InfoXchange
| September/October 2006 Volume 2, Issue 5 |
IN THIS ISSUEAnnouncementsFrom the Board - Project Retrospectives Mentor's Corner - The Importance of Polish Who Are We? From the Editor:We would like to encourage anyone to submit articles to the new ICCA Greater Boston Chapter newsletter. If you know of anyone interested in free publicity, ask them to write an article of any size or topic pertinent to our organization for submission in the next issue of our newsletter. The good news is the smaller the article, the better, since long articles are hard to read on-line.We are very open to ideas and suggestions regarding article topics in all sections of the newsletter, including: Local or Chapter Announcements; Articles; Member-to-Member Spotlights; Member-to-Member News; Mentor's Corner. Submit ideas or articles to:Kim ReddingtonDirector of Communications newsletter@ icca-boston.org Next Deadline:Oct 23, 2006 for the Nov/Dec Issue |
While many of you were hopefully making loads of money or grabbing new clients, your ICCA Board of Directors has been working diligently to create a full schedule of events for the upcoming year. We have come up with some great topics that we hope you will enjoy. Our next step is to find speakers for our selected topics. If anyone has heard a great speaker in the past that you feel would fit well with ICCA, speak up by contacting any member of the board because a great speaker can help to bring more life to great presentation topics and panel discussions. Project RetrospectivesBy Norman Daoust, Immediate Past President of ICCA-GBCWould the quality of your work life improve if your customers provided you with higher quality requirements? Would you look better if you helped your clients or employers improve their software development processes and avoid faulty decisions? Would you like to learn tips enabling you to improve your next project? If so, you should mark Tuesday evening, September 12, 2006 in your calendars and register for the Software Development Best Practices Conference and Expo so you can attend the ICCA meeting from 6:00 - 8:30 p.m. featuring Ellen Gottesdiener of EBG Consulting for her presentation entitled “Project Retrospectives to Improve Product and Process”. Having attended several of her workshops, tutorials, and presentations in the two previous conferences, I can assure you her presentation will be informative, educational, and enlightening. Ellen’s simply the best experiential trainer, open source facilitator, and requirements facilitator I’ve ever seen. The breadth of her knowledge and experience in software development practices is virtually unmatched. Did I mention that she is a nice and generous individual? You’ll learn that project retrospectives are not just applicable after the conclusion of a project (when it’s frequently too late), but also at various checkpoints along the way. While typically associated with software projects, project retrospectives are applicable to all types of projects. Details and directions to the meeting are available at the ICCA Greater Boston Chapter web site at www.icca-boston.org. Register now at https://www.cmpevents.com/SDe6/a.asp?option=B for your free Expo Pass that you’ll need to attend our meeting, but also enables you to attend the keynotes, the vendor expo, and several other portions of the conference. Come and learn from one of the best: you’ll be glad you did! Toolkit for Consultants: The Importance of PolishBy C. Thomas Tyler, Chief Technology Officer of The Go To Group, Inc.Most lovers of technology intrinsically believe that something should work before we bother to make it look good. At one point, I accepted that as almost axiomatic. However, as I have been dealing more successfully with clients, making larger sales for bigger projects, I am beginning to realize how misguided that belief can be in our world of selling IT products and services. Like many ICCA members, I’m at least part Geek. Geeks love to understand how things work, and love to make them work. I have often said, “I see beauty in functionality.” When something works well, it is good, right? If it looks good, so much the better, but that doesn’t really matter as much, right? WRONG!!! The polish matters – a lot. Click here to find out why polish matters and what you can do about it. Founded in 1976, the Independent Computer Consultants Association (ICCA) is a national not-for-profit organization of independent computer consulting firms sharing the highest ethical and professional standards. The ICCA Greater Boston Chapter Mission Statement: The Greater Boston Chapter of the ICCA supports and encourages the growth of individuals and small firms in the business of computer consulting through education, networking, advocacy, and the exchange of ideas and knowledge among peers. The ICCA offers great services and benefits to its members including business and health insurance, marketing programs, a National Conference, standard form consulting and subcontracting contracts, and many discount programs. For additional information regarding the ICCA or to search the National Membership Directory, visit the national website http://www.icca.org or the Greater Boston Chapter website http://www.icca-boston.org Board MembersPresident - Vin D'Amico - president@icca-boston.orgVice President - Mike Spanos - vicepresident@icca-boston.org Treasurer - James Connell - treasurer@icca-boston.org Secretary - Peter Dwyer - secretary@icca-boston.org Director of Communications - Kim Reddington - newsletter@icca-boston.org Director and Web Committee Chair- Bob Goodearl - pr@icca-boston.org Immediate Past President - Norman Daoust - pastpresident@icca-boston.org Legal StuffThis newsletter comes to you via the Chapter Members Announcements list of the Greater Boston Chapter of the ICCA.If you believe it has reached you in error, or if you do not wish to received further messages from this list, visit the Yahoo URL following this newlsetter. Alternatively, you can send a message via US Mail to: ICCA, Greater Boston Chapter Attn: Chapter Email List Unsubscribe 11131 South Towne Square, Suite F St Louis, MO 63123-7817 Publisher: Greater Boston Chapter of the Independent Computer Consultants Association, http://www.icca-boston.org Copyright 2005, Greater Boston Chapter of the Independent Computer Consultants Association This newsletter may be distributed without charge as long as it's distributed in its entirety. Individual sections and portions may be distributed with permission. |