Past Meetings 2007-2009

General Member meetings feature an invited speaker, dinner and networking opportunities.
Board of Director (BoD) Meetings are where ICCA organization business is discussed.

Winning Clients with Scrum and Agile

Your clients want to deliver great software, but traditional approaches get in the way. Use Scrum and other Agile approaches to show your clients how to deliver great products on time, helping them win, and helping you win new clients.

Attendees will learn:

• How traditional software development methodologies often fail
• Why Scrum and other Agile approaches can succeeed
• How to introduce Scrum to a development organization
• Tools you can use to succeed with Scrum
• Pitfalls related to Scrum and Agile

Richard Kasperowski is Director of Solutions and Services at Nellymoser, leading his engineering team building great mobile applications.

Richard ran a successful independent consulting practice for eight years before rejoining larger organizations. He has been developing software for over 20 years in a wide variety of roles, including engineering director, architect and developer. His blog can be found at kasperowski.com

Richard is not an agile zealot, but rather someone who has come to embrace agile methodologies as a result of his real world experiences with them.

Managing Conflict in Consulting Relationships

• What is the difference between anger, resistance, and conflict?
• How can your own approach to handling conflict be improved?

Any consulting work that involves real sustainable change is accompanied by anger, resistance, and conflict. This session will focus on new and different ways to think about conflict, including some practical ideas for managing conflict more effectively.

Join us for information sharing and thought-provoking discussion with speaker, Dr. Cheryl Lieberman.

Dr. Cheryl Lieberman has been an organizational consultant for 30 years specializing in complex sustainable change, high-productive team building, custom-designed training, and executive coaching. Her clients have included organizations in the for-profit, government, and non-profit sectors. She is currently the process evaluator of a research project on traffic pollution and health for Tufts Medical School and the trainer, coach, and supervisor of a program that trains high-powered, retired people to be consultants to non-profits on a volunteer basis. The web site for Cornerstone Consulting Group is www.cornerstoneconsults.com.

Consultants Chat

Bring your own agenda

• Want to find out what your fellow consultants are up to?
• Have a question (technical or business) you'd like to discuss with a consultant?
• Have a topic you'd like to discuss with a group of consultants in an informal setting?

Join us for an evening of informal conversation at the restaurant at the Hilton Garden Inn in Burlington, MA.

For this meeting: No admission, but pay your own way.

Please send an email message to <chatmeeting2009 at icca-boston dot org> to let us know you plan to attend.

Note: For ease of payment, the restaurant will accommodate individual tabs.

Consultants Chat

Bring your own agenda

• Want to find out what your fellow consultants are up to?
• Have a question (technical or business) you'd like to discuss with a consultant?
• Have a topic you'd like to discuss with a group of consultants in an informal setting?

Join us for an evening of informal conversation at the restaurant at the Hilton Garden Inn in Burlington, MA.

For this meeting: No admission, but pay your own way.

Please send an email message to <chatmeeting2009 at icca-boston dot org> to let us know you plan to attend.

Note: For ease of payment, the restaurant will accommodate individual tabs.

Consultants Chat

Bring your own agenda

• Want to find out what your fellow consultants are up to?
• Have a question (technical or business) you'd like to discuss with a consultant?
• Have a topic you'd like to discuss with a group of consultants in an informal setting?

Join us for an evening of informal conversation at Polcaris in Woburn.

For this meeting: No admission, but pay your own way.

Please send an email message to <chatmeeting2009 at icca-boston dot org> to let us know you plan to attend.

Note: Polcaris will handle individual checks.

How to Get Consulting Engagements from Internet Boards

Our moderated panel of experienced consultants will address a range of related topics including:

• Can you get consulting engagements from Internet job boards, such as Dice and Monster, or are they a waste of time?
• Do you want to know how to use Dice effectively?
• Are there any types of consulting businesses best suited for these online tools?
• What online activities should you avoid wasting your time on?

Our panelists include Peter Dwyer of The Certainty Group, Gloria Metrick of GeoMetrick Enterprises, and William E. Walker of The Fairland Company, Inc.

Panel:

So You're Considering Becoming a Consultant!

A panel presentation from ICCA-Boston and the Society of Professional Consultants

• Are you in transition?
• Are you considering your options for transition?
• Have you ever thought, "Instead of searching for another job, wouldn't it be easier if I started my own consulting practice?"

Our panel of experienced consultants and our moderator will provide you with best practice tips, typical beginners' mistakes to avoid, and will answer your questions on consulting and contracting. They'll also give you seven reasons why you shouldn't become a consultant. This is an opportunity for you to pick the brains of consultants with years of experience. You can't afford to miss it!

Want to make certain you get your questions answered? Submit your questions in advance by emailing them to <meeting0509 at icca-boston dot org>.

Panel:

Moderator	Curtis N. Bingham, President of Predictive Consulting Group
	Curtis Bingham, President of the Predictive Consulting Group, has helped companies dramatically increase customer acquisition, retention and customer profitability for more than 15 years. He's the author of the forthcoming book published by HRD Press, The Key to Customer Strategy: The Rise of the Chief Customer Officer that describes how a consistent and unified customer strategy can grow revenue, profit, and loyalty. He's uncovered millions of dollars in hidden profits for companies like Intuit, Microsoft, Standard & Poor's, Cardinal Health, and numerous smaller businesses. A recognized authority and thought-leader on Chief Customer Officers (CCO), Curtis has published the annual Executive-Level Customer Champions report covering companies such as Cisco, HP, Sun, Monster.com, and Disney that includes the roles, responsibilities, and best practices of CCOs around the world to increase customer loyalty and profitability. Curtis has worked with a variety of industries including enterprise software, telecom, semiconductor, marketing automation, publishing, corporate gift, and Internet advertising, in addition to various non-profit organizations. He is a contributing editor for Sales & Marketing Excellence and a regular contributor to the Handbook of Business Strategy. Holding both an MBA from Lehigh University and a Master's in Computer Science from Brigham Young University, he has taught Demand Chain Management at Bentley College in Massachusetts, plus he is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants.
Panelist	Steve Backman, President of Database Designs
	Steve Backman heads Database Designs, a software and technology consulting firm with a twenty-year history (www.dbdes.com). Though Steve has had a quite diverse client list, his company fills a distinctive niche in Boston software services with a passionate commitment to the region's vital nonprofit sector. Steve's team now undertakes software selection, web and database implementation, and systems integration for nonprofit as well a range of other clients. While the company has a diverse technology portfolio, it projects a strong future for Open Source and cloud computing today. Steve is a long time member of the ICCA and other professional associations. He participates regularly in the nonprofit technology resources idealware.org and nten.org. Most recently, he was a contributor to the Drupal perspective of idealware's pathbreaking comparison of the leading Open Source content management systems, available at idealware.org/comparing_os_cms/.
Panelist	Mark J. Campbell, Organizational Consultant of M. J. Campbell Associates
	Mark Campbell is an organizational consultant specializing in leadership development for healthcare and life sciences organizations. In addition to his consulting, Mark teaches two courses in communications to physicians and physician leaders at the Harvard School of Public Health. Prior to starting his consulting practice, M. J. Campbell Associates in 1994, Mark worked in human resource management for twenty-five years. A representative list of Mark's clients includes: University of Kentucky Medical Center, Boston Scientific Corporation, Covidien, and Johnson & Johnson. His leadership development services focus on executive coaching, team building and communications coaching. Mark earned a master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Boston College and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Northeastern University. He is a member of American College of Healthcare Executives, Healthcare Management Association, and Society of Professional Consultants. He is the author of Five Gifts of Insightful Leaders, a unique approach to practicing leadership, and The Healthcare Leader's Guide to Succeeding in a New Position. Information regarding his consulting services may be found at his website www.mjcampbellassoc.com.
Panelist	Norman Daoust, Principal Consultant of Daoust Associates
	Norman formed his consulting company, Daoust Associates, www.DaoustAssociates.com, in 2001. He specializes in helping organizations produce high quality software requirements quickly and, in the healthcare field, works on data integration projects and healthcare standards. He also conducts training classes in business analysis throughout the country. Norman Daoust is a frequent speaker at national conferences and local meetings on topics ranging from software requirements modeling and data modeling to consulting. One of his current projects involves assisting a dozen US healthcare standards organizations harmonize a portion of their data interchange standards.
Panelist	Bruce Katcher, Ph.D., President of The Discovery Consulting Group, Inc.
	Bruce Katcher is an industrial/organizational psychologist and president of The Discovery Consulting Group, Inc. He specializes in helping organizations reduce employee turnover and conduct employee and customer surveys. He also works with job seekers in career transition, and consultants and small business owners to help them launch and improve their businesses. He has consulted to more than 100 organizations including Alcoa, Bay State Gas, Delta Dental Plan, Dunkin' Donuts, Fidelity Investments, Johnson & Johnson, Revlon, Sodexo, Timberland, and W.R. Grace. Bruce is a former president of the Society of Professional Consultants and has been a member for 15 years. He is author of the book, 30 Reasons Employees Hate Their Managers: What Your People May Be Thinking and What You Can Do About It, published by AMACOM. His next book, Starting and Growing and Independent Consulting Practice will be published in 2009 by AMACOM. You can learn more about his work and sign up for his free monthly electronic newsletter, Improving the Workplace at www.DiscoveryConsultingGroup.com.

Consultants Chat

Bring your own agenda

• Want to find out what your fellow consultants are up to?
• Have a question (technical or business) you'd like to discuss with a consultant?
• Have a topic you'd like to discuss with a group of consultants in an informal setting?

Join us for an evening of informal conversation at the Little India restaurant in Waltham.

For this meeting: No admission, but pay your own way.

Defining and Redefining Your Consulting Business Model

IBM did it and so can you. They saw the writing on the wall as the margins on their products became slimmer, and they made the strategic decision to change their business from a product model to a contract service model. Every consultant should periodically evaluate whether his or her business model is working and whether it needs to be changed. You should do the same thing. Do you know what consulting business model you are currently using? Do you know what business models might be better for you? Have you taken this type of strategic look at your business? If not, then this session is a MUST for you.

Come to the March 24th meeting to:

• Take a fresh new look at your business from an objective business perspective;
• Gain a better understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of your current business model; and
• Evaluate whether a different business model would be better for you and your business.

Bruce Katcher, Ph.D., will describe some of the 22 different business models he writes about in his book to be published next year by AMACOM called, Starting and Growing an Independent Consulting Practice: Lessons from Those Who Have Been There and Done It. Here is a sneak preview. A few of the models Bruce will discuss are the Project-based, Retainer-based, General Contractor, Razor Blade, Product Sales, Freemium, Franchiser, Distributor, General Contractor, Consulting Firm, and Association model.

Dr. Katcher is an industrial/organizational psychologist and president of The Discovery Consulting Group, Inc., which he founded in 1993. He specializes in helping organizations reduce employee turnover and conduct employee and customer surveys. He also works with job seekers in career transition, and consultants and small business owners to help them launch and improve their businesses.

Bruce is a former president of the Society of Professional Consultants and has been writing and speaking about consulting for many years. He is author of the book, 30 Reasons Employees Hate Their Managers: What Your People May Be Thinking and What You Can Do About It, published by AMACOM.

You can learn more about his work and read the more than 90 articles on his website about "Improving the Workplace" at www.DiscoveryConsultingGroup.com.

Consultants Chat

Bring your own agenda

• Want to find out what your fellow consultants are up to?
• Have a question (technical or business) you'd like to discuss with a consultant?
• Have a topic you'd like to discuss with a group of consultants in an informal setting?

Join us for an evening of informal conversation at the Little India restaurant in Waltham.

For this meeting: no admission, but pay your own way

Panel Discussion: Standards for The Protection of Personal Information of Residents of the Commonwealth

What do Massachusetts' new regulations mean to small businesses?

A new Massachusetts regulation (201 CMR 17.00) is about to go into effect that will apply to nearly all Massachusetts businesses, including your clients and probably you. The potential penalties for noncompliance are potentially high.

Links: Click here for a page with more links about 201 CMR 17.00 including the ammended regulations, frequently asked questions, a Small Business Guide, and a Compliance Checklist.

The regulation requires certain specific actions, documentation, assigning of responsibilities, and ongoing monitoring. Basically the regulation is a government response to the massive data breach experienced by TJX Corp. The regulation applies not only to large operations like TJX but also to small businesses.

Most responsible large organizations are either already in compliance with most of the requirements or have the resources to comply without too much additional effort. The same is not true, however, for small businesses.

Each of our panelists will present a brief overview from their perspective and then the floor will be open for a lively discussion. Come join us and learn how these new regulations will affect you and your clients!

Panel:

Consultants Chat

Bring your own agenda

• Want to find out what your fellow consultants are up to?
• Have a question (technical or business) you'd like to discuss with a consultant?
• Have a topic you'd like to discuss with a group of consultants in an informal setting?

Join us for an evening of informal conversation at the Little India restaurant in Waltham.

For this meeting: no admission, but pay your own way

Your Client Wants What??? — Don't Stress, be Agile!

Using Agile in a Consulting Business

Download a PDF of Bob's Presentation here.

The facts are all stacked against us as consultants: 30+% requirements churn for projects, with 50+% of projects completing late or failing entirely and a market mindset of instant gratification.

How do small consulting companies compete in today's environment without having to take incredible risks along the way?

This is the key question facing leaders of small firms. Clients are getting harder to find in an economic climate that is eroding so we have to make every client count! To do this effectively is going to require changing the way we do business. One potential solution is the use of Agile practices and principles to drive an Agile process.

Join us at SD Best Practices Conference & Expo where Agile expert Bob Hartman will explore the principles and practices that drive the Agile process. In particular he will show us how using an Agile approach can help mitigate risk for small consulting businesses. Come learn about the potential client benefits from using an Agile approach.

Providing exceptional value to your clients can help you establish or enhance long-term relationships with your clients that benefit both parties. From the perspective of a small consulting company, these relationships are the most valuable not just from a revenue perspective, but also as references and for word-of-mouth lead generation. Learn how having an Agile approach in your toolbox can enable you to unlock additional opportunities.

Bob Hartman has over 30 years of experience developing software. His logic-based approach to the development of high quality software was developed early in his career while he was earning both his bachelors and masters degrees in Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Since that time he has broadened his industry knowledge by serving in almost every role in the software industry from developer and tester to development manager and executive. His experience includes 8 years running his own consulting firm and over 15 years of public corporate experience at the Vice President level.

Over the past 10 years Bob has advanced from being an early adopter of Agile to his current status as both a Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and Certified Scrum Practitioner (CSP). He has significant experience in training, coaching, and mentoring in all areas of Agile development.

Bob recently founded a new company Agile For All to continue to promote the use of Agile development methods and to offer numerous courses. He has been a speaker at many conferences, seminars, and workshops where attendees have enjoyed his engaging style, holistic view of software development, and personal anecdotes. We encourage anyone who uses Agile, is considering a switch to Agile, or wants to learn more about Agile to come hear Bob speak or contact him. You can reach him through his company website www.agileforall.com.

 
This special event will be held in room 302 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston as part of the SD Best Practices Conference & Expo.

There is no charge for this ICCA meeting, however you must register for the conference to attend.
Multiple registration options are available, including the Expo** pass. Any conference registration type will also allow you access for the ICCA meeting.
**Expo pass is free with advance registration, available through noon PDT on October 23rd.

The Expert's Edge: Become the Go-To Authority People Turn to Every Time!

• What separates the truly successful IT consultant from all the rest?
• How can a firm or individual win recognition as THE authority, bar none?
• How can you keep your customers loyal and enthusiastic year after year?
• How can you insure that business flows briskly even during recessionary hard times?

By practicing "thoughtleading," Ken Lizotte insists independent specialists can achieve an "expert's edge" that puts them way above their competition. This proven, measurable, unique business strategy really works! No more boom-and-bust, no more hounding resistant prospects, no more wondering where the next big deal or project will come from. Your prospects begin to chase YOU.

In this session, Ken shows how positioning yourself and your firm as the "go-to authority" will dramatically increase your stature, visibility, competitive edge and profits! Author of the new book The Expert's Edge: Become the Go-To Authority People Turn To Every Time (McGraw Hill), Ken will also outline concrete steps to take based on his book's "5 Pillars of Thoughtleading." You'll leave the event enlightened and invigorated... and ready to take bold action!!!

Chief Imaginative Officer (CIO) of emerson consulting group inc., Concord, Massachusetts, Ken Lizotte is a certified management consultant (CMC) and long-time entrepreneur. Author of five books and hundreds of published articles, he's been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Business Week, Fortune, CBS-TV, Writer's Digest, The Boston Globe and PBS. He's spoken on business development, motivation, innovative thinking, and life balance to professional audiences at the CEO Club of Boston, IMC USA, SBANE, the MIT Enterprise Forum, Fortune 500 corporations, Kennedy Information and the Harvard University Extension School. Since 1995, the Extension School has asked him back twice a year to conduct his seminars.

Active in the Institute of Management Consultants, Ken is a co-founder of the National Writers Union and a member in good standing of a business networking group called the Concord Mafia.

Consultants Chat

Bring your own agenda

• Want to find out what your fellow consultants are up to?
• Have a question (technical or business) you'd like to discuss with a consultant?
• Have a topic you'd like to discuss with a group of consutants in an informal setting?

Join us for an evening of informal conversation at the Dandelion Green restaurant in Burlington.

For this meeting: no admission, but pay your own way

Note: Dandelion Green will not allow us to pay by credit card for the exact meal each individual orders. However, they will split the bill, equally, and allow each of us to use our credit card.
Drinks tab can be handled separately, but participants will need to agree on how to manage the payment by a single credit card or equal spit.

Best Practices for Marketing by IT Consultants

What are you doing to grow your consulting business this year?

Come to this meeting to:

• learn strategies and tactics successfully employed by other IT consultants
• have the opportunity to grill others about the details
• share your tips and success stories

Curtis will lead participants in an exciting and informative discussion.

This is one meeting you can't afford to miss!
 

Note: This event was originally scheduled for April 2008.
 

Curtis Bingham, the President of the Predicting Consulting Group, helps companies dramatically increase customer acquisition, retention, and customer profitability. He's the author of the forthcoming book, The Key to Customer Strategy: The Rise of the Chief Customer Officer that describes how a consistent and unified customer strategy can grow revenue, profit, and loyalty. He's uncovered millions of dollars in hidden profits for companies across the board from large ones like Intuit, Microsoft, Standard & Poor's, Cardinal Health to smaller businesses.

A recognized authority and thought-leader on Chief Customer Officers (CCO), Curtis has published the annual Executive-Level Customer Champions Report covering companies such as Cisco, HP, Sun, Monster.com, and Disney that includes the roles, responsibilities, and best practices of CCOs around the world.

Curtis has worked with a variety of industries including enterprise software, telecom, semiconductor, marketing automation, publishing, corporate gift, and Internet advertising in addition to various non-profit organizations as well. He is a contributing editor for Sales & Marketing Excellence and a regular contributor to the Handbook of Business Strategy. Holding both an MBA from Lehigh University and a Master's in Computer Science from Brigham Young University, he has taught Demand Chain Management at Bentley College in Massachusetts, plus he is a member of the Institute of Management Consultants.

Speed of Life Organizing: Creating and enhancing office organization systems that work

• Do you wish there were a few extra hours each day?
• Feel like you just can't get caught up on (fill in the blank)?
• Find yourself avoiding tasks because you can't remember where you put the material you need to complete it?

Come to this presentation to find out how to avoid the most common breakdowns in office organization systems. Maxine will present ideas for paper flow management, filing systems, effective use of outsourcing, how to prevent your in-basket from getting buried, and other techniques for keeping your stress level down and your productivity level up.

She'll draw on extensive experience with clients to answer specific questions about your office organization challenges.

Maxine is the founder of Out From Under Professional Organizing, www.ofuorganizing.com. She is a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers, and the resident organizing "tipster" for a new mother's website produced by the Boston Globe. Her approach is pragmatic and irreverent; her clients are generally surprised at how quickly and pleasantly they achieve results.

April 22, 2008

Consultants Chat

Bring your own agenda

Assessments: A Consultant's Tool for Organizational Change

You've made contact with a potential client. They need you—and you're perfect for them. But they have a bunch of problems, and they can't figure out how to effectively use you. What do you do?

One of the best tools in a consultant's toolbox is the assessment. You can't help the client change until you (and they) know where they are. But aren't all assessments long and expensive? Don't you need an army of consultants to do them right?

No and No. Any consultant can determine how to use effective assessments in his or her practice. All you need is to know how to bound your problems, so you can see how to sell the service to your clients.

You can learn where you're starting with no more than three simple questions. In this session, you'll learn how to design three questions that work for you to start an assessing conversation. We'll explore which questions work, which questions are traps, and how to stay out of trouble with questions. You'll learn to develop a framework for assessments for your business.

If you don't offer an assessment service as part of your consulting practice, you are missing a qualitative data gathering approach that clients find invaluable. In this session, Johanna will explain a framework for assessments, her initial questions. We'll work together to help you find your initial questions.

Note: At the end of the meeting, we will hold a drawing for a copy of Johanna's book Manage It! Your Guide to Modern Pragmatic Project Management

Johanna Rothman helps managers identify, define, and solve their problems. She is the author of Manage It! Your Guide to Modern, Pragmatic Project Management, the coauthor (with Esther Derby) of Behind Closed Doors: Secrets of Great Management, and the author of Hiring the Best Knowledge Workers, Techies & Nerds: The Secrets and Science of Hiring Technical People. She has posted over 150 articles, as well as two blogs, on www.jrothman.com.

Description of talk and bio copyright 2008 by Johanna Rothman

Managing Virtual Teams for Real Results

• Are you a consultant working remotely from your clients?
• Are you a manager working with team members who are geographically disbursed?
• Are you a member of a geographically disbursed team?

What's a dispersed team? You'll find various definitions if you surf around a bit, but the main features of a dispersed team are what make them so difficult. The people are dispersed geographically, they meet infrequently or never, and they come from different cultures (societal or organizational). These three factors conspire to make what's usually easy, difficult — and what's usually difficult, impossible.

All of this happens because of the dramatically increased variety of situations we face when we work on a dispersed or global team.

If you sponsor, lead or participate in virtual teams, you'll find great value in this presentation. Come learn:

• How to build trust in a multicultural team where "trustworthy" means something different to everyone.
• How to run a telemeeting effectively when attendees are speaking the same language with varying degrees of skill.
• How to minimize errors when critical documents are translated from one language to another.
• How to divide the work so as to minimize turf battles and battles over budget.
• How to minimize resentments when only some team members can attend worldwide meetings.

Attendees will learn to appreciate the true challenges of the dispersed environment. You'll learn how the economics of the dispersed environment differ from the economics of the face-to-face environment, and how the picture conveyed by the organizational cost management system distorts our view of these differences. Most important, you'll learn strategies and tactics for making the dispersed environment productive and effective.

Rick Brenner works with organizations that are developing complex products or services in markets so fast-moving that to succeed, their people need state-of-the art teamwork. The techniques he's developed and collected include some unusual twists. They're drawn from a variety of sources - solid practice, history, psychology, and his own experience and education. Using a mix of presentation, metaphor, humor and simulation, he guides his clients in applying these ideas and inventing new ones.

His focus is improving personal and organizational effectiveness. He has expertise in abnormal situations, such as technical emergencies, understaffed and highly fluid organizations, and high-pressure project situations.

Rick is the author of the ebook 202 Tips for Managing Global Teams. It's a compact tip book written in a style designed explicitly for busy people - a comprehensive set of ideas for making your global team sing!

Trained in electrical engineering and theoretical physics, Rick's a former software engineer and entrepreneur. He worked in the computer industry and in Defense systems for 15 years, as an engineer, an engineering manager and a project manager, at Symbolics, Inc. and at Draper Laboratory, both of Cambridge. Since 1993, he has taught a course in business modeling at the Harvard Extension School. He holds a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from MIT. He has been active in and held leadership positions in the New England Chapter of the National Speakers Assocation, the Boston SPIN and the Boston Section of the American Society for Quality. He is an active speaker, coach and consultant whose clients have included Navistar, the IRS, Wachovia, Intuit, Medtronic and Microsoft.

Tips for Negotiating Scope and Fees Issues on Projects

As consultants, we consistently need to negotiate scope and fees, whether at the start of a project, during the engagement, or as the project is winding down.

Come learn strategies and take away ideas about how to manage your negotiations more effectively!

• Recognize your own and others' negotiation styles
• Identify and counter hard bargaining tactics the other party may be using
• Create value and build relationships through collaborative negotiations
• Turn conflict into collaboration

This talk will focus on negotiations of scope and fee, but the strategies and tactics can be applied to many other types of negotiations. Come and learn from an experienced negotiator.

Moshe Cohen is a trainer and mediator based in Cambridge, MA. Since founding The Negotiating Table in 1995, he has conducted hundreds of negotiations skills workshops for clients such as EMC, Reebok, Hasbro, and many other corporations, law firms, financial services companies, consulting firms, and more.

Mr. Cohen also teaches Negotiations and Leadership in the MBA program at Boston University and Cambridge College, and previously taught at Bentley College. In addition to corporate and university classes, he conducts public seminars on negotiation and conflict management and is a frequent guest speaker at business functions, conferences, and universities.

Mr. Cohen has published numerous articles on negotiation, mediation, conflict management, and leadership. As a mediator, Moshe Cohen specializes in business, employment, workplace and discrimination disputes and serves on a number of mediation panels locally and nationally. He has also served as a judge in the American Bar Association's negotiation competition held at Boston University Law School.

Moshe Cohen received his Bachelor's degree in Physics from Cornell, a Master in Electrical Engineering from McGill University, and a Master in Business Administration from the Boston University Graduate School of Management. Mr. Cohen's career includes over twelve years of engineering and project management experience prior to founding The Negotiating Table.

Visualizing Wikipedia: A tale of life, love, and bureaucracy.

Joint Meeting with GBC/ACM and IEEE Boston Computer Society

Join us in Cambridge for this special "New Technology" meeting as Fernanda Viegas and Martin Wattenberg report on Wikipedia's evolution from a curiosity to a point of first reference for millions.

Their application of data visualization techniques to Wikipedia's historical archives uncovers a story in three acts: life, love, and bureaucracy.

Life refers to the impressive ability of Wikipedia to heal itself after vandalism and errors.

Love is reflected in the overwhelming scale of individual production and the passion shown by devoted editors.

Bureaucracy -- an unexpected aspect of a free-spirited community -- is becoming prevalent as the site scales, with emerging formalized processes and roles that help ensure quality.

Viegas is known for her pioneering work on depicting chat histories and email.
Wattenberg's visualizations of the stock market and baby names are considered internet classics.

The two became a team in 2003 when they decided to visualize Wikipedia, leading to the "history flow" project, discussed in this talk, that revealed the self-healing nature of the online encyclopedia. They are currently exploring the power of web-based visualization and the social forms of data analysis it enables.

NOTE: This meeting is being held jointly with the Greater Boston Chapter of the ACM and the IEEE Boston Computer Society. The meeting is being held at the regular meeting location of ACM/Boston. The meeting is free and no registration is required.

Effective Networking Workshop

• Do you wish the phone rang with business and other opportunities?
• Do you feel awkward about trying to join an established group at an event?
• Do you ask yourself - what REALLY is networking?
• Do you wish you felt more confident when networking?
• Do you have a stack of business cards in drawers and can't remember who the people are?
• Do you wonder which events to attend and which ones to skip?

The fastest, most cost effective way to get anything done is to have others help you. The people in your network are key to your success and vice versa. In this interactive, informative and action-oriented session, you will learn tips and techniques that can be immediately implemented.

Early registrants received a free copy of Diane's book Networking For Career Success.

Diane Darling is an author, speaker, and entrepreneur. She founded Effective Networking, Inc. on the premise that everyone can learn to network; you just need to find your own style. Her two books, The Networking Survival Guide and Networking for Career Success, published by McGraw-Hill, have been translated into six languages. Diane has appeared on the NBC Nightly News, in The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Boston Globe.

Comments from past Effective Networking event participants:

"Diane does a great job providing very practical, usable advice that you can put into action as soon as you leave the room. It takes the mystery out of how to network successfully."

"You named my fears! So funny, but everything I was anxious about regarding networking you talked about and explained how to handle."

"I gained new strategies and an action plan for improving my effectiveness at all kinds of networking events."

"It's a must for anyone who networks for any reason."

The Seven Deadly Sins of IT Consultants

Download a PDF of Scott's Presentation here.

• Are you an IT consultant?
• Are you considering becoming an IT consultant?
• Does your organization use IT consultants?

Come to our meeting at the SD Best Practices Conference & Expo to hear conference keynote speaker Scott Ambler present The Seven Deadly Sins of IT Consultants.

• What are the typical mistakes that IT consultants make?
• What are some of the best practices to avoid making these mistakes?

In his no-nonsense style, Scott describes typical mistakes that IT consultants make. The material is drawn from observations of other consultants throughout his career. Not content to just describe typical blunders, Scott provides advice on the best practices to avoid these issues. And, as we have come to expect, the questions and answers will be thought provoking, to say the least!

Scott is the Practice Leader Agile Development with the IBM Methods group. He lives in the Toronto area and focuses on software modeling, Unified Process, database, and agile software development. He is the author of more than a dozen books including Refactoring Databases, The Enterprise Unified Process, Managing Agile Projects, and The Elements of UML Style.

Scott is a thought leader in agile development techniques, a prolific writer, and an in-demand speaker. In his spare time, you're likely to find Scott pursuing his hobbies that include writing, cycling, karate, and Tai Chi.

Managing Client Relationships

Herb will discuss how to create a strategy for complex selling situations involving many players. Successful sales strategies involve identifying the right people who can make a decision to hire you, understanding what motivates them to commit to you, and developing questioning and listening techniques that help you get at the real problems your client needs your help to solve. You will get some fresh ideas about how to craft an engagement letter, present it, and ask for the order.

Key aspects of client management including setting expectations, presenting and getting agreement on a work plan, and measuring desired outcomes will be included in the second part of this discussion.

• How do you keep the project on track and make sure the client is meeting his responsibilities?
• How do you make sure you are sticking to the scope of work you agreed to and how do you handle situations where the scope of work has to change in the middle of the assignment?

Herbert Fox has over 35 years of experience in sales and marketing management at several successful companies, including Data General Corporation, IBM Corporation, and MultiTrack Sales Consulting of which he is the Founder and President. At MultiTrack, Herb has helped hundreds of sales people and sales managers achieve success.

In addition to this work, Herb also was on the board of the Society of Professional Consultants where he developed a comprehensive consultant training program. Currently, Herb serves on the boards of the Boston Classical Orchestra and the Salem State College Foundation and is a volunteer consultant with Executive Service Corps of New England, an organization committed to helping non-profit organizations accomplish their missions. Herb resides in Brookline, MA, where his primary interest is his grandchildren.

How to Get Clients to Find Your Website

• Why is the Internet impacting marketing and advertising?
• Would you like to know how to attract more people to your business?
• Does your website bring in new clients?
• Do you want to know how to leverage Search Engine Marketing to ensure prospects find your business?

Our world is becoming more and more web-centric by the day. The web has taken on a greater role in both our business and personal lives. The Internet is a disruptive technology that is forcing businesses to change their processes. History has proven time and again that those who fail to adopt the new technologies will struggle to survive.

One of the key business functions being impacted by the web is marketing and advertising. There is a fundamental shift in the way prospects find and evaluate your business. The new battleground for clients is on the web, and those winning the battle are those who are leveraging Search Engine Marketing to ensure prospects find their business via the search engines.

This will be a fun and fascinating evening. Join us and bring a friend!

Jeff has over 20 years of experience in web development, search engine marketing, CRM software and IT consulting. Over his career, he has managed development teams, lead product marketing efforts, performed technical sales, and project managed the delivery of many large IT software projects.

At Sagebridge, Jeff is responsible for leading the delivery of Search Engine Marketing services and web solutions. His responsibilities also include technical sales and web solution development. Jeff holds BS in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Geeks and Their Gadgets

• Would you like to know what gadgets real people use to make themselves more productive?
• Would you like to see those gadgets and hear about them from Computer Consultants?
• Do you have a handheld device, computer peripheral, software tool or website that you use regularly?
• Are you using a technique in your own business or your clients' that helps boost efficiency?

In April we'll have a different kind of event. Several of our members and guests have agreed to bring their favorite gadgets and suggestions. You'll have a unique opportunity to learn what's available and how gadgets can help you and your business.

We'll cover handheld devices such as PDAs and smartphones. We'll discuss computer peripherals such as business card readers and label printers. We'll exchange ideas on software productivity tools from web browsers to office suites. And finally, we'll talk about websites that are useful and valuable to independent consultants.

Come to our April meeting where you'll see and hear about these gadgets. We invite you to bring your favorite gadget and share your experiences. We are including a "gadget roundtable" where anyone can offer an idea or suggestion. What works for you? What doesn't? Which gadget do you use most? Why?

Some of the gadgets and technologies we plan to include are:

• Smartphones - Several models will be available for discussion
• PDAs - Several participants have experiences to share
• VoIP - Phone service delivered over the internet
• FiOS - Verizon's new Fiber Optic service option for internet connectivity
• FAX services - Alternatives to the venerable FAX machine
• PIMS - Personal Information Managers such as Outlook, Act, Goldmine and others

If you want to "show and tell" your favorite gadget, we'd like you to send a message to info@icca-boston.org to let us know. We'll reserve a few minutes for you to speak and demonstrate. If you simply have an idea (or several) that you want to offer to the group, no advance notice is needed, just register for the meeting.

This will be a fun and fascinating evening. Join us and bring a friend!

Who owns the work you produce for a client?

The subject of ownership is complex. A client hires you and pays you to deliver a software application, a document, spreadsheet or database. You deliver fabulous results that could apply to many companies in your marketplace. Now...

• Do you own the work product? Does the client?
• Can you legally reuse it on another client engagement?
• If you included another work product that you previously created, have you just transferred ownership to the client?
• If the client decides to seek a patent based on your work, do you have any rights?

This is a legal minefield!

Join us as we explore the topic of ownership and reuse of software and related work products. We will address how an independent consultant can determine what he or she "owns", what the client "owns", and whether a work product can be reused.

You'll learn what types of provisions can be included in client agreements to protect yourself. We'll also discuss steps you can take to protect your intellectual property rights.

Don't miss this event. Know your rights! Armed with the right information, you can protect yourself while continuing to deliver high-value, client results.

Jonathan Lourie is a partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP. He is Co-Chair of its Life Sciences Practice Group and former chair of the Technology Group.

Rob Tosti also is a partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP. He is a member of its Intellectual Property practice and a registered patent attorney.

Mr. Lourie's practice focuses on life science, software, electronic media, and technology companies. He has represented clients worldwide in a range of matters including business formations, joint ventures, licenses, venture capital, collaborations, and acquisitions. Mr. Lourie is a frequent speaker on software, life science, and technology issues before trade groups, legal panels, and venture investment forums. He has been published in books and magazines on these topics. Mr. Lourie graduated, magna cum laude, from Syracuse University College of Law and has a Bachelor of Science in Psychobiology from McGill University.

Mr. Tosti focuses on intellectual property (IP) law, and handles patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret matters including licensing. He is involved with obtaining patents, advising about the scope and validity of patents, and enforcing patent rights. His articles have appeared in various publications and have included such topics as business method patents, performing IP "due diligence" on a software company, and open source licenses. He graduated, cum laude, from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering, and he has a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering also from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He received his law degree, cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School.

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge is a U.S. based law firm with over 520 attorneys in nine offices in the U.S. and a representative office in London.

How to Set Ground Rules for Your Sales Interviews That Stick

This program will address specific sales challenges that you may be facing on a fairly consistent basis. It will not have any magic dust or silver bullets to fix all your sales challenges but will get you to think differently about how you go about moving the sales process forward.

Sales challenges often sound like:

• I meet with a fair number of new prospects, but I give them super ideas and never hear from them again or they go with someone else.
• I don't meet with enough new opportunities and so my business is dependent on my current clients coming up with new projects or I'm in trouble.
• I hate sales! It makes my skin crawl to think that I might sound salesy or worse yet...like everyone else.
• I hate sales and because of that, I have no system and wing every appointment.
• If I had a nickel for every time I've heard some form of 'I want to think it over and get back to you', I'd be rich.
• I really am the best person for the job, but how do I get them to realize that?

Believe it or not, these issues can be addressed. There are simple ways to fix these problems. Scott will give you some really useful tactics and mindsets around these issues that you can use immediately. This will be an interactive workshop and fits of fun will ensue. You'll experience different thinking and will leave feeling more comfortable with the sales process. You'll be armed with some new ideas for your next interview with a prospective client.

As a principal at Next Level, Inc., Scott focuses on teaching companies a proven sales process that achieves measurable results.

Scott enjoys working with CEOs, Presidents and entrepreneurs on Behavior, Attitude and Technique, the building blocks for success in sales. Scott's first entrepreneurial venture was as President and Founder of a successful niche Interactive Media firm which he owned and operated for ten years prior to joining Next Level, Inc. He grew the company by 400% in two years after learning "How to Get to the Real Decision Maker" and "How to Close the Deal or Close the File." Scott understands the challenges small business owners face and over his many years in this business has helped the leaders of mid-sized companies address similar challenges on a larger scale. His experience in the trenches makes him an effective sales trainer, coach and advisor to other business owners.

Scott earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management from Bridgewater State College. A resident of Millbury, Massachusetts, he is a devoted husband and father of three children.