My team is putting on an event in a number of different cities in the coming months.  To register, click on the link for your city:

Here is the detailed information about the event:

Agile methods are a set of development processes intended to create software in a lighter, faster, more people-centric way. Many development teams have adopted "agile" methodologies to manage change and to improve software quality. These methodologies promote continuous integration as a practice to build and test software products incrementally as new features are included, bugs are fixed, and code is refactored.

This one-day seminar will walk provide an overview of Agile Software Development, its principles, methods and values; highlighting of the most widely used, and simplest to apply Agile method  known as "Scrum". 

Please join Microsoft and Neudesic, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for this one-day seminar.  Thank you, we look forward to seeing you there!

COURSE OVERVIEW

Introduction to Agile (What, Why)  |  Agile methods are fast becoming commonplace in software development practices for many organizations. However, they represent a significant paradigm shift in the way in which stakeholders and team members are engaged, projects are planned, manner in which the team reacts to change, and which teams work together.  The session will provide an overview of Agile Software Development, its principles, methods and values.  Participants will learn the reason why Agile Methods are gaining share in software projects and driving up ROI. 

Scrum Essentials  |  Several methodologies live within the space known as "Agile Software Development".  One of the most widely used, and simplest to apply Agile methods is known as "Scrum".  This session teaches the essentials of how to use "Scrum" on projects, focusing on the techniques and practices that development teams require while working on an Agile / Scrum project. The session will provide the required practices, roles and rules of Scrum, and answer specific questions about how to apply Agile Methods (via Scrum) to projects. Participants will review how a product backlog is used to plan a sprint, and learn how to read project status through a sprint backlog and burn down chart.

Agile Planning and Estimation  |  Session teaches how to plan the scope and schedule of a Scrum project, focusing on hands-on project planning techniques for Agile teams. Requires familiarity with Agile software development (or prior attendance to the above sessions).

The following areas are discussed -- how to:

• Set up a winning project "constraint profile"
• Manage customer / user scope expectations
• Create a release plan
• Create and prioritize a product backlog
• Use relative estimating
• Measure team velocity

Team Foundation Server |  See how Microsoft’s Team Foundation Server can support your team’s Scrum process to fully benefit from Scrum’s practices and rules.  In this session we’ll discuss how you can use TFS to leverage the Scrum essentials learned in the earlier session.

C-Level Speaker  |  In this final session, we will hear a “real-world” example of how Scrum is successfully being used today in a development organization.

AGENDA

Tuesday, September 23, 2008
8:30 AM-9:00 AM	Registration, Welcome & Breakfast
9:00 AM-10:30 AM	Introduction to Agile
10:30AM-10:45 AM	Break
10:45AM-11:45 AM	SCRUM Essentials, Part 1
11:45 PM-12:45 PM	Lunch
12: 45 PM-1:45 PM	SCRUM Essentials, Part 2
1:45 PM-2:45 PM	Agile Planning & Estimation
2:45 PM-3:00 PM	Break
3:00 PM-4:00 PM	Team Foundation Server
4:00 PM-5:00 PM	C Level Speaker

Hope to see you at one of the events.