

Trust me. I know there are a ton of Social Networking sites out there (heck, I am working with a few clients who are developing their own portals for niche markets today!).

I’d like to talk about the main Social Networking sites I am using today, along with “why” I am using them, and for how long. Will it be an exhaustive list?

No.

Do they work for me?

Yes. In different ways.

And.

In an Agile fashion, if it is delivering the results you expect, maybe that is “good enough” for now.

Will these change in the future?

Of course.

So.

Here is a snapshot of a few “Social Networking Sites” I use today (along with my links to them) with the main reasons why I use them.

I use three main Social Networking Sites today.

They include the following:

1. Plaxo
2. LinkedIn
3. FaceBook
4. Twitter.

I use Plaxo to keep my address book on my computer and iPhone up-to-date.

Why is this important?

I see a lot of people move around quite a bit — both personally and from company-to-company. As people become members of Plaxo, it keeps me up-to-date. If I have a business relationship with a person who moves from Company A to Company B, at least I am aware of it. As people then move from Company B to Company X, I know about it and stay informed.

From a Business standpoint, I find this information valuable so I can keep in contact.

Or at least try.

Which brings me to the next one I use, LinkedIn. I have been a member of that service since the product was in Beta many years ago. My personal network has over 500 people (who I have worked with in the past!) and the way this works is to “link you” to other people’s connections — out to what they call “degrees.” From spending the time using this tool, I am approaching almost 4 MILLION other people I can actually contact through the connections my direct contacts with me have.

My link to this profile is just below on the button.

This has been a powerful tool for me at the business level both for introductions to others — and making connections for people that I know and trust. Also, this is a place where people can find out more about me at a professional level, and even feel free to leave (or read) comments from people I have worked with in the past. It is something that I also use when talking to new people I meet and may want to do business with.

At the personal level, I got pulled into 2008 with FaceBook. OK… so this is what I thought would be a totally “personal” kind of site. It turns out that a lot of my contacts from the two services listed above also use FaceBook… and I am learning more about them too.

My “profile information” can bee seen in the little signature thingee below.

Are there other Social Networking sites out there?

Yes.

Will I join them.

Maybe.

I do think as the “open standards” (where the different Social Networking Sites start “talking” to each other and “sharing” information) come about in this space, it will be a lot easier for people to become even more involved.

If they want.

I have personally not hopped on the Twitter bandwagon yet, since I really do not think people need to know everything I am doing every second of every day. Um. I don’t even want to remember that sometimes LOL.

OK. I am now on Twitter. Follow me! Man, how hip am I now!?!?!?

What does this all have to do with Scrum?

Remember.

Scrum deals with what?

People.

Not technology. There are plenty of other Agile Software Development techniques out there for that.

People.

People.

People.

Are you beginning to see how there may actually be a connection to these Social Networking sites and Scrum?

Do some thinking about it.

And get out there and do some personal and professional networking.

It is a small world.

Trust me. I travel it regularly (smile).

Gotta run….Please send comments, questions, criticisms, ideas, or whatever here.

You can also enter The Forum to discuss this entry and other Scrum topics. Thank you!