On Saturday, the Toronto Agile Software Development Community had it’s inaugural Open Space event called Agile Open Toronto. It went really well. Lot’s of positive feedback and of course tips for improving next time. Sessions will be posted by conveners here (posts are starting to appear).

The purpose of this post is to share how the event was run for attendees and other Open Space enthusiasts.

Setting up the Space

As a not-for-profit, the City of Toronto provided us with a great space for free.  You can see us setting up below.

Empty Board

Rather than follow the suggested approach of an unstructured bulletin board, we elected to create a grid. Why? We find techies get really frustrated and will sort sessions by time anyway. Note that some of the session slots are marked reserved and only get opened up once there are enough sessions to run all day.

Lawrence Welcomes Everyone

Long-time host of XPToronto/Agile meetings opened the space.

Michael and Gino Pair Facilitate

We pair program, we pair test, we pair coach. We really like working together since it provides variety for listeners and it’s easier to remember everything between the two of us. As you can see, we are walking in a circle to set the tone and explain how open space works.

The Initial Rush

Once the call to action is given, there is a rush of motion and energy as people write session proposals.

The Board at the end of the day

Here’s what the board looked like at the end of the day. You can click on it to see a hi-res version and read the session titles.

Many thanks to all the volunteers: Edwin, Farooq, Tom, Bob, Micrea and others who arrived early and helped out. (If I forgot you, remind me and I’ll add your name)

I am very happy to announce that Michel Goldenberg (CSM, CST) and I will be running some public training in February in downtown Toronto (Residence Inn Mariott at 255 Wellington St West).

• Certified Scrum Master Training – Feb 16 & 17
• Agile Games Day – Feb 18

This is a great chance to learn from not one but two experienced Agile coaches.  If you know anyone who might be interested, please let them know.

Below are the slides from my first presentation at AgileTourToronto. This is a new one I prepared to communicate Agile to C-Level Management.

Agile Executive Briefing – Situational Assessment and 50,000ft view of Agile

The first part of this presentation is a situational assessment of typical challenges in IT project delivery using the SCRAP (Situation, Complication, Resolution, Action, Proof) model. This is essentially a business case for Agile. So if you are looking for ways to get buy-in for Agile, then this is a good place to start.

The second part of the presentation shows you what Agile is from 50,000 ft. From this high up, we’ll be covering the essential elements from a business and management perspective. We’ll cover what Agile is, what it does, how it works and what it achieves.

Each of the parts can be used independently so you may use the first part to get buy-in or the second part as a high-level introduction.

Slides on Slideshare

Agile Tour Toronto 2009 is over and it was an outstanding success! There were 150+ participants, 17 great speakers and lot’s of learning and sharing.  It is really great to see all of our efforts as organizers come together in an amazing conference.

On a personal note, I met lot’s of new people and had a number of interesting discussions and exchange of ideas. We are definitely going to do something for next year and make this an annual event to grow Agile in the Toronto area.

All the presentations will be appearing at DZone over the next several months.  To cover this gap, we are going to publish whatever slides we can directly on our website.  Mine are here: A Gentle Introduction to Agile and Agile Executive Briefing.

Thanks to everyone who helped make this a big success.

Partner Workshops

On Monday and Wednesday, I had the privilege of training together with Yves Hanoulle to run two Agile workshops: KickStart (XP) and Games Day.  It was a great experience for me and for the participants.  Pairing works.  Even for training and coaching.  Who knew?  Yves, i guess So, now I am actively looking to pair with other trainers/coaches.

I have been working with some other Agilists to organize a 1 day conference on Agile.

Phew! It’s a lot of work.

Anyway, we are making progress and have a web site up: http://www.torontoagilecommunity.org/

We are looking for volunteers, presenters and sponsors.  See the website for details.