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COHAA welcomes Amy Blankson as a keynote speaker for The Path to Agility Conference

Amy Blankson, bestselling author of The Future of Happiness, is the only person to
receive a Point of Light from two sitting US Presidents. After graduating from Harvard
College and Yale School of Management, she has focused her work on understanding
how to cultivate happiness in a digital era.

She is a member of the UN Global Happiness Council, a Fellow of the World
Innovation Organization, and is currently working with the IEEE to create standards
for well-being in the creation of artificial intelligence and emotion awareness.

Most recently, Amy has shared her thought leadership as a speaker at TEDx, as a
regular contributor for Forbes on Women, Technology, and Leadership, and as a
featured professor in Oprah’s Happiness course.

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Call for Speakers for The Path to Agility 2017

 

The Central Ohio Agile Association is gearing up for the 2017 Path to Agility Conference, which will be held on Wednesday and Thursday, May 24-25, 2017 at The Ohio State University Ohio Union.  

You have the opportunity to present at the conference on a topic of interest to the Agile and Lean communities.  We are looking for people who offer presentations that are both engaging and informative.  The topic should relate to Agile or Lean, and you should be passionate about your subject.  You don’t have to be the foremost expert on your topic — you just need a compelling story to tell!

To let us know you are interested, please submit the following information here:

  • Title – Your first opportunity to make a great impression with both the submissions committee and attendees
  • Photo – High-resolution photo that will be included in conference marketing
  • Speaker bio – Includes information about your agile knowledge and experience, your prior speaking experiences, and whether you have delivered this presentation before
  • Abstract – Description that will be used in conference marketing, and will entice attendees to choose your session to attendees
  • Session Details – Any additional information that you would like conference organizers to consider. For example, you might include an agenda, timings/schedule, why you are passionate about this topic, or anything else that paints the picture of your session.
  • Learning Objectives – Statement of what participants will take away – please include at least two
  • Track – We are looking for content for 4 tracks:
    • Leadership
    • Product
    • Coaching
    • Craftsmanship
  • Audience Level
  • Preferred Room Setup

 

All submissions will be reviewed by the submissions committee and judged on the merits of the topic and the presenter’s ability to connect with the audience.  Submissions should be completed no later than Sunday, 19 February 2017.  Presenters receive a complimentary registration to the 2-day conference.

 

Submit your session here or follow this link:  https://goo.gl/5VmdbB.

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The Central Ohio Agile Association (COHAA) Welcomes Stephanie Ockerman and Wendy Jacobs to its Board of Directors

 

The Central Ohio Agile Association (COHAA) is pleased to announce that Stephanie Ockerman and Wendy Jacobs have joined its Board of Directors effective January 1, 2017. In addition to her Board position, Stephanie will be assuming the role of Secretary for COHAA, which is a position previously held by Mike Kaiser.  Mike resigned from his position from COHAA as Secretary and Board Director effective January 1, 2017 to pursue new personal and career opportunities.  Wendy is filling a new Director-at-Large position within COHAA in response to the organization’s continued growth.  Both Wendy and Stephanie will assist the existing COHAA leadership in expanding outreach and focusing on current and future trends in the business and technical communities.

“Mike has been a visionary leader within COHAA, and we will miss his collaboration and contributions to our community,” said Jennifer Bleen, COHAA President and Board Chair. He has been active in our events and community outreach, and we wish him the best as he embarks on his next adventure.

“As we looked at our growth and the value we can add to our community, we wanted people with deep experience who thought beyond agile and to future management and organizational trends.  Stephanie and Wendy bring deep agile experience and specialization, innovative ideas, and a drive for results that will benefit our community now and in the years to come.”

Stephanie Ockerman is a Scrum.org certified Professional Scrum Trainer (PST) and a Curriculum Steward for the Professional Scrum Master (PSM) Course, carrying forward Ken Schwaber’s vision and working with the PST Community to continuously improve the courseware. Stephanie is also a Coach Training Institute (CTI) Co-Active trained coach and currently works with Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, and agilists who are committed to amplifying their impact and leveling up their agile leadership skills.  She has over a decade of experience delivering technology solutions for banking, insurance, retail, government, and energy organizations and has played many roles including Project Manager (PMP), Solution Lead, and GSD Expert.  During the past several years, Stephanie has focused on a career grounded by Agile values and principles, creating a minimalist lifestyle, and experiencing the world. She is passionate about helping others discover a path to fulfilling and joyful lives.  You can find Stephanie writing on agilesocks.com and speaking at meetups and conferences.

Wendy Jacobs, JD, is an Agile Coach and Product Owner with Cardinal Solutions Group.  She has over 18 years of product development experience, specifically in Product Management.  Her current focus is on coaching all levels of Product Owners and Management on how to maximize the business value delivered.  Wendy is passionate about mentoring others in Agility, Product Ownership and Product Management as well as delivering training courses, and presenting at conferences and meetups. 

 

 

 

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The Path to Agility Conference 2016

 

Registration is now open!!!

 

COHAA is excited to announce our 2016 The Path to Agility Conference, featuring The Path to Craftsmanship. The conference will be held on Wednesday, May 25th and Thursday, May 26th.

 

The conference website is continually being updated as we add more sessions. We have an exciting lineup of speakers, workshops, and panels scheduled. We will also have Open Space sessions and a code retreat covering practices and lessons learned in Agile, Lean, DevOps, and Organizational Change Management frameworks.

 

The conference will be held at the Ohio Union. The venue page on the conference site does provide a list of hotels and restaurants located nearby. The conference retrospective & happy hour (After the Path) will occur on Thursday at the Big Bar immediately after the closing keynote on Thursday.

 

The speaker and session content is being updated on a daily basis, so please check the website regularly.

 

We have several authors speaking this year. Our closing keynote will be Jason Womack, international speaker and productivity expert. We plan to include a free copy of his latest book, How to Start When You’re Stuck (Wiley, 2016) to the first 250 registered attendees. A book signing will be planned on Wednesday. We plan on providing additional books from our other speakers, so please do register early to be eligible.

 

If your organization plans to send a number of associates to the conference, we can help facilitate the registration process. A conference redeem code can be created based on the num ber and type of tickets you plan to approve. An invoice will be generated by COHAA and payment must be received by April 30th.

 

The redeem code can be used by your associates during the registration process. We can provide a report of individuals signed up with the registration code on request.

 

Contact bmurphy@cohaa.org to setup.

 

See you in May!

 

www.thepathtoagility.org

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Call for Speakers for The Path 2016 Conference

The Central Ohio Agile Association is gearing up for The Path 2016 Conference. You have the opportunity to be a speaker at the conference by presenting on a topic of interest to the Agile and Lean communities.

We are looking for people who offer presentations that will be both engaging and informative. The topic has to relate to Agile or Lean, and you should be passionate about your subject. Your presentation should fit into one of the following three formats:

Tutorial
The tutorials follow a traditional presentation format, and will allow experienced practitioners to share what they have learned with a broad audience.

Collaborative Learning
A collaborative learning session is a peer-to-peer event, where everyone is assumed to have something to contribute to the topic. It provides an opportunity for joint problem-solving with other people on a topic. The coordinator proposes a topic, provides a bit of background and a facilitation structure. Then the attendees work in small groups, and mutually exchange ideas and outputs.

Agile From The Front Lines
Our attendees love first-hand accounts of what other organizations have tried and implemented. They serve as an exchange vehicle for practitioners, and provide a firsthand description of challenges faced, approaches taken, observations and reflections. Each presenter will be provided with a “shepherd” to help sharpen their presentation of the story. If you have lessons learned from when your team tried something new, this is the perfect format for sharing that story.

 

Submit the following information here.

Title – your first opportunity to make a great impression with both the submissions committee and attendees!

Short description of your presentation, including:

Introductory paragraph – Tell attendees what they should expect, and why they should choose yours over another session

Intended audience – Is yours an in-depth discussion for seasoned professionals, or is the material more appropriate for attendees who are newer to Agile concepts?

Learning outcomes – What will attendees take away from your session?

Speaker bio, including information about your Agile knowledge and experience, your prior speaking experiences, and whether you have delivered this particular presentation before.

Short video (2-5 minutes) that shows your ability to connect with people. It can be of you presenting to an audience in the past, of you giving a snippet of the topic you would like to discuss, or anything that shows us how well you connect with an audience. We aren’t judging production quality here, so feel free to use your phone or other cheap recording device. Upload it to YouTube and include the link, or attach the video to your email submission.

Any other information you would like us to consider, including which area of agility your presentation addresses.

 

Other relevant info:
All submissions will be reviewed by the submissions committee, and judged on the merits of the topic and the presenter’s ability to connect with the audience. Abstracts and videos should be submitted here no later than Monday, 29 February 2016. The conference is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, May 25 & 26, 2016.