Don't Miss the AYE Conference, Nov. 5-8, Phoenix

If you can make it to Phoenix in early November, give yourself and your team a professional boost at the AYE (Amplifying Your Effectiveness) Conference.

You'll attend interactive sessions led by several of the software world's leading thinkers, including Dorset House authors Naomi Karten, Dwayne Phillips, and Johanna Rothman.

Here's a bit of what the AYE hosts say:

AYE is for people who work in technical environments where problem solving is key -- environments such as systems development, product development, quality assurance, and information technology.

At AYE, you will experience new ways to tackle hard issues -- ways that use everyone's creativity -- and respect everyone's humanity. We call this approach congruent problem solving, because it stresses self-esteem,
communication, interaction, and change at three levels of improved effectiveness -- the individual, the team, and the organization as a whole.

We're looking for participants who will participate -- ask questions, share their experiences, be part of experiential exercises, and contribute to the session designs and content.

For registration info, articles, and an active wiki, visit http://www.ayeconference.com/2006Schedule.html.

Get a solid dose of the founding hosts' thinking with the book that started it all, Amplifying Your Effectiveness: Selected Papers.

Tim Lister on Risk [IT Metrics and Productivity]

Peopleware coauthor Tim Lister was interviewed recently by Michael Milutis, Executive Director of the IT Metrics and Productivity Institute.

Commenting on the state of risk management practices throughout corporate IT organizations, Lister said:

Sadly, I would say the vast majority of organizations are not practicing real risk management. A small minority do it very well. There are also some who say they do it, but what they do is identify risk and go back to business as usual. They may have a little step early in their process that says, "Identify risk, evaluate risk," but there is no evidence they do anything with that information. In genuine risk management, you change something on a big project based on rigorous risk assessment. You change your development strategy, you change the sequence, the definition of the project, the schedule, the staffing, and you keep a detailed record and rationale of the decision making which led to such changes. This kind of risk management is rather rare.

Download the September 2006 interview in PDF: http://www.compaid.com/caiInternet/ezine/timlisterinterview.pdf.

Read Tim Lister's Jolt-Award-winning book on risk management: Waltzing with Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects, coauthored with Tom DeMarco.

Forthcoming: Weinberg's Techno Thriller, The Aremac Project

Jerry Weinberg's highly anticipated techno thriller, The Aremac Project, has been added to our list of forthcoming titles. The Aremac Project is scheduled for a January 2007 publication date -- with possible advance copies available in November.

The Aremac Project is Jerry Weinberg's first published sci-fi novel. It follows his award-winning 2006 release, Weinberg on Writing and more than 40 other titles in his 50 year career, including The Psychology of Computer
Programming: Silver Anniversary Edition.

Drawing on contemporary neuroscience and nanotechnology, protagonists Roger Fixman and Tess Myers develop software and hardware for a camera -- the Aremac -- that can take pictures of a person's memory. Unwittingly, the researchers provide the government -- and its enemies, terrorists in Chicago -- with a new form of interrogation.

All orders for forthcoming titles receive 20% off before publication -- with no charge until the books ship.

Call (800) 342-6657 or visit http://www.dorset house.com/savings.html to reserve and save on The Aremac Project and other forthcoming titles.

Read more about The Aremac Project at http://www.dorsethouse.com/books/aremac.html.

Rothman and Rice: This Week at Star West, Anaheim

Join Dorset House authors Johanna Rothman and Randall Rice at Star West 2006 in Anaheim, CA, October 17, 19, and 20. Books are available at the DigitalGuru conference bookstore.

Johanna Rothman presents "Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Test Management" on Tuesday, October 17. On Thursday, Oct. 19, she keynotes with "Say Yes—or Say No? What to Do When You're Faced with the Impossible" and presents "Management Networking."

Randall Rice presents "Becoming an Influential Test Team Leader" on Friday, Oct. 20. He also teaches the class "Keeping it Between the Ditches: A Dashboard to Guide Your Testing" on Friday, Oct. 20.

Visit http://www.sqe.com/starwest/ for more information.

Eckstein Speaks at OOPSLA 2006 Conference

On Sunday, October 22, Dorset House author Jutta Eckstein will present a talk at the OOPSLA 2006 Conference in Portland, Oregon.

Eckstein presents "Agile Software Development in the Large" from 8:30am to 12:00pm.

To find out more about the OOPSLA 2006 Conference, visit http://www.oopsla.org/2006/.

Also check out the newest reviews of Agile Software Development in the Large at http://www.dorsethouse.com/books/agile.html.

Petschenik Speaks at Software Process Symposium

On Tuesday, October 10, Dorset House author Nathan Petschenik will present a talk at the Software Process Symposium in Edison, New Jersey.

Petchenik presents "Wag the Dog: Driving SPI Through System Testing" at 2:20pm.

To find out more about the Software Process Symposium, visit www.spsymposium.com.

Also check out the newest reviews of System Testing with an Attitude at www.dorsethouse.com/books/sta.html.