March 2010 Meeting
The March meeting will be on Wednesday the 10th of March, from 6:30pm to 8:00pm. Our hosts Skills Matter will be providing the space, at their new offices on Goswell Road; The Skills Matter eXchange. It's a great new space and we there won't be the problems we've had in the past with fitting people in, but you still need to register to let Skills Matter know you are coming.
Agenda
Software Craftsmanship
This month Chris Parsons and Corey Haines will be leading us in an evening of exploration of the ideas behind Software Craftsmanship.
Where the agile movement focused on principles for developing better software, the software craftsmanship movement focuses on developing better software developers, growing out of a frustration with the current state of the software development industries. Starting with Uncle Bob's keynote about 'craft over crap', many companies and individuals started looking at concrete ways to advance our field into a true profession; the focus generally resting on two key areas: ways to effectively acquire new practices and ways to bring new people into our field.Chris and Corey will be presenting their thoughts on how this affects businesses and personal careers.
With the emphasis on developer improvement, might we lose the focus on delivering business value? Chris will talk about how craftsmanship ideas have been applied at Eden, showing there doesn't have to be a conflict between these two goals.
The terms 'apprentice' and 'journeyman' are often thrown around without really defining what they mean in terms of acquiring skills and techniques. Corey will discuss these words, describing concrete definitions that go past the FUD often associated with them (nobody is asking you to doff your cap or mop the floors with a toothbrush).
We will then hold a Q&A session and answer people's questions and comments. If there's time, Corey will discuss and perform a code kata, one helpful way to practice our techniques.
Videos of Chris's talk (slides) and Corey's talk (slides) are available on the Skills Matter site.
"Analogue Blog"
After the hiatus in February, the analogue blog will return at the start of this meeting. There'll be about 10-15 minutes available for anyone to get up and say something to the group. It's a open forum for the local community to speak to each other, maybe to announce a newly released gem or library, maybe to ask the rest of the group for some help, or to suggest a theme for a future meeting. The only rule is that you shouldn't go on for too long as there are other people that want to say something too.
Pub
After the meeting we head on over to The Slaughtered Lamb which is about 5 minutes walk from the Skills Matter eXchange. If you can't make it to the meeting, we usually finish up at about 8pm if you want to head along for just the pub bit.
Registration
Skills Matter still prefer that you register your attendance with them if you are planning to come. It's not a disaster if you don't, as there's plenty of space, but it is polite to let them know you are coming so they can set the room up appropriately. You'll also get a name badge, so you really should register.
There's also an upcoming event for those of us that love online calendaring, but this is not a place to indicate attendance in a meaningful way for Skills Matter.
Posted by Murray Steele on Feb 19, 2010