Agile Belgium

The Agile Lean Europe (ALE) network is a pan-European open network for people passionate about Agile and Lean practice and thinking.

We’re organising the ALE 2011 unconference which will happen from September 7-9 in Berlin.  And we would love you to come!

Our goal is to create a European melting pot of Agile and Lean practitioners with many diverse perspectives and influences.  It is intended as a cross-border, non-profit collaboration event for mutual learning and continuous improvement. We want you to participate!

We are reaching out to the European Agile & Lean communities to come and join us during these 3 days of learning and cross-pollination.

We break the habit!  Diversity is key!

• We mix a traditional program with open space sessions, lightning talks and keynotes.
• We invite you to bring your families, there will be a spouse and kids program!
• We explicitly invite alien speakers who do not work in the software development domain.
• We want the whole of Europe to join. We already have pre-registrations by people from 28 European countries.

How can you help?

Forward this invitation to your community members and ask if they’re interested to submit a talk and register as a participant.

How does your community benefit from sending representatives to ALE 2011?

• You get a chance to pick up new ideas which you can spread in your community afterwards.
• You get to meet a lot of interesting people which you can invite to your community events.
• Your community gets visibility in the European Agile & Lean network.
• You get a clearer view on the state of Agile & Lean across Europe.

You can find more information about ALE 2011 on our website or by following #ale2011 on Twitter.

In addition to the conference, we’re also starting some ALE Network initiatives.  One is creating a system which allows communities to invite speakers when they happen to visit their region.  You can find out more about other initiatives at the conference or on our ALE Network website.

We’re counting on you to help Europe take a next step in the world of Agile & Lean!

Mechelen, December 1st – 2nd 2011

XP Day Benelux is an international conference about Agile methods, intended for people from all walks of life who are involved with IT. It provides a good opportunity for exchanging ideas and sharing experiences and is suited for both experienced participants and beginners in Agile methods. The focus of this conference is on practical knowledge, real-world experience, and active participation of everyone.

XP Days Benelux 2011 will have something for everyone. Sessions for people who are new to Agile, sessions for experienced people, a good mix of technical, experience, management and process sessions. We’ll have sessions on Agile in real life, stories of success and horror, hands on workshops, and sessions that will completely surprise you!

You can be a contributor too

We’re looking for enthusiastic people who want to lead these sessions. People who work in any role, business or form. People who are willing to share, and are prepared to learn. Reflective practitioners who are not only interested in quality work but also want to know why things work as they do.

Are you new to presenting? Do you have a nice idea, but you don’t know how to shape it into a session? Don’t worry, we will offer lots of ways to help you:

• We have coaches who can help you create your session.
• Through our session proposal system you will get feedback that will help you shape your session
• We provide opportunities before the conference to try out your session.
• We have a set of personas to give you some idea of the type of participants you’ll meet at XP Days.

Have you presented sessions before? The extensive feedback will give you an opportunity to improve your session further. And you can use your experience to help other presenters to improve their session.

How to propose a session for XP Days

Becoming an XP Days presenter is simple (but not easy):

1. Submit a session idea (until July 9th, 2011)
2. You’ll receive a login to our session improvement tool
3. You complete your proposal and improve it with the feedback you receive (until August 27th, 2011)
4. You give feedback on other proposals to help their presenters to create the best proposal they can
5. Early September, the program committee selects the sessions for the program based on the following criteria:
   • Quality of the session
   • A balance of session subjects and formats
   • Participation of the presenter in the improvement process
   • Votes from everybody who proposed a session

Important dates

• Now to July 9th, 2011: submit session proposals
• Now to August 27th, 2011: improve session proposals
• September 12th, program committee meeting
• September 19th, program decided

Propose a session now to get as much time as possible to get feedback and improve your session.

See you at the conference!