Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
MASTERING THE ART OF JUGGLING (CLOWN NOSES OPTIONAL)
Jay Houston
Session 1, Room 105 AB; 10:15 – 11:15 a.m.
Juggling the personalities of project team members is an art that can be
learned and mastered. Through this light-hearted, engaging session,
unique approaches will be shared and discussed on how to build
relationships in the workforce and create or strengthen environments of
teamwork, mutual respect, camaraderie, and expression. Mastering the
art of personality juggling begins with recognition of differences, some
trial and error, kindness and understanding, and perseverance. Session
attendees will be encouraged to explore their own personality types
and the personality types commonly found on project teams and learn
how to use that knowledge to build or rejuvenate teams. Paradigm
shifts will shake the Richter scale during this session as attendees
discover how to build strong and effective working relationships in a
relaxed and even fun atmosphere while still maintaining professionalism
in the workplace.
Jay Houston has over 8 years of project management experience. After 10 years
in the healthcare industry, Jay transitioned from operations to project
management while working in the broadband industry. Her current project
initiatives involve healthcare IT implementation services. Recent projects
include revenue cycle implementations and working with multiple states in
expanding access to and use of broadband Internet. Jay earned a Bachelor of
Science degree in Public Health from Western Kentucky University in 1994.
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Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
THE GREAT ESCAPE – PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP
IN WORLD WAR II
Kris Sellers
Session 1, Room 106 AB; 10:15 – 11:15 a.m.
It’s difficult to manage a large, two-year project spanning multiple
skillsets with more than 200 team members and practically no budget.
However, to do it during war when secrecy is crucial, documentation is
forbidden, and failure will result in death requires extraordinary skill!
“The Great Escape” by Paul Brickhill (and a Universal Pictures movie),
describes one of the most daring and famous escapes of World War II.
What can modern-day project leaders extract from a tunnel digging
effort that occurred more than 60 years ago? As it turns out, a lot!
These determined prisoners (and self-taught tunnel experts) illustrate
the importance of courageous leadership and effective
communication. Within this failure-is-not-an-option historical context,
we explore the vital leadership principles that enabled their success.
Together we examine the importance of casting a vision, assembling a
team, empowering individuals to work within their strengths, difficult
decision-making, and servant leadership.
Join us for an engaging and interactive trip to Sagan, Poland, as we go
back to a cold night in March 1944.
Kris Sellers holds PMI’s PMP and ACP certifications as well as the Certified
Scrum Professional (CSP) and Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certificates from the
Scrum Alliance. Kris has spoken on personal accountability as a Scrum Master
and Project Manager while incorporating Scrum concepts in one’s personal life
(PMI Nashville Symposium, 2014). Kris is also an award winning speaker
through Toastmasters International, winning the Humorous Speech Contest for
Division 63.
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Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
AGILE FOR THE PMI GUY AND GAL
David Bulkin and Michael Pallidino
Session 1, Room 104AB; 10:15 - 11:15 a.m.
If you are using plan-driven methods to execute projects and wondering
what Agile is all about, come to this session. We compare Agile and
Waterfall methods to dispel myths, explain similarities, and explore
differences.
After attending this session you will have a grasp on Agile concepts,
know on which effort Agile approaches apply, and know when Agile is
not the best choice. You will understand how typical roles like project
manager, business analyst, tester, and developer change in an Agile
organization.
In short, if you are new to Agile, this is a great session for you. If you are
already experienced with Agile, come to this session to share your
knowledge and to learn new ways to explain Agile to your peers who
have yet to make the move.
David Bulkin is managing director at Grow-Lean LLC where he delivers Agile /
Lean training and coaching to individuals, teams, and organizations to help
them journey from plan-driven to adaptive methods, resulting in increased ROI
and satisfaction.
David is respected for his practical approach and achieving results. He has over
30 years’ experience delivering software and systems and has been applying
Agile Methods for 13 years across the entire value stream from strategy and
product ideation to development, support, and operations. Through training,
coaching, and speaking, he has impacted over 5,000 individuals.
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Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
HOW MEANINGFUL DISCUSSIONS ABOUT METRICS CAN HELP
TURN AROUND A PROJECT
Bill DeGray
Session 2, Room 105 AB; 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
This presentation provides instruction on how to turn around and
optimize a failing project.
It will cover:
● Steps taken to identify project problems (root cause analysis)
● Using metrics to quantify and objectify the magnitude of the
problems
● Developing appropriate corrective action plans
● Briefing stakeholders and obtaining consensus
● Using metrics to measure progress (on corrective action plans)
● Leveraging project lessons learned on a weekly basis
● Outcomes include
o More accurate velocity estimation by project team
o Significant reduction in the number of defects in code
drops
o Quicker burn down of open defects
o Dramatic reduction in project manager’s hours spent on
the project (30 to 4)
o Improved stakeholder reporting/visibility
o Improved communications across the entire project
Bill DeGray is currently a senior project manager with Deloitte Services, LP,
managing application development, IT infrastructure, and operating system
upgrade projects (Windows 8.1). Previously, Bill has been director for web
application development (for military clients) and IT director for iostudio, LLC.
Bill is a Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel, Medical Service Corps Officer,
with 24 years of service and has over 30 years of experience managing projects
and military operations.
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Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
MANAGILE DILBERT WAY
Priyanka Sharma and Thena Berry
Session 2, Room 106 AB; 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Agile operational lessons learned from Dilbert. Learn how they can help
with your Project and Program Management skills!
Adopting Agile requires a great deal of effort to change organizational
culture, beliefs, governance, HR policies, titles, funding, and more. It
takes a disciplined, incremental approach, and Project Managers know
how to do it! Agile introduces a new framework for managing time,
cost, and scope. Agile asks for collaboration, facilitation, servant-style
leadership, and coaching of the teams. Who else can be a better guiding
force than a Project Manager?
Let’s share our real-life experiences the “Dilbert” way and learn how
you can contribute and guide the leaders and teams.
Priyanka Sharma, MBA, CSM, PMI-ACP is currently working as Director, Quality
Assurance and Knowledge Management at MEDHOST in Nashville, Tennessee.
She has 15+ years of engineering background with experience in the healthcare,
energy, and manufacturing sectors. She is also acting as Scrum trainer in a
distributed environment.
Thena Berry serves as the Senior Manager for Knowledge Management at
MEDHOST in Nashville, Tennessee. In her 20-year career as a technical
communicator, she has worked across industries including Healthcare
Management, Software and Hardware Development, and Education and
Housing. In each of her endeavors, Ms. Berry focuses on building effective
processes for getting the right information to the right person at the right time.
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Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
PROJECT MANAGER AGILE SURVIVAL GUIDE
Julie Chickering
Session 2, Room 104AB; 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
If you’re a project manager, you may be wondering: How is Agile
different or better than traditional project management? Do I have a
role on an Agile team, and if so, what is my role? How do I make Agile
work for me?
As PMI embraces Agile project management practices, Project
Management professionals are left questioning what it means for their
career. Rally Software asked what PMs wanted to know about Agile, and
thousands responded with their most pressing questions. Agile Coach
Julie Chickering will address many of these questions and help you
understand how project managers can use Agile approaches to plan,
manage, and deliver high-value work.
Join this session to learn more about the differences between
traditional project management and Agile, find the Agile role that’s best
for you, understand the dynamics of Agile teamwork, and get started on
the transition to becoming Agile.
Julie Chickering holds credentials for Strategic Solutions Consultant, Agile
Coach, Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), Certified Scaled Agile Program Consultant
(SAFe® SPC), PMP, PMI-ACP, and AKT. Julie believes that Agile practices are
packed with potential to enable business agility, and breakthrough results, and
a passion to empower customers to realize that potential is what brought her to
Rally in 2008. She’s amassed a strong track record of helping organizations of
all sizes in various industries successfully execute Agile transformations. Julie
brings real-world experience working with people at all levels — executive,
program, and team — to adopt and roll out realistic Agile strategies
organization-wide.
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Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
MAKING THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE: IS THERE SANITY IN THE
MIDST OF CHAOS?
Amy Andrade
Session 3, Room 105 AB; 3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
This presentation looks at a current, large, successful project in an
environment of many objectives to achieve with stringent deadlines to
get to market. We will explore the elements inherent with this project
which allowed it to be successful – though by best practices standards it
was impossible.
These elements, which allow for success for project delivery in the midst
of chaos are Innovation, Collaboration, Community, Communication,
and Vision.
Innovation is driven by necessity, urgency, and curiosity. The questions
need to be asked – what if, why, how.
Collaboration is driven by diversity, flexibility to allow the current state
paradigm to shift.
Communication is driven by information, but this isn’t enough because
the message may be lost if the delivery of the information is flawed.
Community is developed when a group of people connect on different
levels around different data points.
Vision is the guiding force which allows people to be connected, to be
passionate, and to be a part of something bigger than they are.
Amy Andrade holds an M.S in Medical Informatics from Northwestern
University and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of South Carolina.
She is a fellow of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Group
on Information Resources (GIR) and certified PMP.
Amy has worked as an Information Technologist for the past twenty-five years
within various business domains – finance, travel, insurance, education, and
healthcare. Amy is an innovator and change agent at heart; she has
concentrated her career in start-up and growth environments in leading
organizations, cultivating the spirit of a brave pioneer. Amy is currently a Senior
Manager in the Information Technology Services – PMO at Deloitte in
Hermitage.
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Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
STEPPING UP PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN CLINICAL
TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES
Alex Melendez
Session 3, Room 106 AB; 3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
The U.S. healthcare system is changing. Driven in part by political
pressures, our national policies around payment for care delivery are
now evaluating both the treatment itself and the effectiveness of that
treatment for the patient. This shift to “quality-of-care reimbursement”
poses considerable challenges for care providers, as they now must
measure and quantify treatment outcomes. Healthcare organizations
are revising processes and implementing tools that measure and report
on the value of care in a process called Clinical Transformation.
This presentation discusses how traditional project management is
challenged in clinical transformation initiatives and offers methods for
organizations to improve patient care outcomes.
Alex Melendez is a healthcare technology and project management
professional. He has served as a regional CIO, corporate department head,
founder/president of his own company, and principal consultant with an
international healthcare technology practice. Alex’s project portfolio includes
multi-million dollar, enterprise-wide systems implementations; multi-national
software development initiatives; and clinical transformation initiatives driving
change in patient care delivery.
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Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
TANGIBLE STRATEGIES FOR ALIGNING YOUR PROCESSES WITH AGILE
Kim Hobson
Session 3, Room 104 AB; 3:15 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.
How do we blend Project Management Institute (PMI) best practices
with the Agile development method? Do you want to learn how to
incorporate process changes on your team? If so, this is the session for
you. Kim Hobson, a PMP and member of the team that won the 2010
PMI Distinguished Project Award, will discuss how their project
overcame the obstacles of adapting a government-mandated process to
fit the Agile development method.
It's been five years since winning the award. Where does the team
stand now and what other challenges have they faced? How have they
used what they learned as a stepping stone to tackling new guidance
from the U. S. government? How do you improve a highly functioning
team? Specific steps that the team took will be outlined and practical
tips shared. If you're looking for real answers for how to tailor and adapt
processes to meet project needs, plan to attend this session.
Kim Hobson is an award-winning, PMI-certified PMP committed to leading by
example and successfully executing strategic vision. Kim Hobson is currently an
IT Project Manager at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She has a rich mix of over
25 years of project management, business operations, and process analysis
experience in commercial and government organizations for a variety of vertical
markets. Kim has a B.S. in Business Administration from The University of
Tennessee and is currently working on her MBA.
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Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
BUILDING A PM PIPELINE FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION
Nikki Meyer
Session 4, Room 105 AB; 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Project organizations frequently struggle with maintaining the needed
project management staff to support the portfolio. Building a pipeline
of talent can supply an organization with future talent to keep up with
the demand. Creating this pipeline is valuable as it keeps a pool of
talent ready to step in when needed. In addition, maintaining this pool
provides more senior PM staff with “project management assistants” as
they grow and learn about project management.
Nikki Meyer is a Program Manager who has worked at HCA since July
2006. She has had opportunities to work on Clinical, Infrastructure/ Security,
and Enterprise projects. Also, she developed the PMA program at HCA and has
documented success for the organization in their training and retention of
Project Managers. Prior to joining HCA, Nikki was a Director working with the
court systems for Metro Government for seven years. In that role, she worked
with law enforcement and homeland security officials in developing integrated
justice and public safety systems for jurisdictions in Tennessee.
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Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
EVERYTHING IS CLEARER WITH A DIFFERENT PAIR OF GLASSES:
UTILIZING PERSPECTIVE TO MAKE YOU MORE INFLUENTIAL
Frank Keck
Session 4, Room 106 AB; 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
We all see things through our individual “glasses,” which is our
perspective. These glasses determine how we see things and we all have
many pairs including sadness, anger, egomania, stress, fear, shame, and
love just to name a few. This program will help you to see things from
different perspectives, to help make things clearer and to help make
you more influential with others. Imagine being better able to see
through their glasses!
Objectives of the Program
 Enhanced performance from increased customer engagement
 Increased customer satisfaction from greater clarity of needs
and wants
 Connect with customers on three different levels for greater
understanding
 Develop deeper relationships through increased trust, leading
to improved performance (greater sales)
 Understand how to be more influential…without telling them
anything
 Start to develop the skills to be more influential with others
 Become a positive, motivational force
 Laugh and know how to use laughter to create win/win
situations
Frank Keck’s interactive, humorous style encourages and challenges audiences
to gain clarity, generate innovation, and become engaged to move to their
optimal state of performance. Attendees leave energized and focused on the
challenges at hand, with an increased level of confidence and a cadre of new
tools. Frank has worked with companies such as Coca-Cola, Texas A&M, Ford,
General Motors, Community Blood Center, ASTD, and Kiewit. Frank lives in
Kansas City.
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Educational Speakers - Thursday, April 30
SCALING AGILE IN A RAPIDLY GROWING BUSINESS:
LESSONS FROM HEALTHTRUST
Jessica Katz
Session 4, Room 104 AB; 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
People in thriving Agile organizations are frequently asked to scale their
process from the team level to the program or portfolio level. When
asked why the organization scaled, those same individuals will say,
“Because my CIO told me to” or “My CIO told me we wanted to gain
efficiencies at scale.” Though those answers may be true, they are also
missing the point of scaling. The CIO might be better positioned to see
potential gains. Scaling Agile is likely to bring the organization these
benefits: better alignment with business; improved collaboration and
cross-learning; the ability to focus on the entire product, not just
features; and a centralized way to deal with and organize around
collaboration issues found at the team level.
Attendees of this presentation will learn:
 The benefits of scaling your Agile approach
 The activities, roles, and cadence important at the program
level
 The team structures necessary to expand at the program level
 Possible next steps after you’ve expanded at the program level
Jessica Katz is a Program Manager for HealthTrust. She has been a project
manager for over eleven years and an Agile practitioner for over four. Jessica
has been influential in the implementation of scaled Agile in her organization. Currently, she leads a program focused on spend recognition at a
leading GPO. She holds PMP and PMI-ACP certification. Additionally, she is a
Certified Scrum Master and a SAFe Program consultant.
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Educational Speakers – Friday, May 1
April 10
TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR MENTORING
Joe Roddy
Session 5, Room 105 AB; 9:50 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.
This session will focus on how Project Managers can utilize mentoring
experiences to help grow their career and professional development. It
is important for Project Managers and other professionals to own their
development plans and take charge of their mentoring strategy.
Participants will learn how to plan their personal mentoring strategy to
become successful and to meet their professional development goals.
Joe Roddy serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Project Officer for Parallon
Business Solutions. He is responsible for building on-time delivery of mission
critical systems in Parallon's strategic project and implementation project
portfolios, as well as spearheading change and project management standards,
methodologies, tools, and processes across Parallon.
Joe has 20 years of management experience in manufacturing, engineering
specialties, healthcare, and IT. Joe is a member of the Project Management
Institute and holds their Project Management Professional (PMP) designation
since 2001. He invests in his community as a board member at the Davis House
Child Advocacy Center in Nashville. He earned a B.S. in Industrial Technology
from Tennessee Technological University and an MBA from Middle Tennessee
State University.
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Educational Speakers – Friday, May 1
April 10
60 SECOND COACH: LEAD YOUR PEOPLE TO OPTIMAL
PERFORMANCES IN 60 SECONDS
Frank Keck
Session 5, Room 106 AB; 9:50 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.
Managing and leading people can be a very complex, complicated, and
time-consuming chore. In this workshop, we will give you a blue print on
how to be able to manage and lead your team in simple, easy chunks of
60 seconds each. You will learn how to make your time with each
person on your team more valuable; learn how to have more impact on
each person on your team; and learn how to have more fun in your job
as a coach/manager/leader.
At the end of this program, you will know:
 How to create a strategic blueprint of how to lead your team
 How to have more impact with each and every conversation you
have with each person.
 Three tools to help make your people more effective
 Three tools to help you become more innovative in your
approach to leadership
 Three tools to help you increase the “fun” and “fulfillment”
elements of your job
Frank Keck’s interactive, humorous style encourages and challenges audiences
to gain clarity, generate innovation, and become engaged to move to their
optimal state of performance. Attendees leave energized and focused on the
challenges at hand, with an increased level of confidence and a cadre of new
tools. Frank has worked with companies such as Coca-Cola, Texas A&M, Ford,
General Motors, Community Blood Center, ASTD and Kiewit. Frank lives in
Kansas City.
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Educational Speakers – Friday, May 1
April 10
WHY ORGANIZATIONS NEED MORE THAN JUST A SCRUM MASTER
AND PRODUCT OWNER
Charles Cain
Session 5, Room 104 AB; 9:50 a.m. – 10:50 a.m.
There is a common thought that in order for Scrum to work, one needs
only three roles: Developer, Product Owner, and Scrum Master. Charles
proposes that a fourth role, Coach, is crucial from initial team formation
throughout the journey that the team, group, division, and organization
will take. Learn techniques on why you need an experienced coach to
help with the initial team formation, how an agile coach can ease the
stress functional managers feel when going agile, and how to identify
the correct coach for the team, group, division, organization. Gain
understanding of the different levels of coaches and why it is important
to match the coach to the need.
Charles Cain is a Certified Scrum Professional with the Scrum Alliance and holds
the PMP and PMI-ACP from the Project Management Institute. He currently
works as a Project Director and Agile Coach with Viacom Media Networks.
Charles has worked on projects like the Ryman Auditorium renovation as well as
countless digital projects over his 25-year career. He is currently pursuing his
Certified Scrum Coach rating with the Scrum Alliance.
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Educational Speakers – Friday, May 1
April 10
ARE YOU READY TO LEAD IN THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FUTURE?
Joanne Eckton
Session 6, Room 105 AB; 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Holacracy, Organization 2.0, Teal Organizations… You’ve heard the buzz,
but what exactly does it all mean? And more importantly, how can you
evolve your leadership and your team dynamics towards the new
model?
We are seeing an emergence of a new way of work – creating
environments that allow us to innovate, adapt to rapid change, and
energize the entire workforce. While we may not work for an
organization that is ready for a seismic shift, we can each begin to
embrace some basic tenets that will transform the energy and
productivity in our teams.
In this presentation, you will discover:
 What the organization of the future might look like
 The importance of psychological ownership
 Dangerous pitfalls of office life without a boss
 Real, actionable steps you can take to energize your team in the
office tomorrow
Joanne Eckton is a senior leader in technology and a widely recognized expert
in aligning teams to perform with purpose and improve performance. Her
passion is for transforming the workplace so that employees are inspired by
what they do and the companies in which they work. A professional speaker,
Joanne has spoken at several local professional organizations. She uses this
platform to deliver messages to strengthen leadership in technology. She is the
author of the book, “Make Your Job Great: How to Step Up, Own Your Space,
and Get Your Boss Off Your Back” and the upcoming program, “Make Your
Team Great.”
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Educational Speakers – Friday, May 1
April 10
PANEL DISCUSSION: THE CONSULTATIVE PM
c3/consulting: Kevin Cowherd, Kerri Evans, Janet McCabe, Lindsay
Pruden, and Ryan Tabor
Session 6, Room 106 AB; 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
We all understand that in the “real world” it takes much more than
PMBOK knowledge to be a successful Project Manager. Effective Project
Managers get the project off to a strong start, ask great questions, build
stakeholder trust and accountability, and remain objective. These traits
allow us to act not only as Project Managers, but also as partners and
advisors to our project stakeholders or as a “Consultative PM.”
In this five-member panel discussion, c3 consultants will share
experiences from a consultative approach to project management and
provide examples of how it can be used by all Project Managers,
regardless of their depth of experience, organizational role, or
environment. With an interactive design, audience members will have
access to pre-formed Q&A’s and may question the panel about utilizing
a Consultative PM approach.
The Consultative PM panel includes c3/consulting’s Janet McCabe, Kerri Evans,
Lindsay Pruden, Kevin Cowherd, and Ryan Tabor. With formal project
management experience ranging from 3 to 30 years across a variety of
industries and team sizes, these panel members will share techniques that have
helped them successfully deliver a countless number of projects.
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Educational Speakers – Friday, May 1
April 10
INCORPORATING SCRUM IN A TRADITIONAL PROJECT
MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENT
Kate Megaw
Session 6, Room 104 AB; 11:15 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Do you get your team together daily to check on any roadblocks you can
help them clear? Do you use lessons learned at the end of your project
and file them never to have them looked at again?
This session will look at several Scrum techniques that can be applied
immediately to any traditional project. These will improve
communication, foster collaboration, and help you continuously
improve your project. It will be a hands-on session, designed to give you
tools for your Project Management toolkit to help you deliver successful
projects, whether you are using a Scrum or traditional methodology.
Kate Megaw, CST, PMP is the Chief Operating Officer of the Braintrust
Consulting Group where she specializes in working with executives and C-level
professionals as well as serving as an Agile Coach and Certified Scrum Trainer
(CST). Kate is a dynamic Project Management Professional with more than 15
years’ experience in successfully planning, directing, tracking, and managing
complex projects.
Before co-founding The Braintrust Consulting Group, Kate worked as a project
manager for the global leader in Corporate Actions automation. Now she uses
her years of experience to guide clients through the transition from a waterfall
to Agile delivery model. Kate is client-focused with finely honed communication
and presentation abilities, complemented by strong planning and
organizational and people management skills. Kate is a motivator and
encourager, and is happiest when she breaks through to a client and leads them
to the ‘aha’ moment. Before moving to the United States, Kate received her
bachelor’s degree in information management from the Queen’s University of
Belfast in Northern Ireland.
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Educational Speakers – Friday, May 1
April 10
“TRUST FUND” AGILE – ADVANCED TOOLSETS EVEN A
KARDASHIAN COULD USE
Chris Sneed and Michelle Pauk
Session 7, Room 105 AB; 3:20 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.
In 2013, QHR implemented Agile processes in its development
environment. The result for QHR’s lines of business has been largely
positive. This presentation will focus on how QHR administered an
advanced implementation of Agile techniques while negotiating
external cost constraints. We will highlight the methodology tweaks,
and review templates, processes, and communication styles that have
ensured the success of Agile at QHR.
Time to market (schedule) has been the primary constraint within Agile,
and cost is the primary constraint at QHR. We have coupled velocity
tracking with careful prioritization to ensure releases were delivered
successfully and within budget.
Christopher S. Sneed earned his Bachelor of Science in Management from the
United States Air Force Academy. He began using project management
principles as a Satellite Systems Engineering Instructor and an Air Force
Recruiting Operations Officer while in the Air Force. He began project
management contract and consulting work in 2005. Currently, he is the
Portfolio Manager for IT projects at QHR. He earned his PMP in 2003.
Michelle Pauk earned her Bachelor of Arts in English and Italian from the
University of Wisconsin. She trained as a project manager at Rosetta Stone, and
has been practicing Agile project management for the last five years. She is a
Certified Scrum Product Owner, and has led software development teams as a
Project Manager and Product Owner at Rosetta Stone, VGT, and Quorum
Health Resources. She is currently a Technical Project Manager at Lonely Planet.
7|Page
Educational Speakers – Friday, May 1
April 10
STAYING LEAN (PAST THE STARTUP PHASE) AT LEANKIT
Jon Terry
Session 7, Room 106 AB; 3:20 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.
LeanKit’s founding team had a strong Lean-Agile background, so, in the
early days of the company, LeanKit instinctively did things in a Lean way.
Even though it built a process tool, LeanKit had as few formal processes
as any startup. But, like any growing company, it eventually did have to
start clearly defining how it does things and, like anyone, it has been
tempted by bureaucracy. Learn about temenos, bear punching, beef
jerky, culture clubs, and doing what fizz-good – and all the ways that
LeanKit has worked over the years to stay Lean.
Prior to LeanKit, Jon Terry held a number of senior IT positions within HCA,
where he helped launch HCA’s adoption of Lean project management. Jon
earned his Global Executive MBA from Georgetown University and ESADE
Business School in Barcelona, Spain and his Master’s Certificate in Project
Management from George Washington University. He is a PMP, a Certified
Scrum Master, a Kanban Coaching Professional, and certified in the Last Planner
method by the AGC/Lean Construction Institute.
8|Page
Educational Speakers – Friday, May 1
April 10
SCRUM MASTER AND AGILE PROJECT MANAGER: A TALE
OF TWO DIFFERENT ROLES
Tommy Norman
Session 7, Room 104 AB; 3:20 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.
Many people equate the role of Scrum Master to that of a traditional
Project Manager, but there are both subtle and significant differences
between them. So what is the difference and why do we care?
This presentation will explore the differences between these two roles
and the underlying implications to your company’s Agile adoption. We
will discuss the concept of little “a” agile (mostly iterative development
and some Agile-like mechanics) versus big “A” Agile (more of a true shift
in culture and focus on teams/value) and when we would choose one or
the other.
So if you are confused about what a Scrum Master does, what the heck
an Agile PM is, or are sick and tired of your team telling you that you’re
not adopting Agile correctly, this presentation is for you!
Tommy Norman is the Agile Practice Lead at the Holland Square Group in
Nashville, TN. For over 20 years he has been helping clients build solutions using
both Agile and traditional approaches as a CSM/ CSP (Scrum Alliance), PSM I
(Scrum.org), and is a 6-year recipient of Microsoft's MVP award in Application
Lifecycle Management. His career has spanned roles from infrastructure,
software architect, director of software development, QA manager, and Agile
coach. Tommy is the coordinator for the Agile Nashville User Group, a
contributor to InformIt.com, and Safari Books Online, as well as a frequent
speaker at regional and national events. He blogs about Agile and ALM at
www.tommynorman.com and rambles about almost everything on Twitter as
@tommynorman.
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