Drink ‘n Think: Last week was the Semantic Web Austin Launch Party - the inaugural event in the GeekAustin Drink ‘n Think Series. Those of you who know me well know that I have been growing tired of anything that resembles the traditional tech happy hours. So it was a happy coincidence that John D’Oliviera and Juan Sequeda were in need of a proper send off at the same time I was looking for a partner to launch the Drink ‘n Think Series.
I couldn’t have asked for a better partner than Semantic Web Austin. Juan and John brought in a great group of presenters. Christopher St. John came down from Dallas to talk about Tessera, the Open Social API. Mike Kaply spoke about about Operator, Activities, and Microformats support in Firefox 3. Also speaking were Troy Williams, CEO of PeoplePad, and Robert Pettengill. Several folks, like John Eric Metcalf and Hayes Davis, had thoughtful write-ups of the event. Michelle Greer, armed with a flash she borrowed from Jay B. Sauceda, supplied some great photographic evidence at Flickr. As usual, half a dozen people whom I barely know blogged about the event as if they had something to do with organizing it.
Happy Hours: So why am I running away from the happy hour format? Even if I have a different co-host each time — to assure that there will always be new folks to meet — I know there are better ways to facilitate good conversation and valuable new connections. Morever, with Facebook, LinkedIn, and new social media tools popping up every week, anyone can put together a tech happy hour. There are multiple tech happy hours each week. Some of them — like Bryan Menell’s Austin Tech Happy Hour — are pretty good; but there are simply too many. I count four different Austin LinkedIn Happy Hours. Been there, done that.
Code Against Cancer: At the recent GA WordPress Fest (which was suspiciously close to a happy hour), David Neff and I were brainstorming about how we could enlist support of the Austin tech community in the fight against cancer. David is responsible for several several great web initiatives, like sharinghope.tv. I am excited to be working with him on this. Look for a formal announcement next week.
Kudos: Although I mentioned it previously, I want to think Michelle Greer for always photographing the GeekAustin events. If you have ever tried shooting in dark rooms (bars, etc), you’ll know that there is an art to this. Because she is in the process of starting her own company, she is being frugal and still borrowing a pro flash for each event. Instead of offering to buy her a drink at the next party, show some love and send a paypal contribution toward her flash at michelle@michellesblog.net.
Juan Sequeda (CV) and John De Oliveira of Semantic Web Austin just sent me the list of speakers for tonight’s Launch Party. Here are the speakers:
Christopher St. John
Mike Kaply
Troy Lane Williams
Robert Pettengill
As stated previously, this will be a departure from recent GeekAustin events. In addition to the drinks and conversation, the above speakers and members of Semantic Web Austin will be hosting presentations /sessions back in the BoomBoom Room. If you are interested in the semantic web, ontology, microformats, info architecture — or just want to toss back some drinks with folks who are — we look forward to seeing you.
Event: Semantic Web Austin Launch Party
Host: GeekAustin
Date: Tuesday, June 17, 6PM-10PM
Location: Union Park Austin ( 612 W. 6th St.)
Event listing on Facebook
Event listing on Upcoming
Juan just created the following:
SemanticWebAustin Facebook Group.
SemanticWebAustin LinkedIn Group
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I asked Paul Young, one of the organizers of ProductCamp Austin, to give us a wrap up of the event, and details on his future plans for ProductCamp Austin. I am sorry that I missed this. Based on everyone’s comments, I am certainly not going to miss the next one. |
Lynn Bender: Everyone has been raving about ProductCamp Austin. How many and what types of people were in attendence?
Paul Young: We had about 80-90 people come to ProductCamp Austin! The audience was very diverse, we had Product Managers, Product Marketing Managers, Usability PhD’s, Agile development experts, legal eagles, people entering product management from sales and development, and even a few programmers.
Bender: Can you give me some of the highlights?
Young: The PCA sessions were as diverse as the audience. John Milburn and I gave a session about Product Management in a startup, which was standing room only. Ben Phenix gave a session on usability that drew rave reviews on twitter and in the hallways. Joseph Lopez and Dustin Younse gave a presentation about the ACTlab at UT that won 2nd place for best session, and Charlie Ray led a raucous session about the political minefields of product management - he won “Best Overall Session!”
The participants were highly engaged in every part of PCA, starting in the morning with driving the schedule. We asked the participants to put post it notes under the sessions they most wanted to attend which were posted on the wall in the back of the main room. With little to no instruction, everyone got it, and in under 30 minutes we had a schedule for the day. The sessions were all highly interactive with great discussion and truth telling. The fact that anyone who got up at 8AM on a Saturday to come to ProductCamp really WANTED to be there made a big difference in the quality of the sessions and the event as a whole.
Bender: Based on the success of the first PCA, will you be planning another? What will you want to do differently in the second one?
Young: We will absolutely do another PCA. The consensus of the participants was that we could easily support a bi-annual model, so look for the next PCA in the Fall/Winter timeframe. Planning starts….right now! (Join the Google Group PCA-Planning to help: http://groups.google.com/group/pca-planning)
As for what we’d do differently, everyone agreed that the interactivity was what made PCA special. We’ll be more overt to the session leaders next time that they should expect and encourage discussion over slideware (myself included). Also, we barely had enough proposed sessions this time to run 3 simultaneous tracks, meaning that with the number of participants we had, the rooms were packed! We need more sessions next time, and I have a feeling that now that people have gone through the experience, that they will be more willing to pony up a session.
I was pulled aside many times during the day by people talking about what session they wanted to offer next time, and wanting to get involved in planning the next PCA. I believe that the turnout for this event showed that there is a strong appetite in the Austin and Texas Product Management and Marketing community for this type of interaction, because you just don’t get the chance to have these conversations very much with your peers during your day job. PCA Fall/Winter 2008 will be bigger, better, and badder in every way!
Bender: Where can people go to get more info on the recent ProductCampAustin and get on the invite list for the next one?
Young: The great news is that if you couldn’t make ProductCamp Austin, we have a lot of online resources to give you a taste of what you missed!
* First check out the official PCA wiki page: http://barcamp.org/ProductCampAustin
* Also look at the sessions page, which we are updating over the next few days with the presentation and session notes: http://barcamp.org/ProductCampAustinSessions
* Look at pictures from PCA: http://www.flickr.com/groups/pcaustin/pool/
To get on the list for the next ProductCamp Austin, join the Google Group ProductCampAustin at http://groups.google.com/group/productcampaustin
Bender: Anything else you would like me to pass onto the GeekAustin readers?
Young: There was a great quote during the Startup Product Management session I facilitated, that (paraphrased), “Startups on the West Coast are hipster-based, but startups in Austin are geek-based.” That summed up the day for me - it was a great mashup of corporate, startup, geek, academic, and marketing personalities, which really made it fun. I’d like to invite everyone to join the group, and we’ll see you at the next ProductCamp!
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Every time I have lunch with Caroline Valentine, I end up with enough information for several GeekAustin stories. This week, Caroline was gracious enough to respond to questions commonly asked among my older friends in the IT sector. |
Lynn Bender: Hardly a week passes that I don’t read a report about how tech employers are looking to keep older IT workers on the payroll longer and how older IT workers are in high demand. However, at every GeekAustin party, I meet several older folks who have been unable to find an opportunity for an extended period; but I also meet folks in their 50s and 60s who seem to be doing quite well for themselves. I have however noticed that those doing well normally fall into two categories: management or consulting. Is this because I’m only seeing the more social types who go to events?
Caroline Valentine: I would suspect it is not so much that “just the more social types attend”, but that those in management and consulting need to attend events to connect with possible employees and for new gigs. So, there is more of a motivation to attend.
Bender: What if someone is not the consultant type? How can someone manage their career so that they will continue to be marketable and desirable?
Valentine: Make sure that your skills are marketable and desirable. So what does that mean? This does not mean necessarily that you need to run out and learn the newest language or tool regardless if you like to work with it. Just do your research and be aware of how valuable and current your skills are, how in demand they are, how much competition do you have for jobs, and what industries and businesses are possible employers. Then decide if you need to learn new skills. Additionally, just like every other department within a company, IT workers need to understand the company’s business, market, customers, and stability of industry.
Bender: For older IT workers who prefer to be part of a company, is there any size or type of company they should be looking for? What type of environment?
Valentine: Companies of all sizes want to hire the best for as least as possible – some prefer experienced over junior level employees and some do not. In my experience, size does not seem to be the determining factor on the age of the employees. As for the environment, it all depends on senior management; the company culture really begins with them and filters down. Look for a company that values employees – all employees.
Bender: It’s quite common for older IT workers to end up working for someone half their age. What sorts of problems commonly arise? Any tips or advice you can offer?
Valentine: The main problem that can arise is a common one in any employment situation, whether or not there is an age difference. Its communication!!! The ability to communicate effectively is an issue for many people.
There are many studies and reports on the differences between generations – and how to deal with issues. The following link contains some good tools for dealing with the specific issue of younger manager, older employee. http://www.womenforhire.com/advice/generational_diversity/workplace_generations
Bender: How can older IT workers overcome the common perception that they don’t have the energy or commitment of younger workers?
Valentine: I am not seeing that perception so much anymore in the many clients we represent nor am I hearing that at HR conferences and meetings. The days of working employees hard with lots of overtime in exchange for stock options and the carrot of big money are pretty much gone. Younger employees are not willing to work those hours anymore either. Actually, the perception tends to be the opposite – managers tend to think younger workers are more lazy and interested in personal hobbies, friends and time off. Of course, each person should be viewed as an individual. Mass generalizations are never the way to view people. At Valentine & Associates, we work together with management and employees to address these incorrect perceptions and generalizations based on age, gender, race, religion, etc. If the generalizations are leading to hiring decisions, it is discrimination and it is wrong.
Bender: Quite a few of my older friends in tech have gone to finish their bachelors because they believe that their 20 years + experience doesn’t compete with a four year degree once the resume hits the HR office. Is that an accurate perception?
Valentine: It all depends on the specific hiring manager’s requirements and the supply of interested candidates. Greater supply equals more stringent screening. The desired skills or credentials become required the greater the supply of candidates.
Bender: There is sometimes the perception that an older IT worker will want a significantly higher salary. How widespread is this perception? What is the best way to deal with it?
Valentine: Very wide spread - experience commanding a greater salary has been the common practice for generations! The best way to deal with it is to communicate your salary requirements up front.
Bender: Any additional advice?
Valentine: Enjoy what you do. Otherwise, what is the point? If you are not enjoying it, change it. Be a lifelong learner, the more you know, the more you can control your career choices and seek out the opportunities that will bring you enjoyment.
Caroline Valentine is president of Valentine and Associates. She can be reached at www.valentineandassociates.com
* Omar Gallaga (twitter), from the Statesman, appeared as a correspondent for NPR’s story on the new 3G iPhone. Since his coverage of the Sarah Lacy trainwreck at SXSW, I’m happy to see that Omar is getting more national visibility.
* Bryan, Onramp, and Brandon are all hosting Tech events on Thursday. Weee!. If you want to hang out downtown with the Austin Ventures crowd, go to Bryan’s Austin High Tech Happy Hour. If you want to meet a bunch of kids with crazy ideas, go to Brandon’s Tech Night at Monkeywrench.
* Silona is postponing her codeathon until November, and moving it from Portland to Austin - to correspond with the Supercomputing Conference.
* Erica O’Grady and the Caroline Collective folks have scheduled their SuperHero Camp for October in Houston. Can someone please come up with a suffix other than camp? We’re wearing it out.
* Troy Lane Williams, of PeoplePad, will be speaking at Geek Austin’s Semantic Web Austin Launch Party next Tuesday at Union Park.
-Lynn
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It’s near impossible to be involved in Austin’s tech community and not hear Steven Doc List’s name come up. At any given time, he seems to be engaged in half a dozen projects — most recently the Agile Open Space Austin and the Green Technology Alliance. I was extremely happy that he was able to make time to answer my questions. Rather than try to summarize everything he’s involved in, I’ll refer you to Doc’s Linked In profile, and his websites: www.AnotherThought.com, www.StevenList.com, and Austin.ClassesInTown.com |
Lynn Bender: It seems that Open Space Technology has been around for more than a decade. However, I’ve only heard it mentioned in the last few years — most frequently during conversations among Agile advocates. Can you tell me a bit about OST and how it was implemented at Agile Open Space Austin?
Steven “Doc” List: I’ve had the same experience. Harrison Owen first codified the concepts in 1989, followed by the book “Open Space Technology: A User’s Guide“. So how is it that you and I have not heard of it prior to the last few years? My belief is that it’s because it has been building toward a tipping point. It is so totally counter to the way that Western business has run meetings and events, that it makes organizers and managers nervous. Truly. We live in a command and control culture, where the manager/leader/organizer expects to decide who and what and where and when. Schedules, project plans, organization, staff, materials…
Consider the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge), which is the codified approach to command and control. Get all the details, write them down, estimate them, schedule them, compare reality to the plan, stick to the plan. How different could Open Space Technology be?
So let me get back to answering your questions and addressing your observations.
Why have you heard about OST mostly amongst Agile advocates? Because both are intrinsically self-organizing, self-managing, iterative, and anti-command-and-control. Agilists embrace it because it mirrors their approach to what they do, and how they think, in many ways.
What is OST? It is a very simple methodology for holding meetings/events that puts the power into the hands of the participants, based on their passion and responsibility. The simple version is this: arrive, create the agenda, convene sessions, discuss issues, write some notes. The facilitator explains how it will work and guides the participants through creating the agenda. After that, the event is mostly in the hands of the participants.
At the Agile Austin Open Space, we met on Friday evening to create the agenda. The majority of the participants had never been to an Open Space before, so it was interesting to watch the acceleration. First, a few folks who had been to Open Spaces before offered topics. Then a few of the bolder “newbies” started to step up. For a while, it looked as though we would have lots of empty space in the agenda (six rooms, six time slots, for a total of thirty-six possible sessions). And then the tide started rolling in. We easily filled the agenda, with a couple of extra topics thrown in.
Once the topics were on the wall, the participants began to negotiate mergers (”these two topics seem pretty close”), changes to schedule (”I have a conflict at this time - can we switch slots?”), and anything else that needed handling. I, as the facilitator, mostly stood back and let them go at it. There was one moment when someone looked to me to tell them what to do. Scott Bellware said “we don’t need Doc - let’s just get this done.” And they did.
On Saturday, we began with Daily News - announcements, logistical details, and an opportunity for anyone to negotiate a change to the agenda. And then people went to whichever sessions they wanted. Conveners could organize their sessions any way they wanted, or not at all. One popular mechanism is the Fishbowl.
Saturday ended with a short meeting, announcements about what would be happening on Sunday, and a few minutes for anyone to share or ask questions.
Sunday began with Daily News again, this time outside in the parking lot. Attendance was a bit slow at first, but it got rolling. Not surprisingly, some of the sessions both on Saturday and Sunday “didn’t make” - no one showed up. So the conveners went to other sessions. This is one of those self-organizing things that express either the importance of the topic, or the conflict between interesting topics. And no one gets their feelings hurt.
Sunday ended with the Closing Circle, in which a Talking Stick is passed around and each person gets a minute or so to share. I find this to be one of the most rewarding parts of the process, as each person expresses appreciation, surprise (”it really works!”), insights, and more. I love the Closing Circle.
We created proceedings of the event by using the wiki that Eric Anderson had set up for the event, and having conveners go in to create a page for their session. It’s still up at http://openspace.agileaustin.org - click on the Agenda and Proceedings link. Other than reminding them, I didn’t have to do anything, and now there’s a persistent record.
Bender: So what are the key aspects or guiding principles of OST?
Doc: Harrison Owen says that the ideas came from African and American Indian tribal ceremony (circles, talking sticks, respect, passion), and the fact that he saw the most valuable discussions at events he attended over the years happen at the coffee breaks. In many ways, OST is about loosely organized coffee breaks!
There are four principles:
- Whoever comes is the right people
- Whatever occurs is the only thing that could have
- Whenever it starts is the right time
- When it’s over, it’s over
I like to add a corollary to the fourth principle:
- When it’s NOT over, it’s not over - if a conversation isn’t done, there’s nothing stopping you from continuing that conversation.
There’s the One Law - the Law of Two Feet: if you find that you are not learning or contributing the way you’d like, where you are, use your two feet and go somewhere else. Join another session. Sit in the hall. Have a conversation with someone at the coffee bar.
And one guiding thought: Be Prepared to Be Surprised.
At every Open Space I’ve facilitated, I’ve heard the same comment in various ways: I had no idea what to expect, and I got a LOT more out of this than I could ever have expected.
Bender: Open Space Meetings sound very close to another recent meeting format: BarCamp. Both provide methods for the meeting to “self-organize”. Both appear to be participant driven. What distinguishes the two?
Doc: BarCamp actually borrows from OST. As folks around technical and other communities have become exposed to parts of Open Space, they have embraced and adopted them.
The difference - as I’m aware of them - is that BarCamp is oriented towards possibly unrelated sessions within a broad topic, and the sessions are frequently hands-on learning sessions. Open Spaces are more oriented towards addressing problems and challenges.
While OST can be used for anything, it shines when there are strong emotions and opinions, problems to solve, and a group of people who bring passion and a sense of responsibility. It has been used to address geographical community issues (zoning, resources, libraries, and so on), corporate bodies (board meetings, company strategy, departmental issues), social/technical community issues (ALT.NET, Microsoft MVP), and so on.
Bender: What sort of problems arise when organizing an Open Space Conference? Is it more difficult to attract big names? Is it even important to attract big names?
Doc: The problems are pretty much the same as with any other event: getting volunteers to actually do stuff, getting the word out, and arranging resources.
As to attracting big names, the questions are two: Why would I care? and What’s the problem?
In the Open Spaces I’ve facilitated, we’ve had participation from and sponsorship from the likes of Microsoft, ThoughtWorks, Version One, Rally, and Adecco. Attendees have included Scott Guthrie (Microsoft), Scott Hanselman (Microsoft), Martin Fowler (ThoughtWorks), Ayenda Rahien (from Israel), Ian Culling (CTO of Version One), and other “names” in the Agile and .NET communities. The list is much longer - these are just a few well known names that come to mind. So clearly we’re not having trouble attracting “big names”.
But why would I care? The participants get out of it what they put into it. They participate in conversations, they share and learn, and they create their own experience. So while it’s sometimes cool to have folks like those I mentioned, it’s not essential to the success and value of an event.
Where there is resistance to participating or sponsoring, that resistance may come from the fact that there are some who are confused or put off by the idea of OST. They don’t get how it will work. They’re used to presenting and organizing, in a traditional sense, and being in control of their own time and space. In OST, the participants are in control.
Still, there’s a lot of flexibility. At least year’s inaugural ALT.NET Open Space, here in Austin in October, Scott Guthrie offered to present the new Microsoft MVC framework. Note that it’s “offered” - it was not predetermined before the event - he offered when the agenda was being created. Most of the participants opted to have just one session at that time so they could all be there and not miss out on anything good. And even though Scott’s session was mostly presentation, it was much more interactive and free-wheeling than it would have been at a “traditional” event.
Getting back to your question, though, the biggest problem is overcoming resistance and ignorance about OST and how/whether it works. By crafting the invitation with care, this can be addressed. Michael Herman, a well known practitioner, has an excellent PDF on crafting the invitation and all of the logistics leading up to the event (http://www.michaelherman.com/openspacetechnology/publications/downloads/inviting_guide.pdf).
Fortunately, the tipping point is in sight, as more and more people are becoming aware of OST and how exciting it is.
Bender: So why would an organization, particularly a corporate organization, choose to use OST to run an event?
Because it works. It’s been done literally thousands of times and has produced remarkable results. There are lots of examples, and finding information about Open Space Technology is easy.
In some ways, it’s akin to the choice between waterfall and agile.
Waterfall has proven itself to fail over and over again. Agile is proving itself to succeed.
The same is true of “traditional” versus OST. OST works. The participants are engaged, and bring passion and a sense of responsibility (yes, those are key concepts).
If you want your organization to succeed, whether it’s over the long haul with a clear strategy, or addressing a specific problem/challenge/issue, doesn’t it make sense that the results are likely to be more effective if the members/employees/participants have an emotional stake in the process and results?
Bender: The best BarCamps I have been to have been in the 100-200 person range. Are there scalability issues that are unique to the OST format?
Doc: I freely admit that I don’t know. The largest event I’ve facilitated so far has been about 150 people, and it worked beautifully.
The largest that I’ve heard about was facilitated by Harrison Owen and Michael Pannwitz (of Germany, creator of the Open Space World Map - http://www.openspaceworldmap.org/). It was an event in Germany with a bit over 2,000 psychiatrists! They put up two circus tents in a field, connected by a tunnel. They held the opening circle with everyone sitting on pads on the floor in several (like five or more) concentric circles. There were around 240 separate topics discussed. One of the most interesting things was that both Harrison and Michael conducted openings simultaneously, one in English and one in German. Not translations of each other’s words, but simultaneous openings as they walked around the circle on opposite sides. Amazing! I’ve seen photos and read the write-up.
So I really don’t know whether there are scalability issues.
I know that I’m not ready to try it with more than 200 - 300 people.
Yet.
Bender: Any plans yet for follow up Agile Austin Open Space?
Doc: You’d have to ask the folks at Agile Austin. I think that, given the results they saw, it’s likely that this will become a regular event. The participants were excited, and want to continue the discussions that began here. And it’s worth noting that not all of the attendees were from Austin - we had folks from as close as San Antonio and College Station, and as far away as Virginia and Maryland and Atlanta.
There will certainly be at least one more Open Space in Austin this year, organized by Scott Bellware. Scott was the primary organizer of the ALT.NET Open Space last year, and is responsible for me becoming an Open Space facilitator.
I believe that ADNUG is also considering holding an Open Space in Austin, but maybe not until next year.
Outside of Austin, I know of another ALT.NET event being planned for Calgary in August, and Microsoft has invited me to facilitate another Open Space for them in the Fall in Redmond.
One event that I’m hoping to attend is the World Open Space on Open Space in July in San Francisco. Practitioners from around the world will be gathering to discuss OST in an Open Space. How cool will THAT be?
So it’s rolling and gaining momentum. I expect we’ll continue to see more Open Space events as more people become aware of it and familiar with it. I do my little bit whenever I can. In fact, when folks invite me to connect on LinkedIn, I send them a nice thank you email with a link to the Open Space page on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Space_Technology). Guerilla marketing at its finest, eh?
Bender: Any last remarks?
Doc: Yeah.
I love Open Space.
