Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 20:22:13 -0500 From: Withall Subject: SPIN Meeting Announcement - Tuesday, February 19, 2002 6:30pm-8:30pm Our meeting location is at The MITRE Corporation! Because of security concerns, you'll need a Picture ID. And it's best to leave all carrying bags, backpacks, and briefcases in your car. Any items you do bring with you will be opened and inspected when you arrive. Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) Meeting Announcement Topic: How much Process is Enough? Speaker: Linda McInnis When: Tuesday, February 19, 2001. 6:30pm-8:30pm 6:00-7:00 SIGs 6:30-7:00 Networking and Round Tables 7:00-7:10 Announcements 7:10-8:10 Presentation 8:10-8:30 Questions and Answers Where: The MITRE Corporation 202 Burlington Rd. (Rt. 62), Building S Bedford, MA 01730 More Info: See our web page, www.bostonspin.org Boston SPIN meetings are free. No RSVP is necessary. Directions are at the end of this announcement. Who: Everyone (Industry, Government, Academia). Boston SPIN meetings are free. No RSVP is necessary. For SPIN info: Contact Linda McInnis, LindaMcInnis@yahoo.com Cancellations (including weather cancellations): Starting at 3pm, we'll notify you via email to the SPIN distribution list, we'll post the notice on the SPIN web page, and we'll send the cancellation announcement to Channel 7 TV and WRKO AM 680. ________________________________________________________________________________ SPEAKER Topic: How much Process is Enough? Speaker: Linda McInnis Abstract: When we try to implement process in an organization, it's hard to know when to stop. During this talk you'll get a set of tests to determine where your organization needs process or where it doesn't need any more process. We'll also give you rules of thumb on which kind of methodology matches your organization's personality. About the Speaker: Linda McInnis Linda McInnis founded Noble Associates, Inc. 20 years ago to help companies to produce software faster, better and at lower cost. Linda started in the "other" side of product development: quality assurance and technical documentation. She then branched out to add configuration and release engineering, data operations and finally on to code development. As you can imagine, she has seen the good, the bad and the ugly sides of development. One of her observances over 20 years is that because most people continue to be largely self-taught in software development there are large knowledge/experience gaps on teams and to fill in these gaps she founded The Computer School in Acton, Massachusetts to teach project/process thinking and basic software development skills. ________________________________________________________________________________ ROUNDTABLE Topic: Coming soon. Facilitators: Coming soon. About the Roundtables: Roundtables are focused group or "birds-of-a-feather" discussions, with a facilitator, to stimulate and moderate discussion. Roundtables are held during the Networking portion of the SPIN meeting. Do It Yourself Resource Table: We are making available a Resource Table where you can place copies of Job Postings, Announcements, Resumes, Call for Papers and other Notices for SPIN attendees. ________________________________________________________________________________ BOOK CLUB Book Getting to YES: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In Getting to YES offers a concise, step-by-step, proven strategy for coming to mutually acceptable agreements in every sort of conflict - whether it involves parents and children, neighbors, bosses and employees, customers or corporations, tenants or diplomats. Based on the work of the Harvard Negotiation Project, a group that deals continually with all levels of negotiation and conflict resolution from domestic to business to international, Getting to YES tells you how to: * Separate the people from the problem * Focus on interests, not positions * Work together to create options that will satisfy both parties * Negotiate successfully with people who are more powerful, refuse to play by the rules, or resort to "dirty tricks" The second bullet, "separating interests from positions," applies directly to the need to separate functionality from design, which is faced by every software analyst. The concepts and strategies presented apply directly, and will serve the software analyst well. This will be a breakthrough concept for those who haven't been exposed to it. The discussion on this point alone will be well worth the price of admission for anyone involved in software lifecycles. This book was first published in 1981 and a second edition was published in 1991. It is as topical today as it was 10 and 20 years ago! Come join us on February 19 for a lively discussion of this book. ________________________________________________________________________________ SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS Topic: Flavors of Software Test Automation Speaker: John Pustaver We start at 6 o'clock. Test automation using tools such as WinRunner, SilkTest, and Robot can be carried out at different levels with each level requiring a different level of expertise and having its own plusses and minuses. Four levels of test automation will be discussed: Record and Playback, Data-Driven, Table-Driven at the Design Level, and Table-Driven at the Requirements Level. The advantages, disadvantages, and requirements for each will be discussed. John Pustaver is a software quality consultant and president of SWQuality, Inc. He holds certifications from the American Society of Quality as a Certified Software Quality Engineer and Certified Quality Engineer, from the Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals as a Certified Computing Professional (management and software engineering), and from Mercury Interactive as a Certified Product Specialist for TestSuite (WinRunner). He is the founder of the Software Quality Group of New England and has been its director since 1994. =============================================================================== ========================================== SPIN Sponsors: MITRE Corp., Bedford, MA http://www.mitre.org Raytheon Corp., Lexington, MA, http://www.raytheon.com Edelman & Associates, http://www.edeltech.com Quality Search, Inc., http://www.qualsearch.com We thank the Computer Science department of UMass-Lowell for providing support and hosting our web page. =============================================================================== =========================================== Directions: A map and directions are attached to thismessage to ensure that you get our NEW location. Coming from 128 South or North 1. Take Exit 32A onto Route 3 North. 2. Proceed two miles on Route 3 North and take the first Exit 26 (for Route 62 Bedford). 3. Go down the ramp to the traffic signal. Continue straight across Route 62 onto Crosby Drive. 4. After a short hill, take the first right into the MITRE campus. 5. Follow the driveway, which bears left and then right and turn right into the parking lot (immediately after the third speed bump). 6. Walk into the courtyard between Buildings K and S and enter the S lobby to sign in. From New Hampshire 1 Take Route 3 South to Exit 26 (for Route 62 Bedford). 2. Turn Left on Route 62. 3. After going under Route 3 take a left at the traffic signal onto Crosby Drive. 4. After a short hill, take the first right into the MITRE campus. 5. Follow the driveway, which bears left and then right and turn right into the parking lot (immediately after the third speed bump). 6. Walk into the courtyard between Buildings K and S and enter the S lobby to sign in. From Logan Airport 1. Go through tunnel to Route 93 North. 2. Take Route 93 North eleven miles to Exit 37B (Route 128 (I-95) South). 3. Take Route 128 (I-95) South six miles to Exit 32A (Route 3 North). 4. After a short hill, take the first right into the MITRE campus. 5. Follow the driveway, which bears left and then right and turn right into the parking lot (immediately after the third speed bump). 6. Walk into the courtyard between Buildings K and S and enter the S lobby to sign in.