First full day @ SEPG 2006

After breakfast I decided to walk the mile or so to the convention center. That was a mistake from several angles. I ended up arriving about when I would have had I waited for the shuttle van and for my industriousness I was rewarded with a sinus headache that wouldn't go away all day. (My stash of "Day-Quil" was back at the hotel.) My Transition Partner, Galina (to whom I owe my SEI/CMM/CMMI independent consultant start, by the way) hooked me up with some anti-histamines and a Ricola losenge... I think the losenge did more than the drugs.

The sessions I attended were quite good. So were the opportunities to network. I met-up with the guy coordinating a panel discussion which I'm part of on Thursday and learned that a 4th panel member got his travel plans messed up. A few minutes later I run into David Anderson again and *presto* we have ourselves a 4th panelist. (Thanks David!) We sat next to each other at the next session and were able to squeeze in a few words here and there.

During a break I met with a Senior Editor from a publishing company who wants me to send in an outline for a book I'm writing: How to Get from Estimates to Actuals In the Black.(link is to page of presentations)
Come to think of it, I should make that a blog too. Stay tuned I suppose. (David A. what have you done?!) ;-)

Another positive note is that I had it confirmed for me that the only thing standing between me and getting the authorization letter from the SEI to be a fully Authorized Lead Appraiser, is for the guy in whose inbox the paperwork is sitting. The head honcho, who's always on the road, so stuff like that can rest there for a while.

At the evening reception I spent time talking martial arts with David Greer (a Transition Partner who generously arranged for me to be observed teaching Introduction to CMMI which got me that 'authorized instructor' credential really fast for a lot less money than had I tried to arrange it on my own). One of his aquaintences, whose name must remain confidential for what I'm about to say, tells me that she was talking to a cellular supplier in need of process help. She hung up when the VP of this company couldn't explain what she meant by "someone who can help us implement Agile methods who's also strong in CMMI". The part that earned her the dial-tone response was when this VP couldn't explain what she wanted from Agile or how they wanted to implement it.

In the end, David (Greer)'s friend took my card and told me she'd call the VP with my 411.

Head ache or not... not a bad day. This Agile CMMI stuff is really gaining traction.

Before I sign off I should make note of a couple of things about the conference.

Let's start with these bulky but grows-on-you name badges they've issued every attendee. They're about 4" x 4" X 1" and are attached to a lanyard with both ends on spring-loaded spools. Though awkward as a thing to wear around your neck they're loaded with features and I admit I had not expected to use any of them. Turns out that one feature is terribly convenient... like... grabbing names of anyone you spend a little face-time with and for people you really want to keep track of you can "beam" each other your contact info. You can even use the thing to submit session reviews. The thing is constantly aware and will flash information about you to people as you walk by, but it will also flash a message to an onlooker about themselves... Like I caught it telling an exhibitor to hold his tag up higher. Nifty.

Next I want to mention that I really feel the SEI is going all-out to welcome SEI members. They've set up a lounge whose couch my aching head sorely needed and if promotional do-dads are any measure, they're really giving us some useful stuff.... not kitsch.... beyond the snappy briefcase everyone got.

In any case, I'm having a good time and the experiene has been far more positive than I expected. Next year's conference is in Austin. Hee ha cowboy!