Next meeting:   May 7, 2013 at the Marlboro College Graduate School in Brattleboro.

1-4,   lunch included, courtesy of our sponsors.

Two presentations:   

1:00  Comparing Traditional vs. Agile Project Management -- Lisa Sieverts and Phil Ailes

2:30  Google Sites for Non-profits -- Jil MacMenamin

It's a smackdown! Waterfall vs. Agile Project Management, in the match of the century.

In one corner, Lisa Sieverts, a Project Management Professional with 20 years of experience. She's a scheduling powerhouse, able to use Microsoft Project or Liquid Planner to predict project timelines. In the other corner, Phil Ailes, an Agile-Certified Practitioner. He's used Agile methods to complete successful projects at Fidelity.

Attendees will learn about the most current trends in project management, in an informative and entertaining presentation.

Lisa and Phil both teach Project Management at Marlboro College Graduate School, but which one will win the Waterfall vs. Agile project management smackdown?

About the Speakers

Lisa Sieverts

Lisa is a certified Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP),  a Project Management Professional (PMP), and a board member of the Greater Monadnock Region Chapter of the Project Management Institute.

An MBA graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, Lisa moved to New Hampshire and started Facilitated Change in 2003 after twelve years at Hewlett-Packard.

She teaches at the Masters level for the Bard College MBA and Marlboro College Graduate School, is an experienced meeting facilitator and workshop leader, and has been a featured speaker for many groups, including Project World Boston, PMI Keene NH, PMI-SNEC, the Hannah Grimes Center for Entrepreneurship, the Peterborough and Keene NH Chambers of Commerce, and the American Society for Quality – NH Chapter.

Lisa is a member of Toastmasters and a member of the board of the Monadnock Folklore Society. You can find her calling contra dances every Monday night in Nelson, NH.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | http://lisasieverts.com

Phil Ailes

I’m a highly motivated training and development professional with over thirty years experience in the field of IT, product, technical and sales training. I have the ability to establish and lead enterprise-wide, training initiatives ensuring positive results.

Specialties: Agile/Scrum training and coaching, IT Management training, Classroom and on-line course development, Face-to-face course delivery, On-line course delivery, Exceptional interpersonal skills, Facilitate meetings, Adult learning principles, ADDIE Model, Communications skills

http://www.linkedin.com/in/philailes

Google Sites for Non-Profits

Google Sites are a SAFE, Robust, Free way to create interactive web sites for a Non-Profit, Friends, Favors, Volunteer groups, as well as the ability to handle most of your own needs with ease.

Combine the collaborative features of Google Documents to create web pages that can easily be updated and maintained by a single person - or group of people, as well as commented on.  Sites can be open to the Internet World, private or only available to those you designate.

Your G-Mail login is your gateway to the collaborative & ever expanding world called Google.  And Google Sites is how you organize those tools into a cohesive whole.

1 hour overview

About the Speaker

JilMac Jil MacMenamin

Jil MacMenamin is a Web Database Consultant at her company Mac-Rand Systems & Designs.  JilMac works with clients’ Web Databases that include:  MySQL, PostgresSQL, PowerSchool–Student Information System, Sage/Peachtree-Accounting.  Interfacing with Merchant Accounts, e-Commerce, Third-Party Vendors, Google Sites/Applications, or whatever creates a whole system for a client.  Small network setup, hardware procurement, security, and software installation enable her to build systems from the ground up that allow clients to have the entire Web 2.0/3.0 experience.  She is frequently referred to as a “Jil of all Trades”.

She has extensive experience in Database Programming & System Development, Software testing, Data Warehouse Report Generation, and Corporate Training.  Developing documentation and procedures that is comprehensive for all levels of users, technical & management staff is a trademark.

JilMac’s On-Line Teaching includes On-Line Adjunct Faculty since 2003 and On-Ground since 1985 at the Community College of Vermont, an innovative State Collage.  Because CCV’s directive is to bring education to every Vermonter where they live or work.  They have been on the front line of technology to support their directive.  She has been an active faculty contracted to teach the teachers for some of those technologies.  JilMac is also an Adjunct Faculty at Greenfield, Mass Community College & Marlboro Graduate School in Brattleboro, VT.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | http://JilMac.com

 

Web Designers and Developers:  Wireframes and Comps -- Tools and Tips

The April meeting will feature members sharing their favorite tools and tips for preparing wireframes and comps (composites) for website projects.   Please come and share your process and favorite tools.   Barb will show Adobe's touch app:  Proto  for making interactive wireframes.   There may be time for users to experiment with the ipads.   NOTE:  Barb just found out that Adobe has pulled support for this Touch App, and it is no longer available.  Other wireframe/prototype software will be discussed, along with criteria for selecting software,  as well as alternatives to dedicated wireframing software, including PhotoShop, Fireworks, Keynote, Illustrator, InDesign, or just plain HTML and CSS!

It was an interesting exchange among the dozen or so attendees, and we learned about Sequence Diagrams from Kevin, and Mockingbird from Dave.

2 pdfs from Barb's presentation:  

keynote presentation with web addresses (as pdf)

chart of wireframing/ prototyping software and apps (as pdf).

April 2, 2013  from 1-4 at the Marlboro College Grad School in Brattleboro.   Lunch is provided.

Want to be on the slate for a mini-presentation -- you can qualify to be in our software giveaway drawing in June!    Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Coming up....

We've got a presentation lined up for May with Lisa Sieverts and Phil Ailes, comparing Traditional and Agile Project Management styles.   And Jil Mac will talk to us about what she's doing with Google Sites.

June is wide open.    Be in touch if you have a presentation you'd like to offer, or a suggestion of a speaker we should contact.

August meeting will include a presentation on Using Pinterest for your Business and ????

We'll have another meeting with a focus on Photography in August or September with Tom Singleton and ????

Your Suggestions are Welcome!

What topics do YOU want to learn about?   Have any suggestions for topics or speakers?

Our March meeting was a continuation of the February work session --  we got Zoo configured for Book Reviews and a Member Directory.   We need to make some decisions about Joomla! memberships for members with privileges to post Book Reviews and Directory listings.  So far we've just been sharing a generic login, but that doesn't give us the granular control over who can edit and update what......

Dawn and I have both been flat out busy  (that's not a bad thing...)  so we haven't made any further progress since the March meeting.    Maybe this month will be different....

Barb

In a continuum of our focus on developing websites, this months NEAUG meeting will begin with the installation of a Wordpress site and the initial installation and build of our new NEAUG website.  Please review the notes from our strategic plan which is outlined below and come prepared to contribute to our own mini agile blitz!

Barb’s wish list of functionality:

1. Forward   emails from Adobe to be posts in a News from Adobe category?
2. Meetings and past meeting notes combined into one blog category – reverse chronological by meeting dates.
3. Allow commenting – for sharing a summary, keypoints, or questions / clarifications from presenter. Matt suggested that the presenters would “subscribe to the feed” for that particular post and then would get emails when a comment or question was posted.
4. Page for member benefits – one place to find it all -- could be a protected page with a password (which we would share with google group members)
5. Submit book reviews directly -- Could this be a custom item type with author title publication date, publisher fields? -- Sortable list or table of reviews?   Matt suggested a custom post type and /or Gravity Forms for users to submit book reviews.
6. Member directory:   graphic artists, web developers, etc.?   Submit info and have it be approved for “active” members --   decide how to define “active” Matt said there was   a plugin called Magic Members that might work for this.
7. Sponsors would be another custom post type.
8. Page to explain and highlight Google Groups signup – clear up confusion about “membership” in this group.
9. Social “Share This” links on all posts – make it easy for folks to invite their friends and colleagues to our meetings.

Primary goals of site:

• Public announcements of meetings
• General time /place / directions
• Specific agendas
• Book Reviews (so that publishers will keep donating)           
• Communication re: benefits for Neaug members
• Communication of news from Adobe

UPDATE (January 15th, 2012):

Jason Mark just sent over a follow up recap for this engagning blitz, here's the scoop:

Jason Mark just sent over a follow up recap for this engagning blitz, here's the scoop:

Hello NEAUG!

Thanks again for inviting Gravity Switch to your November meeting. We had a lot of fun with our FIRST EVER public Blitz Build.

I had intended to keep you all up-to-date on the progress on the Epi-Center website, but between the holiday rush, and my talks at Android DevCon in San Fran the first week of December, I haven't had the chance.

For those of you who are curious about how the process panned out, you can see the finished site here:

http://www.epi-ctr.com/

•  There were a few tweaks to the design, but it pretty much stayed the same.
•  We found stock background imagery that was *just right* for the client's target audience, these three photos alternate with a page refresh.
•  We did some fun slide-out options on the left-hand side of the page for "contact us".
•  We worked with their copywriter to get the content polished.
•  We went live just about a month after you saw us working.

Thank you all again for joining us, and we hope to see some of you at the Western Mass Drupal Camp at UMass this Saturday (both Jason and Kayleen are presenting):

http://drupalcampma.com/

Thanks for the awesome turnout to this November meeting! What an experience....

Thanks so much for having us up on Tuesday.

Please also pass along my thanks to everyone who attended and was part of our grand experiment.  There were a lot of firsts for us:

1. First public blitz
2. First time we've done the GAPS (Goals Audience Problems Solutions) *before* the blitz
3. First time we worked in such a limited timeframe
4. First time we left the client alone in the middle of a blitz
5. First time we used Go To Meeting to share screens
6. First time we used that particular software for presenting designs
7. First blitz in VT

Many of the technical things we did were brand new, as was the design and the client too, and as I mentioned it's the first project I've managed in years.

Some of the new things worked great, some worked OK, some need work, but that's all part of agile, you fail quickly and do better next time!  We learned lots, build something awesome and came away inspired by the positive energy that people gave back.

So thanks to NEAUG for having us and being a great audience!

And Mark Madison, a member and attendee has the following feedback on the day:

Good morning,

I just wanted to thank you all for the best NEAUG meeting ever and I've been coming to them for a long time. What Jason accomplished yesterday in 3 hours was mind blowing. Thanks for all your efforts.

I was just thinking how cool it would be if I could post these comments on the website.

Thanks again,

Mark

Madison Computer Services

Here's a recap of the presentation

Agile in Action  - Why Agile Web Development Means Less Risk & Happier Clients.

Think about the last web project you worked on?  What were the most successful and rewarding parts?  What were the most painful?  

Like most modern web firms, at Gravity Switch we're always trying to improve our process. A few years ago, we did an audit of our workflow and we realized the most challenging parts of our web design process were around waiting and delays.

    * Waiting for feedback.
    * Waiting for answers.
    * Restarting that thing you were working on last week.
    * Forgetting what was talked about last month.
    * Staff changes at a client's location
    * Strategic changes for a client over the development process

So, we made a concerted effort to eliminate risks and improve communication but removing any unnecessary "empty time" in the project.   What we ended up with is an amazing process that is more fun, more successful and less risky for everyone involved!

You can read a little about our very successful process here: http://bit.ly/STN07Q.  You can also join us for a real-world demo and see Agile in action!

This event will be presented and moderated by Jason Mark.  In addition to his college teaching experience, Jason consistently gets top ranks on his talks on topics such as: project management, web development, mobile development, graphic design, and business development.  With Jason at the helm, Gravity Switch continues to be the leader in New England at Web and mobile applications development. In addition to software design, Jason has written and collaborated on a handful of children books.  Jason also created ePub books, some of which are currently available in Apple's iBook store.
 
Feel free to tweet @JasonNMark (http://www.twitter.com/jasonnmark) if you have any questions or specific points you'd like him to cover in his presentation (careful there's a double "n" in that twitter handle).

Jason also shared a link to a recently published article  "6 Steps to Becoming a Better Programmer".