OTBC (Oregon Technology Business Center)

Now in it's third year of supporting local entrepreneurs! An investment of $20,000; mentoring from OTBC staff and from a group of investors (from the Westside Startup Fund) to help your startup succeed - that's part of what you get as a Beaverton Challenge company. Submit your application today!

You have an idea for a startup.

Is it a good idea?

Find out!

Validate the market need, your solution, and the overall business model first, and your odds of success go up. Way up. In this workshops, we’ll show you how.

In this seminar, we'll walk through each segment of a one page business model canvas and talk about how to document business model assumptions and how to test those assumptions.

Cost - $10.

When - 4pm-5:30pm, Thursday, Jun 5.

Where - OTBC, 8305 SW Creekside Pl, Beaverton, OR 97008.

You can find out if your idea is a good one!

"I have an idea for a startup but where do I start?" - A common question amongst first time entrepreneurs. One thing we know, Oregon has a wealth of information and support for entrepreneurs. This workshop held jointly by OEN and OTBC, will bring together all of those resources along with providing a check list of steps to take before building your plan

Picture this: You're an investor with 30 minutes to get through a stack of executive summaries and business plans. Your goal is to find one with a story you can't stop reading. Each document has 5 seconds to make you care; if it doesn't, you reject it – Boom! – and pick up the next.

Back to reality: You're a founder, you need capital, and you have 5 seconds to tell a story that grabs investors by the eyeballs and forces them to read. You may be an engineer, but you need to write like your future depends on it.

Learn how to make your opening paragraph a compelling read in this hot seat workshop. Led by business writer Debra Hemminger, attendees will:

• Evaluate and revise first paragraphs

• Create a checklist of traits that make a compelling first paragraph

• Use the checklist on their own first paragraphs to create an action plan.

Bring the first paragraph of your exec summary to this event and get feedback from the group! Better yet, email your first paragraph to [email protected] by May 8 with subject line "Hot Seat" to get even more feedback.

    As an entrepreneur, you may be new to sales.  But almost everything you do involves sales.  In this sales
    seminar for non-sales people, Jeff Scheider will arm you with information that will make you
    a more effective sales person.  

Learn more.

Looking for cofounders - or maybe developers or ??? Give a 1 minute pitch about your business, and what kinds of people/skills you need.

Looking for a startup to join? Or are you a developer looking for a project? Give a 1 minute pitch about how you can help a startup.

Short pitches, networking, pizza and beverages. This event is always fun - and yes, people have found cofounders! Join us.

Date/Time: Friday, April 24, 4pm-5:30pm Location: OTBC 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, Beaverton, OR 97008

April 11 is market-research Friday at OTBC, with free market research seminars.

Do you get that feeling of panic when you hit “send” on that latest price list or proposal? Do you wish you had a better methodology for developing a price or pricing scheme? You are not alone!

Pricing Guru Mike Pritchard, expert in pricing methodologies and research, is providing this presentation for the Oregon Technology Business Center to help entrepreneurs learn about scientific pricing approaches supported by actual customer and market research.

April 11 is market research day at OTBC, with two free seminars.

· How big is the market?

· Which features are important?

· How do I create a good survey?

· What research does an investor care about?

· Customer satisfaction research: why, when and how?

Bring your burning questions about market research to a roundtable discussion led by an expert.

Mike Pritchard of 5 Circles Research is in town for the weekend for presentations on pricing at the OTBC and Product Camp. Mike has generously agreed to spend the whole afternoon Friday April 11th so that you can take advantage of his expertise and experience.

We suggest that entrepreneurs not worry about pitching until your company is investor ready. But when the time is right, create a truly effective pitch that combines the right preparation, content, delivery and follow-up. In this seminar, we describe how to do that.

Included Tools: OTBC Pitch Checklist

This is part of the OTBC Get Started series.

When: Thursday, Apr. 10, 4pm-5:30pm
Where: OTBC
Cost: $15

Angel investors will not fund an idea - especially not for a first-time entrepreneur. They won't even fund a business plan. Fortunately there are sources of funding available to the early stage entrepreneur. We'll talk about those in this workshop, and walk through a realistic early-stage startup funding strategy. So you'll know right up front what it takes to get funded.

This seminar is part of the OTBC Get Started series.

When: Thursday, April 3, 4pm-5:30pm Where: OTBC Cost: $15

Join us for the March Rose City SPIN:

Pushing Practice to Proficiency

Presented by Matt Plavcan, Intel

Dates/Times: Thursday, March 20th, 2014: Networking @ 5:30-6:30 PM; Seminar 6:30-7:30 PM

Location: OTBC (Oregon Technology Business Center), 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, Beaverton, Oregon, 97008, 2nd floor

Abstract

The market environment today is challenging: Teams need to deliver working, high-quality code in an increasingly short time frame. We hear echoes of this in leadership’s implorations to “go faster”. To succeed, engineering teams need the flexibility to alter our course multiple times during product development. The practices to accomplish this are well-established, yet teams continually encounter difficulty changing their behavior. Matt will discuss the challenges a team faces in adopting new techniques, and an approach for achieving sustained excellence.

Bio:

Matt Plavcan is a Technical Practices Coach with the Intel Emergent Systems and Coaching team. He has worked at Intel for sixteen years, and has been writing code for three decades. His previous jobs include hardware validation for the Pentium 4 and Core microprocessors, and teaching Intel architecture at the University of Illinois. Matt is the founder of the Code Dojo and Retreat program at Intel, which uses dedicated practice to hone professional programming skills.

How to Register

This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: http://march2014spin.eventbrite.com

A Special Treat from PNSQC

Plan on coming early! In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) the SPIN meeting will have pizza and pop provided by PNSQC beginning at 5:30 pm.

PNSQC is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, a group of volunteers interested in Software Quality. The Mission of the PNSQC is to enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. As a non-profit, it seeks to promote software quality by providing education and opportunities for information exchange within the software community.

Thanks also to OTBC

We want to thank OTBC (http://www.otbc.org/) for providing the space for this talk

Rose City SPIN

The Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) is a monthly forum for networking, mutual support, and promotion of effective software practices. We exchange practical experiences, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, and war stories about the technical, business, and human facets of software process improvement. The Rose City SPIN serves the software development community of the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Whether you work for a large company or a small one, corporate or self-employed, industrial or academic setting, you are welcome at the Rose City SPIN.

Early on, team compensation is likely to be in the form of ownership in the company. It's important to understand how that works. This seminar tackles these common questions: What is common versus preferred stock? How do you decide how much stock goes to each team member? What happens if a team member doesn't work out? How is founder ownership diluted when the company takes on investors? How do you minimize dilution? Can founders retain control? How do investors determine you company's value?

Included Tools: Stock (Capitalization) Spreadsheet for forecasting value and dilution.

This seminar is part of the OTBC Get Started series.

Thursday, Mar 13, 7:30am-8:30am Cost:$15

This seminar describes steps you should take to protect you company ownership and your company's intellectual property (IP). We provide information about IP protection (copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets) and we describe steps you should take to protect your company stock. Throughout, we'll provide examples of the common mistakes that early stage entrepreneurs make, and how you can avoid those mistakes.

This is part of the OTBC Get Started series of seminars and workshops.

When: Thursday, Mar 6, 7:30am-8:30am
Where: OTBC
Cost: $15

Scaling Agile Adoption into the Enterprise: A Transition Community Based Approach

Presented by Aashish Vaidya, Cambia Health Solutions

Dates/Times: Thursday, Feb. 20th, 2014: Networking @ 5:30-6:30 PM; Seminar 6:30-7:30 PM Location: OTBC (Oregon Technology Business Center), 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, Beaverton, Oregon, 97008, 2nd floor

Abstract:

Since July of 2011, Cambia Health Solutions, a not-for-profit health solutions company has been transitioning to enterprise wide agile practices. Cambia develops its own software solutions as well as integrates software from other vendors. It has a distributed workforce that spans four states with many work-at-home employees. Cambia’s health insurance business is regulated by various state and national entities. Many of Cambia’s deliverables are large, mandated compliance projects that have a fixed time box and a set scope, driven by external entities. Missing either the deadline or scope could potentially mean losing a significant portion of its business or facing monetary penalties. This brings unique challenges for effective agile adoption, where set templates, cookbooks and recipes may or may not be effective. In order to transition from a patchwork of agile practices to large-scale agile, Cambia organized an Enterprise Transition Community and other communities. Initially, majority of the transition efforts were focused on rolling out agile to delivery teams and corresponding business areas. The experiences from this phase were shared during PNSQC 2012 presentation. Since, then the transition and transformation efforts continue to extend further at all levels: team, project and portfolio. This presentation will draw on the experiences shared in the 2012 PNSQC paper as well as augment additional lessons learned during the subsequent year. It will provide insights to company of any size that is looking to make or is in process of making a similar transition. Agilists of all stripes can also benefit from practical in-the-trenches information to bring back to their own organizations.

Bio:

Aashish Vaidya is an IT Staff Consultant at Cambia Health Solutions. He is a founding member of Cambia’s Enterprise Transition Community, and other Best Practices Exchanges. Currently he works on large portfolio projects leading agile and quality practices. He also serves as an internal coach on Agile and Quality practices. Aashish has been involved in agile practices in the earnest since 2007, and is a Certified Scrum Professional. He has over 20+ years of experience working at technology companies such as Compaq, Intel, and Kronos Incorporation. He has held various technical, leadership and management positions. Aashish has been a presenter/panelist at AgilePDX, PNSQC conference and Technology Association of Oregon. A recent article he co-authored appeared on AgileAtlas.org. He also muses on agile and management topics on his occasional blog agilesutra.wordpress.com. A graduate of Texas A&M University, Aashish holds Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering. He can also be found on twitter: @aashishvaidya and on Linkedin.

A Special Treat from PNSQC

Plan on coming early! In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) the SPIN meeting will have pizza and pop provided by PNSQC beginning at 5:30 pm.

PNSQC is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, a group of volunteers interested in Software Quality. The Mission of the PNSQC is to enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. As a non-profit, it seeks to promote software quality by providing education and opportunities for information exchange within the software community.

Thanks also to OTBC

We want to thank OTBC (http://www.otbc.org/) for providing the space for this talk

How to Register

This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: http://rosecityspinfebtalk.eventbrite.com

Rose City SPIN

The Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) is a monthly forum for networking, mutual support, and promotion of effective software practices. We exchange practical experiences, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, and war stories about the technical, business, and human facets of software process improvement. The Rose City SPIN serves the software development community of the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Whether you work for a large company or a small one, corporate or self-employed, industrial or academic setting, you are welcome at the Rose City SPIN.

Here's a great opportunity to learn from other startups.

PSU professor Charla Mathwick received feedback from more than 150 founders in the 2013 Oregon Founders Study. She has synthesized the results down to four distinct strategies reflected in the sample from the study across a range of 9 potential value proposition strategies. The results provide guidance regarding how to evaluate where a particular firm falls and what a founder might consider doing to strengthen his or her value proposition.

Charla would like to summarize these findings and get some direct founder feedback. The discussion will be relevant to any founder -- regardless of whether they participated in the study.

When: Feb. 20, 2014, 10am-11am

Where: OTBC, 8305 SW Creekside Pl, Beaverton, OR, 97008

Cost: Free

OEN and OTBC Workshop: How to Start

"I have an idea for a startup but where do I start?" - A common question amongst first time entrepreneurs. One thing we know, Oregon has a wealth of information and support for entrepreneurs. This workshop held jointly by OEN and OTBC, will bring together all of those resources along with providing a check list of steps to take before building your plan.

Startup Saturday

You have an idea for a startup

Is it a good idea?

Find out

Validate the market need, your solution, and the overall business model first, and your odds of success go up. Way up. In this Saturday morning workshops, we’ll show you how.

Jan. 11 - How to capture and validate your business model

In this session, we'll walk through each segment of a one page business model canvas and talk about how to document business model assumptions and how to test those assumptions.

Cost - free. But but please consider a tax deductible donation.

When - 9am-11am, Jan 25.

Where - OTBC, 8305 SW Creekside Pl, Beaverton, OR 97008.

You can find out if your idea is a good one

And get a tax deduction too

OTBC is the highest rated mentoring organization in Oregon, according to the results of the PSU Oregon Founders Study.  Come find out why, learn about OTBC residency, and learn how OTBC can help your startup grow and thrive.

We have openings now for two additional startups. Could one of those startups be yours?

What: OTBC information session

When: Thursday, Jan. 23, noon-1pm

Where: OTBC, 8305 SW Creekside Pl, Beaverton, OR

Register for this free event at http://www.otbc.org/info_session 

At this Startup Stories event, Jonathan Mann, founder of Sublime Learning, will tell the story of how he started Sublime in the K-12 education market, built an organization, developed a product, created success stories, ramped sales, and successfully negotiated an acquisition agreement. Jonathan knows from first hand experience the challenges of building a SAAS education company, and of going through an acquisition process. We'll ask him about those experiences and more. And we hope you bring some questions to!

When: Tuesday, Jan. 21, 4pm

Where: OTBC, 8305 SW Creekside Pl, Beaverton, OR

Cost: $10 (includes pizza and beverages)

Free event! Networking @ 5:30-6:30 PM; Talk @ 6:30-7:30 PM

Rose City SPIN Talk: The Tail that Wags the Dogma

Presented by Rhea Stadick

Abstract:

It is a common pattern for advocates of any kind (Agile, Quality, Process Improvement methods, Waterfall, etc.) to start off banging a drum with almost religious zealotry. “This is the way to achieve quality!” “Follow me or be cast aside!” I have certainly done this and many of the change agents and forward thinkers I respect in the industry have struggled with this as well in their careers. However, riding a train of dogmatic viewpoints and practices has, in many cases, ruined the original efforts of change agents and more tragically, created bad patterns of development. This presentation (also recently presented at the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference earlier this year) will explore how we can clarify our intentions and work towards creating an environment where the people involved are empowered to think and experiment but still march in the same general direction. As product development becomes more and more complex, different approaches are needed to get to the right outcome and we can no longer afford to apply rigid methods that worked for a simpler environment. This presentation will help the audience think critically about where they are being too dogmatic in their efforts while introducing some new ways of thinking around complex adaptive systems and complex product development. The full paper written for this conference presentation can be found here: http://www.uploads.pnsqc.org/2013/papers/t-095_Stadick_paper.pdf

Speaker Bio:

Rhea Stadick is an Organizational Coach at Intel, Corp. She has spent the last eight years in software quality and development of engineering teams. Today she helps organizations across her company develop cultures and competencies to create thriving work environments that support excellence in product development. She received her B.S. in Computer Science from Oregon State University and M.B.A. from Willamette University. For the past several years she has organized the Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) in the Portland-metro area that gathers professionals in the area to learn and network.

A Special Treat from PNSQC

Plan on coming early! In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) the SPIN meeting will have pizza and pop provided by PNSQC beginning at 5:30 pm. PNSQC is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, a group of volunteers interested in Software Quality. The Mission of the PNSQC is to enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. As a non-profit, it seeks to promote software quality by providing education and opportunities for information exchange within the software community.

Thanks also to OTBC

We want to thank OTBC (http://www.otbc.org/) for providing the space for this talk.

How to Register

This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: http://rosecityspindecembertalk.eventbrite.com

Rose City SPIN

The Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) is a monthly forum for networking, mutual support, and promotion of effective software practices. We exchange practical experiences, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, and war stories about the technical, business, and human facets of software process improvement. The Rose City SPIN serves the software development community of the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Whether you work for a large company or a small one, corporate or self-employed, industrial or academic setting, you are welcome at the Rose City SPIN.

DECEMBER 9th EVENT

I am very excited to announce our last event for the year. Monica Enand, CEO of Zapproved, is our guest speaker. Come hear Monica's story at the helm of one of the most successful Portland startups, and her journey from early founder to established CEO. Looking forward to seeing you all. Can't miss it!

PLEASE INVITE OTHERS: this event is open to PDX-based women founders as well as aspiring entrepreneurs, so do spread the word & bring friends.

VENUE / SCHEDULE:

The December event will be held at OTBC. OTBC is also graciously sponsoring the event. Drinks and refreshments will be provided. All events start at 6pm with the first hour focused on networking. Speakers / panels start at 7pm and usually go until 8.30pm.

Should you get your child a Raspberry Pi for Christmas? This informal talk will address that question.

The Pi is targeted at kids and at $35 it sounds pretty good. However, there are keyboards, SD cards, monitors, power supplies and other hardware to consider. Furthermore, the Pi is not for the faint of heart. You get all of the capabilities of a Linux system at the cost of its complexity.

There will be two halves to this talk.

1. One for elementary children using Lego WeDo robotics and Scratch.

2. The second targeting junior high or high schoolers and using Python to control a Vex robot.

The goal of this talk is to introduce you to a couple of robots you can control with the Pi. It will give you an idea of whether you want to tackle this with your children or if you want to give it to yourself instead. You have to be comfortable with hardware and willing to learn Linux. It is easy to manage as long as you follow the happy path. It is designed for children but is not childproof like Lego Mindstorms. The Pi provides you an opportunity to reduce it to scrap with a misplaced wire or to change its software in such a way it takes a wizard to recover. But hay – it’s only 35 bucks and you can always reload the software.

This talk is for parents. It is ok to bring a child but I do not promise to engage them. It will not teach you how to master the Pi. It will get you started by showing you what it can do and pointing you to resources on the web. Everyone is welcome.

Speaker: Ed Epp, IEEE

When: Dec. 4, 6:30pm to 9pm

Where: OTBC, 8305 SW Creekside Place, Beaverton, OR Directions

Cost: Free

Fund raising for your start up can be tough. It's even tougher when you're trying to fund raise before you have a working prototype in customers' hands. Our usual advice: a working prototype is one of the prerequisites for raising a seed round.

But AutoAp Inc. CEO Mark Paul beat the odds by raising a substantial seed round with a user interface demo, but not a working prototype. How did he do it? He will reveal all in our Dec. 3 “Startup Stories” interview. So if your struggling with your funding plan, you're sure to pick up some helpful pointers at this event!

When: Tuesday, Dec. 3, 4pm

Where: OTBC, 8305 SW Creekside Pl, Beaverton, OR

Cost: $10

Getting noticed in the App store is not easy. On Nov. 19, we'll talk to Motivated Apps founder Rich Clem about what it takes. Rich is building a business in health-related apps, and will share what he's learned in the process.

This even is part of the "Startup Stories" series at OTBC that features OTBC resident and graduate startup companies.

The PSU Business Strategy/Capstone Program (B495: http://www.pdx.edu/sba/capstone) is an intense 11-week project (Summer Term is 8 weeks) that is offered only to senior business students (roughly 750 business students annually) every term (summer, fall, winter, & spring).

And they are looking for some startups to help. Want to find out more? Attend this free brown-bag lunch with Bill Jones, Faculty Coordinator, Business Strategy Program. Register here.

Need help developing a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from a seasoned OEN expert why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

On Oct. 31 at OTBC, we'll interview Sonivate Medical CEO David Starr and CTO Scott Corbett to learn how the won both the Bend Venture Conference and the Willamette Angel Conference - and how they raised more than $5 million dollars in grant funding through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

Learn how to grow a startup without investors (and why that's a good thing to do) from a startup that is successfully doing that today.

On Oct. 22 at OTBC, Ragav Satish and Micah Elliott, founders of Membean, will talk about their challenges and accomplishments in bootstrapping a startup into revenue, with no investor funding. There will be plenty of time for Q and A.

How do you start and grow a company without investor funding - and without being independently wealthy? How do you build a team when you have little or no cashflow? How do you fund development? How can you afford to grow the team with sales and marketing skills, when those additions have to be funded by revenue? Membean has done all of that, and is continuing to grow their business without investor funding.

We'll explore with the Membean founders Ragav Satish and Micah Elliott how they tackled some of these challenges. Membean provides online vocabulary instruction with an Adaptive Reinforcement Engine that helps students retain what they learn. Their current focus is middle schools and high schools. Their customers include more than 180 schools.

Waterfall to Agile: Flipping the Switch
Presented by Bhushan Gupta, Nike Inc.

Abstract:

Agile software development methodology is transitioning from a fad to a practice. More and more software development practitioners are contemplating to switch from Waterfall to Agile if not entirely at least partially. Terms like scrum, sprint, stand up, story points, and velocity are becoming the ‘Lingua Franca’. While enough light has been shed on the mechanics of creating a release and iteration plan, managing story development, and sprint retrospectives, the team dynamics and behavior for success has not been given the mindshare it deserves.

Although the rules of the game when moving from waterfall to agile development change substantially, the players and their goals do not. The player that, “product manager” now becomes “product owner” and need to very actively pursue customer interest as a customer surrogate. Test engineers who took pride in breaking the code are now urged to work side by side with the developers and ensure that the defects are resolved immediately for a successful completion of a sprint. The project managers who are supposed to drive the schedule take on a role of facilitators making every effort to see that the sprint is complete and the velocity is adequate. Requirements that are frozen rarely gel and the designs go through multiple refactoring cycles to make sure that the development progresses. The new product quality champions who were always looking for “the knee in the defect trends” now barely have any fluctuations in the defect find trends from sprint to sprint. Referring the game, there is a new character in the theatre, “scrum master”, who manages the delivery of the stories.

Can this change be achieved by simply creating a backlog, a release plan, and a sequence of iterations? No. It takes changes in people’s perspectives, the way they think, and the way they achieve their goals. Would a Type A “product owner” who is used to take a product to the market with all the bells and whistles be comfortable to do so with less than the planned functionality? Would a star developer forget about gold plating and would a test engineer who always took pride in finding errors in someone else’s work be able to stand by developers and work with them. Most of all, would the orchestra be able to perform without the precisely written music, the “requirements document”? This paper analyzes the transition of a waterfall team to an agile environment and how changing the perspectives of the players can make the transition a success when the switch from Agile to Waterfall is flipped.

Bio:

Bhushan Gupta has a M.S. in Computer Science from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM. Bhushan has 27 years of experience in software engineering, 17 of which have been in the software industry. Currently a senior member of the GSS QA team at Nike, Bhushan is deeply involved with the agile development. Prior to joining Nike, Bhushan worked at Hewlett-Packard for 13 years in various capacities and led his groups in product development lifecycles, development methodology and execution processes, and software metrics for quality and software productivity. Bhushan has published and presented numerous articles in various conferences and has participated in panel discussions.

A Special Treat from PNSQC

Plan on coming early! In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) the SPIN meeting will have pizza and pop provided by PNSQC beginning at 5:30 pm.

PNSQC is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, a group of volunteers interested in Software Quality. The Mission of the PNSQC is to enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. As a non-profit, it seeks to promote software quality by providing education and opportunities for information exchange within the software community.

Thanks also to OTBC

We want to thank OTBC (http://www.otbc.org/) for providing the space for this talk

How to Register

This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: https://sept2013spin-reg.eventbrite.com/?ref=estw

Rose City SPIN

The Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) is a monthly forum for networking, mutual support, and promotion of effective software practices. We exchange practical experiences, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, and war stories about the technical, business, and human facets of software process improvement. The Rose City SPIN serves the software development community of the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Whether you work for a large company or a small one, corporate or self-employed, industrial or academic setting, you are welcome at the Rose City SPIN.

Need help developing a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from a seasoned OEN expert why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

This week's topic:

• How to Make Sure your Company Owns it's Intellectual Property (and Why That is Critical)  on Aug. 29
• The online AudioSlidez presentation posts on Aug. 26  
• Join us for the round table discussion on Aug.29

Learn more and register here

This week's topic:

• How to Size and Segment a Market  on Aug. 15
   
• The online AudioSlidez presentation posts on Aug. 12  
• Join us for the round table discussion on Aug.15

Upcoming roundtable topics (with free AudioSlideZ presentations):

How to Develop a Go to Market Plan on Aug. 22
 
• How to Make Sure your Company Owns it's Intellectual Property (and Why That is Critical)  on Aug. 29

Learn more and register here

This week's topic:

• How to Build a Realistic Funding Plan on Aug. 8  
• The online AudioSlidez presentation posts on Aug. 5  
• Join us for the round table discussion on Aug. 8

Upcoming roundtable topics (with free AudioSlideZ presentations):

• How to Size and Segment a Market  on Aug. 15
   
• How to Develop a Go to Market Plan on Aug. 22
   
• How to Make Sure your Company Owns it's Intellectual Property (and Why That is Critical)  on Aug. 29

Learn more and register here

This week's topic:

• Customer Development - if you build it, will they buy it?  on Aug. 1  
• The online AudioSlidez presentation posts on July 29  
• Join us for the round table discussion on Aug. 1

Upcoming roundtable topics (with free AudioSlideZ presentations):

• How to Build a Realistic Funding Plan on Aug. 8
   
• How to Size and Segment a Market  on Aug. 15
   
• How to Develop a Go to Market Plan on Aug. 22
   
• How to Make Sure your Company Owns it's Intellectual Property (and Why That is Critical)  on Aug. 29

Learn more and register here

This week's topic:

• How to Validate your Business Model Assumptions  on July 25  
• The online AudioSlidez presentation posts on July 22  
• Join us for the round table discussion on July 25/li>

Upcoming roundtable topics (with free AudioSlideZ presentations):

• Customer Development - if you build it, will they buy it?  on Aug. 1  
• How to Build a Realistic Funding Plan on Aug. 8
   
• How to Size and Segment a Market  on Aug. 15
   
• How to Develop a Go to Market Plan on Aug. 22
   
• How to Make Sure your Company Owns it's Intellectual Property (and Why That is Critical)  on Aug. 29

Learn more and register here

This week's topic:

• The Top 20 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make (and how to avoid them)  
• The online AudioSlidez presentation posts on July 14
   
• Join us for the round table discussion on July 18

Upcoming roundtable topics (with free AudioSlideZ presentations):

• How to Capture and Validate your Business Model Assumptions on a 1 Page Lean Canvas  July 25
   
• Customer Development - if you build it, will they buy it?  posts on Aug. 1
   
• How to Build a Realistic Funding Plan on Aug. 8
   
• How to Size and Segment a Market  on Aug. 15
   
• How to Develop a Go to Market Plan on Aug. 22
   
• How to Make Sure your Company Owns it's Intellectual Property (and Why That is Critical)  on Aug. 29

Learn more and register here

 Here's the plan for summer camp:

• We'll post 2 free online presentations every week in July
   
• We'll have weekly round table discussions of the video topics on Thursdays, starting on Thursday, July 11
   

And here's the schedule:

• How to Get Started - a Checklist of Things to Do  posts on July 9
   
• The Top 20 Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make (and how to avoid them)   posts on July 10
   
• How to Capture and Validate your Business Model Assumptions on a 1 Page Lean Canvas  posts on July 16
   
• Customer Development - if you build it, will they buy it?  posts on July 16
   
• How to Build a Realistic Funding Plan posts on July 23
   
• How to Size and Segment a Market  posts on July 23
   
• How to Develop a Go to Market Plan posts on July 30
   
• How to Make Sure your Company Owns it's Intellectual Property (and Why That is Critical)  posts on July 30

Learn more and register here

Saturdays, June 15th & 22nd, (10am-4pm)

Crafting the Perfect Pitch for Getting Your Projects Funded through Crowdfunding

In this HANDS ON workshop you will create your fundraising pitch and set-up your profile on one of these crowdfunding websites: KICKSTARTER.COM, INDIEGOGO.COM, FUNDABLE.COM.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:

• Sat, June 15th & Sat. June 22nd Classrooms, 10a - 4pm with a 1-hour lunch break
• Monday June 17th thru Friday June 21st: e-mail support
• Two conference calls during the Week of June 17th - 21st

INCLUDED IN THE WORKSHOP

• Workbook for creating a powerful pitch
• Guides for writing and producing content
• Budget planning worksheet (paper & .xls) to help estimate the project budget and pledge levels
• eMail and teleconference support the week between classrooms
• Links to helpful online resources
• Case studies of successful crowdfunded projects and summary of projects that failed and why
• List of the top crowdfunding sites for everything from projects to investment clubs.

After a review of the workbook, resource material & budgeting tools, we roll up our sleeves to begin the work of creating your project pitch and project marketing plan.

MONEY BACK GUARANTEE

We have so much confidence in the value of this workshop that we're offering a money-back guarantee. If you complete the workshop and are not satisfied with the value, request a refund in writing within a week of the workshop and we'll refund your workshop fee.

Networking @ 5:30-6:30 PM; Seminar 6:30-7:30 PM

Abstract:

Anyone who has seen a few generations of computer technology knows that each generation brings in a whole new vocabulary. It seems like the same old thing but with all of the names changed. Why do they do that?

It helps us get unstuck. That's the short answer. Each generation brings with it unfamiliar capabilities. It takes serious effort to find application for those capabilities and hiding the good stuff among the familiar just makes doing new things harder.

In this presentation I'll describe my own lurch forward over the last two years. The web, which has been stuck in its own way, has busted free. Its a great time to try something new. Some of this is technology, some methodology, and some community. All of it impresses me. Let me tell you why it's important.

Bio:

Ward Cunningham programs every day at New Relic. He continues to develop the unique data handling capabilities of Federated Wiki, a project rooted in his service as Nike's open-data fellow. Ward co-founded the consultancy, Cunningham & Cunningham, Inc. He has served as CTO at CitizenGlobal and AboutUs, a Director of the Eclipse Foundation, an Architect in Microsoft's Patterns & Practices Group, the Director of R&D at Wyatt Software and as Principle Engineer in the Tektronix Computer Research Laboratory.

Ward is well known for his contributions to the developing practice of object-oriented programming, the variation called Extreme Programming, and the communities supported by his WikiWikiWeb. Ward hosts the AgileManifesto.org. He is a founder of the Hillside Group and there created the Pattern Languages of Programs conferences which continues to be held all over the word.

How to Register

This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: http://june-spin.eventbrite.com

A Special Treat from PNSQC

Plan on coming early! In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) the SPIN meeting will have pizza and pop provided by PNSQC beginning at 5:30 pm.

PNSQC is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, a group of volunteers interested in Software Quality. The Mission of the PNSQC is to enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. As a non-profit, it seeks to promote software quality by providing education and opportunities for information exchange within the software community.

Thanks also to OTBC

We want to thank OTBC (http://www.otbc.org/) for providing the space for this talk.

How to Register

This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: http://june-spin.eventbrite.com

Rose City SPIN

The Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) is a monthly forum for networking, mutual support, and promotion of effective software practices. We exchange practical experiences, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, and war stories about the technical, business, and human facets of software process improvement. The Rose City SPIN serves the software development community of the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Whether you work for a large company or a small one, corporate or self-employed, industrial or academic setting, you are welcome at the Rose City SPIN.

Need help developing a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from a seasoned OEN expert why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

Come learn more about how crowdfunding can get YOUR project off the ground or accelerated into the marketplace.

How crowdfunding works - sites to raise funds or even find investors (Kickstarter, IndieGoGo & more)

How to create the “perfect pitch” for crowdfunding sites

Use crowdfunding to road test your product offerings & help you build a rabid fan-base

We’ll introduce you to the “Money 4 Something” step-by-step DIY workshop and resource to get outside funding to launch or complete your projects.

We’ll even give you one of our own proprietary tools that you can use to craft your own crowdfunding campaign on your own—just for attending and learning how you can take advantage of these amazing crowdsourced fundraising mechanisms.

Questions? Contact presenter Adrienne Fritze at [email protected], or at 503.349.6075.

Join other tech folks to network, check out our expanded space, and have lunch on OTBC!

We're restarting an old OTBC tradition - Founders Friday. Each Friday, join us for munchies, beverages, and the company of other startup founders to decompress from the week, get help/input on current challenges, and in general get to know some of your peer founders.

We're restarting an old OTBC tradition - Founders Friday. Each Friday, join us for munchies, beverages, and the company of other startup founders to decompress from the week, get help/input on current challenges, and in general get to know some of your peer founders.

We're restarting an old OTBC tradition - Founders Friday. Each Friday, join us for munchies, beverages, and the company of other startup founders to decompress from the week, get help/input on current challenges, and in general get to know some of your peer founders.

Networking @ 5:30-6:30 PM; Seminar 6:30-7:30 PM

Abstract:

Automated testing in a hot topic right now in the QA space. But how do you get started in it? One step at a time. This talk is aimed at the beginner and hopes to provide some background in how to start to learn how to automate stuff. Stuff that can make your day to day job easier. Even if you think you don’t have any automation experience, you probably actually have something that you can build on. I’ll give you one path as a guide, but ultimately it will be up to you to complete the journey.

Bio:

Alan Ark is a Principal QA Engineer at Viewpoint Construction Software – a Division of Coaxis, in Portland, Oregon. Alan has gained tremendous experience working for Compli, Unircu, Switchboard.com, and Thomson Financial – First Call. Mr. Ark has previously presented ‘Euro: An Automated Solution to Currency Conversion’ at Quality Week ’99, and ‘Collaborative Quality: One Company’s Recipe for Software Success’ at PNSQC 2008 and YES! You CAN Bring Test Automation to Your Company! at PNSQC 2011. At Compli, he is using Ruby to solve problems both large and small. His LinkedIn profile can be viewed at http://www.linkedin.com/in/arkie

A Special Treat from PNSQC

Plan on coming early! In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) the SPIN meeting will have pizza and pop provided by PNSQC beginning at 5:30 pm.

PNSQC is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, a group of volunteers interested in Software Quality. The Mission of the PNSQC is to enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. As a non-profit, it seeks to promote software quality by providing education and opportunities for information exchange within the software community.

Thanks also to OTBC

We want to thank OTBC (http://www.otbc.org/) for providing the space for this talk

How to Register

This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: http://may-spin.eventbrite.com

Rose City SPIN

The Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) is a monthly forum for networking, mutual support, and promotion of effective software practices. We exchange practical experiences, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, and war stories about the technical, business, and human facets of software process improvement. The Rose City SPIN serves the software development community of the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Whether you work for a large company or a small one, corporate or self-employed, industrial or academic setting, you are welcome at the Rose City SPIN.

Come learn more about how crowdfunding can get YOUR project off the ground or accelerated into the marketplace.

How crowdfunding works - sites to raise funds or even find investors (Kickstarter, IndieGoGo & more)

How to create the “perfect pitch” for crowdfunding sites

Use crowdfunding to road test your product offerings & help you build a rabid fan-base

We’ll introduce you to the “Money 4 Something” step-by-step DIY workshop and resource to get outside funding to launch or complete your projects.

We’ll even give you one of our own proprietary tools that you can use to craft your own crowdfunding campaign on your own—just for attending and learning how you can take advantage of these amazing crowdsourced fundraising mechanisms.

Questions? Contact presenter Adrienne Fritze at [email protected], or at 503.349.6075.

We're restarting an old OTBC tradition - Founders Friday. Starting Friday, May 3, join us every Friday for munchies, beverages, and the company of other startup founders.

Decompress from the week, get help/input on the week's challenges, and meet other founders and coaches.

When: Fridays, 3pm-5pm, starting May 3, 2013

Where: OTBC, 8305 SW Creekside Place, Beaverton, OR

Cost: suggested donation of $5 to help cover costs

Are you Looking for CoFounders for your Startup?

Join us for Founders Seeking CoFounders. Give a 1 minute pitch describing your business and the kinds of people/skills you need. You just might attract a cofounder.

Looking for a startup to join?

Come to listen and network - or give a 1 minute pitch on what you can add to a startup!

We'll provide pizza and beverage! We do this about once a quarter and it's always a great event.

The Use of Cadence in Agile and Traditional Projects: Sprint Length, Integration Frequency, and Other Matters of Rhythm

Presented by Kathy Iberle

Dates/Times: Thursday, March 14, 2013: Networking @ 5:30-6:30 PM; Seminar 6:30-7:30 PM

Abstract:

A sprint is just one example of the use of cadence or rhythm to make a process more efficient. Once you understand the fundamentals of cadence, you can apply cadence in both agile and traditional projects to reduce overhead and coordinate activities. Learn how to determine the ideal sprint length for your project, find out when continuous integration won’t help, and discover other ways that cadence can benefit your project! This talk explores the science behind the concept of a “project heartbeat” using 2nd-generation Lean thinking. Bio:

Kathy Iberle is an expert at producing high-quality software and high-tech products using practical methods. She worked in a variety of fields during her long career at Hewlett-Packard - electronic instruments, medical products, printers, and Internet applications – and she has seen development from a range of perspectives: software developer, quality engineer, test lab manager, requirements manager, agile coach, process improvement expert. Kathy has a deep knowledge of the underlying theory behind agile and Lean development, combined with a flair for pragmatic applications, which has enabled her to successfully extend software agile development methods into areas where most people think “agile just can’t work”. Kathy reviewed technical papers for the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) for many years, served as co-chair of PNSQC’s Program Committee in 2009, participated in the invitation-only Software Test Managers Roundtable for five years, and has published regularly since 1997. Kathy has an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Washington, and an excessive collection of degrees in Chemistry from the University of Washington and the University of Michigan. Visit her website: www.kiberle.com

A Special Treat from PNSQC

Plan on coming early! In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) the SPIN meeting will have pizza and pop provided by PNSQC beginning at 5:30 pm.

PNSQC is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, a group of volunteers interested in Software Quality. The Mission of the PNSQC is to enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. As a non-profit, it seeks to promote software quality by providing education and opportunities for information exchange within the software community.

Thanks also to OTBC

We want to thank OTBC (http://www.otbc.org/) for providing the space for this talk

How to Register

This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: http://marchspin.eventbrite.com

Rose City SPIN

The Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) is a monthly forum for networking, mutual support, and promotion of effective software practices. We exchange practical experiences, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, and war stories about the technical, business, and human facets of software process improvement. The Rose City SPIN serves the software development community of the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Whether you work for a large company or a small one, corporate or self-employed, industrial or academic setting, you are welcome at the Rose City SPIN.

First time entrepreneurs sometimes don't understand what's realistic in funding a startup. We'll walk through sources of funding that actually are available - and talk about what it takes to get ready to pitch investors

Need help developing a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from a seasoned OEN expert why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

Registration is required, and space is limited to 15 entrepreneurs.

Presenter: Steve Morris Steve Morris is the Executive Director of OTBC and the Managing Director of OregonStartups.com. He is a veteran of three start-ups, and has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, service, and semiconductor test industries at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Integrated Measurement Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, Credence Corporation and Teseda Corporation. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College and a Masters of Science degree from Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now The Tepper School of Business).

When: Tuesday, March 5, 2013 Time: 4:00 - 6:15 PM

Where: 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, Beaverton, OR 97008

Link to map: http://www.otbc.org/directions

OEN Member: $32 Non-Member $70

One of the most important decisions you'll make is choosing those early co-founders and employees. We'll discuss tactics for finding, recruiting, hiring, managing, and, when necessary, parting ways.

There are many ways to make mistakes in protecting your company and your intellectual property. Some are expensive. Some are fatal. We'll help you avoid the mistakes and protect your company.

There are a lot of issues an entrepreneur needs to wrestle with when starting a company. And we want you to have the greatest chance of success possible.

In a series of 4 workshops, OTBC will work through a number of critical issues you'll need to understand, ranging from understanding and validating the assumptions underlying your business model to building realistic funding strategy. Each workshop is on a Thursday afternoon from 3pm to 4:30pm, followed by networking time. Each workshop will include a presenation, with lots of time for Q&A.

Topics to be covered are:

Test your Critical Business Model Assumptions, Feb. 14

Protect your Company and Intellectual Property, Feb. 21

Build an Effective Startup Team, Feb. 28

Build a Realistic Funding Strategy, Mar. 7

We know from working with many startups that these are important topics to understand. We've selected the highest leverage topics, to get you off to a good start. Sign up to all 4 for a package price - or just register for the topics that you think are the best fit. We look forward to working with you!

Abstract:

How Do You Set a Collaborative Context? Encourage Pervasive Leadership

Why do we think collaboration is so hard, so complex? Well, one reason is that it’s largely antithetical to how we have been enculturated for generations. At the same time, it’s increasingly important for business survival and has long been important for personal happiness. February’s SPIN talk looks at what is needed to speed up and optimize opportunities for collaboration on project teams and in organizations from a leadership perspective. We’ll discuss what it means to have a “dialogic mindset” to “presence” leadership in the organization and discuss a model that leaders all across, up, and down the organization can use to foster collaboration. Principles around freedom and accountability as well as deep democracy will be covered and related to the workplace.

While this topic does not present a panacea for dysfunctional organizations it will provide attendees with new thinking and action-base tools for fostering collaboration wherever they lead. Come prepared to participate. While she respects “tourists” this speaker draws out audience interaction. Leadership is a conversation, not a presentation.

Bio:

Jean Richardson has been a software development professional since 1989, She is experienced in project management, writing, training, public speaking, and requirements and business analysis. During her career, she has designed and implemented a number of communications programs, managed dozens of projects, helped to assemble and led large and small co-located and distributed teams, led process improvement initiatives, and led professional development and education efforts for software developers in all specialties.

As a businessperson, she is firmly aware of the value, as well as the cost, of customer intimacy. She cautions fellow software professionals against too strictly applying the adage “it’s just business,” because business is done by human beings. She has learned that basic human issues are at the root of most business problems and most customer/vendor, employer/employee, or client/consultant disputes. Jean believes that if we ignore this fact we dehumanize ourselves and imperil our society.

Her experience and career path have spanned both traditional and agile methods, frameworks, and cultural perspectives. The Agile leadership model she espouses, Pervasive Leadership, is designed to help leaders set a collaborative context while still meeting their own stewardship responsibilities to the organization.

Jean teaches courses in Effective Conflict Engagement, Collaboration for Cross-Functional Teams, Setting Collaborative Context, Working Together When You Can’t Be Face-to-Face, and Facilitative Leadership.

As a consultant, her client list boasts a wide range of businesses including ADP, Chrome Systems, Intel, Daimler Chrysler, Kryptiq Corporation, Mentor Graphics, Oregon State Department of Human Services, Portland General Electric, The Regence Group/Cambia Health Solutions, and Tripwire. EPHT GEORGE, a project Jean led for the Public Health Division of Oregon State Department of Human Services, won the Project Management Institute 2009 Project of the Year Award for the Portland Chapter.

A Special Treat from PNSQC

Plan on coming early! In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) the SPIN meeting will have pizza and pop provided by PNSQC beginning at 5:30 pm.

PNSQC is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, a group of volunteers interested in Software Quality. The Mission of the PNSQC is to enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. As a non-profit, it seeks to promote software quality by providing education and opportunities for information exchange within the software community.

Thanks also to OTBC

We want to thank OTBC (http://www.otbc.org/) for providing the space for this talk

How to Register

This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: http://rosecityspin-feb.eventbrite.com

Rose City SPIN

The Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) is a monthly forum for networking, mutual support, and promotion of effective software practices. We exchange practical experiences, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, and war stories about the technical, business, and human facets of software process improvement. The Rose City SPIN serves the software development community of the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Whether you work for a large company or a small one, corporate or self-employed, industrial or academic setting, you are welcome at the Rose City SPIN.

Find Cofounders - or Find a Startup

Looking for cofounders? Give a 1 minute pitch about your business, and what kinds of people/skills you need, and then network with the group to make connections.

We'll provide pizza and beverage! We do this about once a quarter (it's been a bit longer this time...) and it's always a great event.

Crafting the Perfect Pitch for Getting Your Projects Funded through Crowdsourcing

In this HANDS ON workshop you will create your fundraising pitch and set-up your profile on one of these crowdfunding websites: KICKSTARTER.COM, INDIEGOGO.COM, FUNDABLE.COM.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:

Sat, Jan. 12th and Sat. Jan.19th Classrooms,

    10a -4p—1-hour lunch break

Monday January 14th thru Friday January 18th

 e-mail support
Two conference calls during the Week of Jan 14th - 18th

INCLUDED IN THE WORKSHOP:

Workbook for creating a powerful pitch

Guides for writing and producing content

Budget planning worksheet (paper & .xls) to help estimate the project budget and pledge levels

eMail and teleconference support the week between classrooms Links to helpful online resources

Case studies of successful crowdfunded projects and summary of projects that failed and why

List of the top crowdfunding sites for everything from projects to investment clubs.

After a review of the workbook, resource material & budgeting tools, we roll up our sleeves to begin the work of creating your project pitch.

Trademarks are an important tool for protecting your intellectual property. At this seminar, you'll learn about trademarks from US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) attorney Craig Morris.

Learn more and register: http://otbc.org/node/341

The Oregon Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) invites you to its November Learning and Networking Event on Emerging Trends in Product Management and Marketing. New ideas and different approaches emerge regularly in the disciplines of product discovery, development and delivery. Examples are design thinking, open innovation and product owners for Agile. As a group, we’ll assemble a list of the major trends that we’re observing. We’ll review what the industry thought leaders are talking about and then try to put these trends into context; whether they are major inflection points redefining product management or passing fads that detract from the execution of product management fundamentals.

The source material for this event is based on the presentation voted the “Best Session” at May’s ProductCamp Portland. The session will be interactive in nature. In addition to presenting research results, we’ll draw on the insights and opinions of the audience during a Q&A session to add greater depth and different perspectives. Come prepared with several trends you’ve heard about which you’d like to contribute to our conversation. Hopefully, you’ll leave with at least a couple of topics you’ll want to explore further.

A special thanks to the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC) for hosting this event.

Discussion Leaders

David Nash

Vice President, ADP Dealer Services

President-elect, PDMA Oregon Chapter

Miki Tokola

Principal, Micom Consulting

President, PDMA Oregon Chapter

Date, Time, and Cost

Thursday, November 29, 2012

5:30 – 6:00pm: Registration, refreshments and networking

6:00 – 7:30pm: Presentation and Q&A

7:30 – 8:00pm: Refreshments and networking

$20 on-line registration prior to the event

$25 at the door

A discount is available for PDMA members

To register on-line visit the website above

Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter.com have set the entrepreneurial world ablaze with their democratizing effect in the project funding realm. You’ve read about crowdfunding successes like Pebble, Kickstarter's biggest crowdfunding success (the project raised over $10 million). Now find out how you can use these same sites to get YOUR project off the ground or accelerated into the marketplace.

For those who want to know what Startup Weekend is all about, we offer a Bootcamp that will give you a better sense of what to expect at Startup Weekend, how to get the most out of it, and help you increase your chances of success during the weekend.

November 8th Rose City SPIN Seminar

Mindful Engineering

Presented by Lindsay Van Driel

Dates/Times: Thursday, November 8, 2012: Networking @ 5:30-6:30 PM; Seminar 6:30-7:30 PM

Location: OTBC (Oregon Technology Business Center), 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, Beaverton, Oregon, 97008, 2nd floor

Abstract:

Mindfulness refers to one’s ability to sustain attention, in a particular way, in the present moment and non-judgmentally. Although it may sound easy, five minutes of practice proves how tricky this can be. The conditions of modern life and the modern work place, with our hyper-connectivity, continue to erode our ability to willfully focus our attention. Mindfulness is based in the wisdom of ancient traditions, but modernized and secularized to reach its contemporary corporate audience. With academia leading the way, some 180 business schools across the world offer education and training in the field of mindfulness, most notably at Harvard, Stanford and the University of Michigan. Google created a program as a part of their employee development offerings dedicated to mindfulness and emotional intelligence. It is now accompanied by a NYT best-selling book of the same name as the course, Search Inside Yourself, as well as an industry wide conference pulling top tech CEO’s, innovators, authors and philosophers together for two days a year to discuss the importance of mindfulness. Intel’s Awake Inside program seeks to deliver the mindfulness teachings to employees, to relieve stress and build emotional resiliency and competency. As the technology industry continues to shape-shift, large firms are forced to constantly reinvent themselves to stay relevant. Intel’s program, dedicated to Mindful Engineering, is designed to teach employees the skills to look deeply within themselves for the answers to today’s most pressing issues. The program has proven to yield results in both personal and professional contexts, with the ultimate goal of promoting an overall sense of well-being in the individual.

Bio:

Lindsay Van Driel is a Business Operations Manager inside the Business Client Platform Division of Intel Corporation. She holds a Masters in Business and Administration from Arizona State University. Additionally, she is a registered Yoga and Meditation Teacher with the International Yoga Alliance. She joined Intel in the Fall of ’99 and has been there since, holding various positions inside the company’s vast engineering structure. Coinciding with her duties in Business Operations, she currently teaches both Yoga and Meditation on site at Intel and has founded Intel’s Awake Inside Program. This program is dedicated to realizing mindfulness in the midst of the corporate work experience and specifically in the field of engineering.

A Special Treat from PNSQC

Plan on coming early! In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) the SPIN meeting will have pizza and pop provided by PNSQC beginning at 5:30 pm.

PNSQC is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, a group of volunteers interested in Software Quality. The Mission of the PNSQC is to enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. As a non-profit, it seeks to promote software quality by providing education and opportunities for information exchange within the software community.

Thanks also to OTBC

We want to thank OTBC (http://www.otbc.org/) for providing the space for this talk How to Register

This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4689946757

Rose City SPIN

The Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) is a monthly forum for networking, mutual support, and promotion of effective software practices. We exchange practical experiences, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, and war stories about the technical, business, and human facets of software process improvement. The Rose City SPIN serves the software development community of the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Whether you work for a large company or a small one, corporate or self-employed, industrial or academic setting, you are welcome at the Rose City SPIN.

Need to learn how to develop a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from seasoned OEN experts why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

Registration is required, and space is limited to 15 entrepreneurs.

Presenter: Steve Morris Steve Morris is the Executive Director of OTBC and the Managing Director of OregonStartups.com. He is a veteran of three start-ups, and has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, service, and semiconductor test industries at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Integrated Measurement Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, Credence Corporation and Teseda Corporation. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College and a Masters of Science degree from Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now The Tepper School of Business).

Come follow up on Video 5: Build your Startup Team (the video will be available Oct. 29)

How do you build a startup team? - What roles do you need? What skills? - What happens when founders don't work out? - How does stock compensation work? - What should you do to protect your intellectual property?

Watch the video, then join other entrepreneurs & OTBC coaches to discuss building the Startup Team.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) replaces dedicated network hardware with standards based software running on servers that implements the control plane of switches and routers. Dr. Turbyfill will discus ARCCN's work to provide an OpenFlow standard-based application development network platform taking much of the features and functionality that exist inside custom proprietary software and driving it into an open SDN space. OpenFlow is an API that links an Ethernet switch and a controller. OpenFlow implements layer 2 Ethernet switches as flows directed by a centralized controller(s).

ARCCN is a non-profit organization, located in the Skolkovo Innovation Center, Moscow. Skolkovo is Russia’s answer to Silicon Valley. Its goal is "to concentrate international intellectual capital, thereby stimulating the development of break-through projects and technologies." Dr. Turbyfill will also discuss ARCCN's relationship with Skolkovo and how ARCCN is building collaborative relationships with international academic, research and commercial organizations to achieve its goals.

A light dinner of pizza and beverage will be supplied.

Registration fee:
IEEE Members: $4; Non-members: $6

Speaker Biography:

Dr. Turbyfill holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Her first research project in the field of Computer Science was the Wisconsin Benchmark that pioneered benchmarks by which relational database systems are measured today. She has advanced her career with milestones consisting of the first commercial implementations of leading edge products such as: the first firewall appliance, SunScreen SPF-100 and SKIP, one of the first commercial Virtual Private Networks (VPN); the first managed security service and the first round trip email marketing service. While at Sun Microsystems, she worked with CISSP, a coalition of companies, on changing export controls on encryption. As VP of Engineering at StackSafe, she led the team that developed the StackSafe Test Center, which was named the 2008 ITIL Innovation of the Year. In 2009 Dr. Turbyfill was inducted into the Women in Technology International's (WITI) Hall of Fame for her longstanding commitment to create opportunities for women in technology careers.

This week's topic for OTBC's Online Startup Camp is Venture Capital 101. View the 24 minute video any time that's convenient, then join us for the discussion on Oct. 25.

“I see no more than you, but I have trained myself to notice what I see.” – Sherlock Holmes

The Oregon Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) invites you to its October Learning and Networking Event to explore the future.

What do VMWare, Illumina, and SolarWinds all have in common with Google, Apple, and Facebook? They are all high growth companies that saw into the future and took advantage of huge enabling waves of change in the marketplace when they were just ripples.

Please join us for an interactive discussion to examine not only the top enabling waves that our speakers have identified, but also offer you a framework and tools to not just see the future, but to create the future with confidence.

Some of the waves we’ll examine that are sure to be major elements of future product and services include:

BIG DATA

Haptics

Augmented reality

Social networking

Sensing

And more…

We’ll then offer specific tools you can use to develop a strategy and plan for what do DO about the waves.

This session will be interactive in nature. In addition to presenting researched results, we’ll draw on the insights and opinions of the audience during a Q&A session to add greater depth and different perspectives to the findings.

A special thanks to the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC) for hosting this event.

Panelists

Roger Hicks – Principal, Roger Hicks Consulting

Dorian Simpson – Managing Director, Planning Innovations

Date, Time, and Cost

Thursday, October 18, 2012

6:00 – 6:30pm Registration, refreshments and networking

6:30 – 8:00pm Presentation and Q&A

8:00 – 8:30pm Refreshments and networking

$20 on-line registration prior to the event

$25 at the door

A discount is available for PDMA members.

Register at the Website above

How do you fund a startup at the "idea / discovery" phase? That's typically too early for investors, so how can you find startup capital?

Video 2 of the OTBC Online Startup Camp covers a wide range of funding sources you'll want to consider. Topics include founder resources, Friends and Family, CrowdFunding, Government Grants, Micro-loans, Seed Funds, and more.

Check out the video at

http://www.onlinestartupcamp.com/?q=node/12

and join us for the meetup to discuss early stage funding options.

Investors rarely fund a startup that is at the "idea" stage. So how does an entrepreneur fund an early stage startup? At this 2 hour workshop at OTBC you'll learn how to leverage sources of funding ranging from microloans, grants and seed funds to angel and venture capital investors. Will also cover funding strategy: when to raise how much from where - and why.

Crowdfunding sites, like Kickstarter.com, have set the entrepreneurial world ablaze with their democratizing effect in the project funding realm. You’ve read about crowdfunding successes like Pebble, Kickstarter's biggest crowdfunding success (the project raised over $10 million). Now find out how you can use these same sites to get YOUR project off the ground or accelerated into the marketplace.

Join us for a special 1-hour presentation to find out more about:

How crowdfunding works

Various platforms available to entrepreneurs to raise funds or even find investors (beyond the more well known sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo)

How to create the “perfect pitch” for crowdfunding sites

How crowdfunding campaigns can be used to road test your product offerings and help you build a rabid fan-base

We’ll introduce you to the “Money 4 Something” step-by-step DIY workshop and resource for indie artists, innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs who need outside funding to launch or complete their projects. The information in the workshop is geared toward creative innovators looking for an alternative, community oriented way to get the word out about, and fund, their projects through crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter.com.

We’ll even give you a proprietary tool that you can use to craft your own crowdfunding campaign on your own—just for attending and learning how you can take advantage of these amazing crowdsourced fundraising mechanisms.

If you have any questions before the event, feel free to contact the presenter, Adrienne Fritze at [email protected], or by calling her at 503.349.6075.

Need to learn how to develop a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from seasoned OEN experts why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

Registration is required, and space is limited to 15 entrepreneurs.

Presenter: Steve Morris Steve Morris is the Executive Director of OTBC and the Managing Director of OregonStartups.com. He is a veteran of three start-ups, and has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, service, and semiconductor test industries at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Integrated Measurement Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, Credence Corporation and Teseda Corporation. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College and a Masters of Science degree from Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now The Tepper School of Business).

Toastmasters International, founded in 1924, is a proven product, regarded as the leading organization dedicated to communication and leadership skill development. As a member, you will gain all the tools, resources and support you need.

Through its worldwide network of clubs, Toastmasters helps nearly 280,000 people communicate effectively and achieve the confidence to lead others. Why pay thousands of dollars for a seminar or class when you can join a Toastmasters club for a fraction of the cost and have fun in the process?

Six of the participants in the Online Startup Summer Camp will make a 10 minute investor pitch and receive 10 minutes of feedback from a panel of investors, including:

Scott Sandler, Fund Manager for the Oregon Angel Fund.

Shelley Gunton, angel investor, Chair of Angel Oregon 2012 and Executive Director of the PSU Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Dennis Powers, angel investor, Managing Partner of VectorPoint Ventures and past Chair of the Portland Angel Network.

We'll have food and beverage and plenty of networking time too.

Learn more and register at http://www.otbc.org

Toastmasters International, founded in 1924, is a proven product, regarded as the leading organization dedicated to communication and leadership skill development. As a member, you will gain all the tools, resources and support you need.

Through its worldwide network of clubs, Toastmasters helps nearly 280,000 people communicate effectively and achieve the confidence to lead others. Why pay thousands of dollars for a seminar or class when you can join a Toastmasters club for a fraction of the cost and have fun in the process?

Online Summer Camp is free - but you can also join us for this optional weekly meetup. $10 includes food and beverage. We had 25+ people at the first two and had great conversations!

-Meet other entrepreneurs - Ask questions about the summer camp videos - Here what other entrepreneurs are up to

If you haven't seen the videos yet - check out

    http://www.otbc.org/summercamp

Online Summer Camp is free - but you can also join us for this optional weekly meetup. $10 includes food and beverage. We had 25+ people at the first two and had great conversations!

-Meet other entrepreneurs - Ask questions about the summer camp videos - Here what other entrepreneurs are up to

If you haven't seen the videos yet - check out

    http://www.otbc.org/summercamp

Professionals in any industry work with tools as they set prices for their products or services: operating costs, ramp-up, S-curves, break-evens, ROI goals, and customer value. We understand the concepts and apply them carefully. How, then, do we end up fighting price wars, disappointing customers, and performing below goals?

For a start, consider what’s missing in that list of tools: anything that takes competitive dynamics into account. That’s where war games and simulations come in, and that’s what we’ll see in action on July 26th.

The Oregon Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) invites you to its July Learning and Networking Event. In this highly interactive and thought-provoking program, our experienced speaker will discuss and lead us through pricing decisions, pricing mistakes, and pricing war games. We will participate in simulations that shock, amuse, and enlighten as we ponder how to price effectively.

Acknowledgement

A special thanks to the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC) for hosting this event.

Speaker

Mark Chussil, Founder and CEO of Advanced Competitive Strategies.

Mark has conducted hundreds of war games and worked with thousands of strategists in Fortune 500 companies on six continents and helped them make or save billions of dollars. He is a highly rated speaker who’s written three books, chapters for five others, and numerous articles. He also has earned a patent (another is pending) for simulation technology. A 35-year veteran in competitive strategy, Mark earned his MBA at Harvard and his BA at Yale.

Date, Time, and Pricing

Thursday, Jul 26, 2012

6:00-8:30 PM

$20 on-line registration prior to the event

$25 at the door

A discount is available for PDMA members

For more details on the event and the speakers and to register on-line, visit www.pdma.org/oregon

The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) is the premier global advocate for product development and management professionals. The Oregon chapter's mission is to help local professionals and organizations to identify, develop, and launch more innovative and profitable products and services through cross-industry collaboration, thought leadership, and the sharing of best practices and practical knowledge. For more information about the Oregon Chapter of the PDMA, please contact:

Miki Tokola, Chapter President

[email protected]

We encourage everyone in Oregon who is interested in the Product Development and Management Association to become a member of the National PDMA. For a great explanation on the benefits of membership in the PDMA, please go to: http://pdma.org/about_benefits.cfm

Online Summer Camp is free - but you can also join us for this optional weekly meetup. $10 includes food and beverage. We had 25+ people at the first two and had great conversations!

-Meet other entrepreneurs - Ask questions about the summer camp videos - Here what other entrepreneurs are up to

If you haven't seen the videos yet - check out

    http://www.otbc.org/summercamp

Online Summer Camp is free - but you can also join us for this optional weekly meetup. $10 includes food and beverage. We had 25+ people at the first two and had great conversations!

-Meet other entrepreneurs - Ask questions about the summer camp videos - Here what other entrepreneurs are up to

If you haven't seen the videos yet - check out

    http://www.otbc.org/summercamp

Online Startup Summer Camp for entrepreneurs is brought to you by OTBC, OEN, TiE, Startup Weekend, SAO, and OAF. This event is one of the (optional) weekly meetups.

This summer, you can take your idea and go through the steps to launch your startup and build an investor pitch, while getting feedback and meeting lots of people.

FORMAT: We'll post weekly online videos each of which covers a key task that's one aspect of preparing for an investor pitch. Week by week, you'll build a pitch deck, while developing and validating your business model.

Participants can ask questions online. In fact, you can do the entire boot camp, online, on your schedule (we know schedules are a challenge during the summer).

Online startup summer camp is free at

http://www.otbc.org/summercamp 

And you can join us for the optional meetup today at OTBC - with beverages and food and conversation with other Summer Camp participants. $10 (use the www2 link to register)

Need to learn how to develop a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from seasoned OEN experts why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

Registration is required, and space is limited to 15 entrepreneurs.

Presenter: Steve Morris Steve Morris is the Executive Director of OTBC and the Managing Director of OregonStartups.com. He is a veteran of three start-ups, and has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, service, and semiconductor test industries at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Integrated Measurement Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, Credence Corporation and Teseda Corporation. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College and a Masters of Science degree from Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now The Tepper School of Business).

A Case Study of “PDLC and an Agile Process”

Presented by Ira Hill

Abstract:

A review of implementing agile processes in a waterfall environment the presentation outlines the journey of guiding several ‘pseudo’ agile projects to completion in an environment that was structured for waterfall efforts. This presentation is intended for the practitioner that may be trying to adopt some agile concepts while functioning in a waterfall environment and was originally created as an introduction to agile processes for the PMO.

Bio:

Working at as a supervisor for two development teams (Linux OS and Windows Platform) at ADP Dealer services Ira has been a software practitioner for over 30 years. A former adjunct professor at Portland State University Ira taught OMSE 525 (Software Quality Analysis) in the Oregon Masters of Software Engineering program and focuses on adding quality into products early in their life cycle. A graduate of the University of Oregon (MS Software Engineering) and Eastern Washington University (BS Computer Science) Ira is a native of Portland and has held various positions around the northwest specializing in systems software development.

A Special Treat from PNSQC

Plan on coming early! In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) the SPIN meeting will have pizza and pop provided by PNSQC beginning at 5:30 pm.

PNSQC is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, a group of volunteers interested in Software Quality. The Mission of the PNSQC is toenable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. As a non-profit, it seeks to promote software quality by providing education and opportunities for information exchange within the software community.

Thanks also to OTBC

We want to thank OTBC (http://www.otbc.org/) for providing the space for this talk.

How to Register

No need to register! This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3710965598

Rose City SPIN

The Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) is a monthly forum for networking, mutual support, and promotion of effective software practices. We exchange practical experiences, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, and war stories about the technical, business, and human facets of software process improvement. The Rose City SPIN serves the software development community of the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Whether you work for a large company or a small one, corporate or self-employed, industrial or academic setting, you are welcome at the Rose City SPIN.

Time change! Note that this event will start at 3pm, not 1pm!

This 2-hour, hands-on workshop will improve your structure and delivery to help deliver a powerful, compelling and memorable pitch, and is based on our work with entrepreneurs, experienced pros and investors.

Register now to:

• Review the 13 topics your pitch should address
• Become a more effective presenter
• Practice, practice, practice for success

Do you have an idea for a company, and are looking for others to join your team? Then come to "Founders Seeking Co-Founders" with a 1 minute pitch summarizing your idea & the skills sets you need to add to the team. And if you'd consider joining a start-up on the ground floor, come listen to the pitches. You just might end up starting a company!

Delivering real customer value is a challenge for every business. Customer value is often interpreted by marketing, designed by engineering, delivered by operations through a series of hand-offs and not through a consistent process. Existing approaches lead to missing the mark on delivering real value and result in declining business.

The Oregon Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) invites you to its May Learning and Networking Event. At this event, John Geffel will describe a comprehensive value framework. This framework provides a clear approach to finding the value drivers, understanding how the customer perceives value, and describing how to deliver customer value. This talk will emphasize the practical aspects of the approach so that the attendees will leave with an understanding of the steps needed to use it themselves.

Moderator: Louis Testa

Speaker: John Geffel

Managing Partner at VALUE:driven Group, previously SVP at Sage and SVP at Timberline Software

Date, Time, and Cost

Thursday, May 24, 2012

5:30 – 6:00 Registration, snacks and networking

6:00 – 7:30 Presentation and discussion

7:30 – 8:00 Snacks and networking

$20 on-line registration prior to the event

$25 at the door

A discount is available for PDMA members.

Go to the website above to register for this event

A special thanks to the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC) for hosting this event.

Acknowledgement: For more details on the event and the speakers and to register on-line, visit www.pdma.org/oregon

The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) is the premier global advocate for product development and management professionals. The Oregon chapter's mission is to help local professionals and organizations to identify, develop, and launch more innovative and profitable products and services through cross-industry collaboration, thought leadership, and the sharing of best practices and practical knowledge. For more information about the Oregon Chapter of the PDMA, please contact:

Miki Tokola, Chapter President [email protected]

Looking for help for your startup? PSU is looking for startups to help via their Business Administration Capstone program during Fall 2012. Receive business assistance in the areas of market validation, funding need, business development strategy, finance, early stage potential revenue forecasts, and possibly go-to-market strategies.

May 9th Rose City SPIN Seminar

Why We Need Architects And Architecture On Agile Projects

Presented by Rebecca Wirfs-Brock

Dates/Times: Wednesday, May 9, 2012: Networking @ 5:30-6:30 PM; Seminar 6:30-7:30 PM

Location: OTBC (Oregon Technology Business Center), 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, Beaverton, Oregon, 97008, 2nd floor.

Abstract:

The rhythm of agile software development is to always work on the next known, small batch of work. So where is the place for architecture on an agile project? Some think that software architecture should simply emerge and doesn’t require ongoing attention. But it isn’t always prudent to let the architecture emerge at the speed of the next iteration. Complex software systems cam have lots of moving parts, dependencies, challenges, and unknowns. Counting on a good architecture to spontaneously emerge without any architectural investigation can be risky. So how should architecting be done on agile projects? It varies from project to project, depending on risk, complexity, and size. This talk presents some useful practices for architecting on both smaller and larger agile projects and explores what it means to be an agile architect.

Bio:

Rebecca Wirfs-Brock is an internationally recognized leader in the development of object design methodologies. Although best known as a software design guru and creator of Responsibility-Driven Design and the x-driven meme, Rebecca is also an innovator of techniques for simply expressing complex requirements and effectively designing and communicating software architecture. She is active in the agile community, and is currently President of the non-profit Agile Open Northwest openspace conference and co-producer of the Agile 2012 Insights (experience reports) Stage. She champions bringing the right balance of design and architecture into agile projects and frequently helps product engineering, IT, and startups with the technical bits, as well as with effective teamwork and agile design and architecture practices. Her passion is software design habitability. You've got to be able to live comfortably with your code.

A Special Treat from PNSQC

Plan on coming early! In collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) the SPIN meeting will have pizza and pop provided by PNSQC beginning at 5:30 pm.

PNSQC is the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, a group of volunteers interested in Software Quality. The Mission of the PNSQC is to enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software. As a non-profit, it seeks to promote software quality by providing education and opportunities for information exchange within the software community.

Thanks also to OTBC

We want to thank OTBC (http://www.otbc.org/) for providing the space for this talk

How to Register

No need to register! This is a FREE lecture sponsored by the Rose City SPIN. But you can help us plan food and drinks by registering at: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3436487627

Rose City SPIN

The Rose City Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN) is a monthly forum for networking, mutual support, and promotion of effective software practices. We exchange practical experiences, ideas, knowledge, wisdom, and war stories about the technical, business, and human facets of software process improvement. The Rose City SPIN serves the software development community of the Portland/Vancouver metro area. Whether you work for a large company or a small one, corporate or self-employed, industrial or academic setting, you are welcome at the Rose City SPIN.

Build Winning Products with Rapid Customer Insigh The Build Winning Products with Rapid Customer Insight workshop gives you the tools necessary to deliver successful products through more effective ways to access customers, listen for their needs, and integrate this learning into real products. This program is ideal for Agile and Lean development teams working with fast-paced development schedules.

Exclusive offer! OTBC has partnered with Planning Innovations to pilot this program to 12 participants at a special “at cost” rate of $57. By participating, you agree to join us for a 90-minute facilitated discussion to provide Planning Innovations feedback on the program. After this pilot offer, the program will normally be offered at $895/participant.

The best way to learn is by doing. This program is highly interactive with role-playing, real customer interviews, and participating in real world requirements tradeoff discussions using the tools we discuss in the program.

We'll focus on key questions and challenges, such as:

• How do I determine the right customers for insight?
• How can I build a customer panel for fast access?
• What are the best ways to really “listen” for customer needs?
• How can I understand the tradeoffs customer make every day?
• How do I manage and communicate fuzzy customer input?

Need to learn how to develop a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from seasoned OEN experts why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

Registration is required, and space is limited to 15 entrepreneurs.

Presenter: Steve Morris Steve Morris is the Executive Director of OTBC and the Managing Director of OregonStartups.com. He is a veteran of three start-ups, and has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, service, and semiconductor test industries at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Integrated Measurement Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, Credence Corporation and Teseda Corporation. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College and a Masters of Science degree from Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now The Tepper School of Business).

March PDMA Learning and Networking Event

If your development has started to embrace Agile methods, you’ll quickly notice the team is acting strangely. All of a sudden an MRD becomes a “backlog”, software releases become “sprints”, requirements become “user stories” and new languages such as “estimating poker” and “fist to five” start creeping into meetings.

A successful transition also requires that Product Management behaves differently to leverage the benefits of Agile. During this transition, Product Management can either become the hero that helps Agile to shine as a serious business tool, or a villain that drives Agile deep into the dark corners of development.

We’ll discuss some of the following specific challenges the Product Managers often experience in this transition among others: - Converting visions to backlogs - Driving and reporting roadmaps in Agile - Working with Product Owners… or being a Product Owner - PM’s role in iteration and release planning

The Oregon Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) invites you to its March Learning and Networking Event. At this event, experienced professionals will share their experiences with transitions to Agile and offer specific tactics to make your transition successful. They will then lead a vigorous discussion based on Q&A from the audience.

A special thanks to the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC) for hosting this event.

Speakers

• Tony Aiello, Consulting Vision Engineer, Machine Vision Consulting

• Dorian Simpson, Managing Partner, Planning Innovations

• Miki Tokola, Managing Partner, Micom Consulting

Date, Time, and Cost

• Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 5:30-8:00 PM
• $20 on-line registration prior to the event
• $25 at the door
• To register for this event, click on the website address above
• A discount is available for PDMA members

The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) is the premier global advocate for product development and management professionals. The Oregon chapter's mission is to help local professionals and organizations to identify, develop, and launch more innovative and profitable products and services through cross-industry collaboration, thought leadership, and the sharing of best practices and practical knowledge. For more information about the Oregon Chapter of the PDMA, please contact:

Miki Tokola, Chapter President

[email protected]

While the need to understand the customer’s requirements is widely acknowledged, too many development efforts suffer from problems with the requirements. A common mistake includes capturing what the customer asks for at a high level, without really understanding the customer need and use model for the product. Many product failures can be attributed to not having a full understanding of what creates value for the customer. Fully understanding what customers value will make the product development process more productive and increase the likelihood of customer success and satisfaction.

The Oregon Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) invites you to its January Learning and Networking Event. At this event, experienced professionals will discuss their experiences with understanding customer requirements, how to best understand their underlying need, what approaches work best for collaborating with the customer in creating requirements, and common mistakes to avoid.

A special thanks to the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC) for hosting this event.

Moderator: To be announced

Panelists

Chris Dennis – Managing Director, Steaming Kettle Consulting

Leo Frishberg – Product Design Manager, Intel

Albrech Enders – Owner and Principal at endersgroup

$20 on-line registration prior to the event

$25 at the door

A discount is available for PDMA members

Click on the website address above to register for this event

Need to learn how to develop a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from seasoned OEN experts why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

Registration is required, and space is limited to 15 entrepreneurs.

Presenter: Steve Morris Steve Morris is the Executive Director of OTBC and the Managing Director of OregonStartups.com. He is a veteran of three start-ups, and has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, service, and semiconductor test industries at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Integrated Measurement Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, Credence Corporation and Teseda Corporation. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College and a Masters of Science degree from Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now The Tepper School of Business).

Need to learn how to develop a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from two seasoned OEN experts why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

Registration is required, and space is limited to 15 entrepreneurs.

Presenter: Steve Morris Steve Morris is the Executive Director of OTBC and the Managing Director of OregonStartups.com. He is a veteran of three start-ups, and has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, service, and semiconductor test industries at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Integrated Measurement Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, Credence Corporation and Teseda Corporation. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College and a Masters of Science degree from Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now The Tepper School of Business).

Date: Wednesday, November 16 Time: 4:00 PM - 6:15 PM
Location: OTBC 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, Beaverton, OR 97008 Web: http://www.oen.org/events.aspx?id=191 OEN Member Registration: $32.00
Non-member Registration: $70.00

Companies are challenged with creating innovative product and services to compete and win in their markets. They must find ways to get new product ideas developed in cultures where it is often difficult to create breakthroughs. They must also continually create customer value - perhaps outside of a typical value chain, and more of a value network. Managing costs is also a factor, and being able to reuse and repurpose assets all along the product development and marketing process is key. Bringing customer insights to the forefront of the process is often difficult in organizations where it is safer and more acceptable to do things the way you’ve been doing them. Today, many companies are competing not only on superior technology or superior innovation, but also superior user experience.

Instead of giving an engineer or planner a written use case, what if you gave them an animated scenario where that case is played out – allowing them to ‘see’ and ‘feel’ what needs to happen, instead of just putting a requirement to it and starting to build something?

The Oregon Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) invites you to its November Learning and Networking Event. At this event, Kate Ertmann, who is also presenting the same topic at the PDMA 35th Product Innovation and Management Annual Global Conference, will discuss and demonstrate how animation can be used as a business tool throughout the ideation process, product development process and marketing process, and can help streamline time to market. She will also show how to leverage digital assets for later use in marketing campaigns.

$20 on-line registration prior to the event

$25 at the door

A discount is available for PDMA members

Please register at http://www.pdma.org/chapter_home.cfm?pk_chapter=1

This is an intensive training session for Portland Startup Weekend which happens one week later (10/14-16). This is for those serious about getting the most out of Startup Weekend.

Creating a successful product in a lean environment requires more than the typical functional handoffs between engineering and marketing. Successful lean development requires collaboration, communication, and cooperation between engineering and marketing. Because of inherent difficulties of product development, adding pressures of limited time and limited staff can cause the opposite effects. Special strategies are needed for companies to be effective in a lean environment.

The Oregon Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) invites you to its September Learning and Networking Event. At this event, experienced professionals will discuss their recommendations for lean product development, including discussions of processes, organizational structures, strategies, incentives, and staffing considerations. This is planned as an interactive event - the panelists will give short position statements at the start and the rest of the discussion will be based on Q&A from the audience and the moderator.

A special thanks to the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC) for hosting this event.

Panelists: John Geffel - Managing Partner at VALUE:driven Group Mark Peden - Senior Consultant at Broadband ERA Richard Coley - Lean Systems Implementer / Coach at CFS Consulting Group

Date, Time, and Cost: Thursday, September 22, 2011 5:30-8:30 PM $20 on-line registration prior to the event $25 at the door A discount is available for PDMA members. Go to http://www.pdma.org/chapter_home.cfm?pk_chapter=1 to register.

The Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) is the premier global advocate for product development and management professionals. The Oregon chapter's mission is to help local professionals and organizations to identify, develop, and launch more innovative and profitable products and services through cross-industry collaboration, thought leadership, and the sharing of best practices and practical knowledge. For more information about the Oregon Chapter of the PDMA, please contact: Miki Tokola, Chapter President, at [email protected].

Need to learn how to develop a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from two seasoned OEN experts why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

Registration is required, and space is limited to 15 entrepreneurs.

Presenter: Steve Morris Steve Morris is the Executive Director of OTBC and the Managing Director of OregonStartups.com. He is a veteran of three start-ups, and has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, service, and semiconductor test industries at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Integrated Measurement Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, Credence Corporation and Teseda Corporation. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College and a Masters of Science degree from Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now The Tepper School of Business).

When: Wednesday, September 7 Time: 4:00 - 6:15 PM Where: 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, in Beaverton. OR 97008

Link to map: http://www.otbc.org/directions

Items For Purchase

You just found out you didn't make it to the short list of the Portland Seed Fund. You just lost a customer. As an entrepreneur, how do you face setbacks and challenges? How does an entrepreneur acquire a mindset for success? Starting out as an entrepreneur is like facing an empty canvas. You have great ideas and you feel the flow of creativity, but embracing uncertainty is daunting. Besides, there are practical issues – health insurance, getting an office, a product idea that is unique. Once you start your business, how do you sustain its growth through planning and operational excellence? And what makes a good leader?

Very few people realize that there are specific methods to acheive your professional goals. Whether you are an entrpreneur, or someone in a company, there are concrete tools you can use to face challenges or ignite that creative spark in you.

Attend a workshop facilitated by business consultant Tony Cardo, operations management expert, Prakalpa Bastianpillai, TiE Executive Director and Writing/Editing Consultant Lakshmi Jagannathan and Sanjay Vankudre, President IEM Solutions. Meet other entrepreneurs talk about your ideas and issues, and brainstorm about achieving your business goals in an informal setting.

Registration Required

Registration required: www.oregon.tie.org Note: There is a fee for this event Members $10 Non-Members $20 email: [email protected]

The paradigm of developing a new product in an internal R&D department has been changed to a more flexible and open way through Open Innovation (OI). With continuous increase in the rate of expenditure in R&D outpacing the rate of sales and the market pressure demanding shorter New Product Development (NPD) Life Cycle, increased revenue and consistent market growth, big companies like Procter and Gamble and others had to adopt new paradigms for their R&D and business strategy. Which they accomplished by means of OI, increasing the inflow of new ideas and boosting business by licensing their own non-utilized IP. With the advent of internet in the 80’s and its massive adoption during the 90’s leading to a consequent globalization in an information age and a shift towards social network and web 2.0, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) are also looking for ways to capitalize in the power of global knowledge through the adoption of OI. The shift in paradigm through OI from in-house R&D to a broader approach enables companies to explore and exploit the untapped universal knowledge available globally (inbound) and also profit from internal not used knowledge/IP and products (outbound).

The Oregon Chapter of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) invites you to its July Learning and Networking Event. At this event, experienced professionals will discuss the state of and the trends of Open Innovation in corporations and how it is reshaping the battle ground and leveraging competitiveness. By attending this event, you will learn “What” and “How” successful corporations are facing the challenges of transitioning and implementing an Open Model which can give you good insights on “Why”, “What” and “How” to leverage OI in your business.

Based on attendee feedback, we will have two networking sessions – one before the discussion begins (5:30-6:00) and one after the discussion ends (7:30-8:00).

A special thanks to the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC) for hosting this event.

Moderator: TBD Panelists: Antonie Jetter, Professor at PSU’s Engineering and Technology Management Department Peter Fornell, Director of Engineering, Consumer TelePresence BU, Cisco Systems, Inc Shimon Shmueli, Founder & Partner at Touch360, Adjunct Professor at PSU’s Engineering and Technology Management Department.

Need to learn how to develop a solid business plan? This seminar is for you. Join OEN at OTBC to attend the OEN Business Plan Development Seminar. It reviews all components of an effective, compelling business plan. You'll learn from two seasoned OEN experts why certain information is important and how your audience will evaluate what you present. Besides learning what is critical to include in an effective business plan, you'll take away valuable handouts and a listing of key resources.

Registration is required, and space is limited to 15 entrepreneurs.

Presenter: Steve Morris Steve Morris is the Executive Director of OTBC and the Managing Director of OregonStartups.com. He is a veteran of three start-ups, and has more than 25 years of management experience in the software, service, and semiconductor test industries at companies such as Hewlett Packard, Integrated Measurement Systems, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, Credence Corporation and Teseda Corporation. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Reed College and a Masters of Science degree from Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Industrial Administration (now The Tepper School of Business).

Date: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 Remind Me Time: 4:00 PM - 6:15 PM Location: 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, Beaverton, OR 97008 Web: http://www.oen.org/events.aspx?id=189 OEN Member Registration: $32.00
Non-member Registration: $70.00

A polyglot programming group meeting in the heart of The Beave. We seem to talk a lot about oddball programming languages and their features. And the usual geekery you'd expect from a programmer's group.

This month we'll have a GraphViz talk by Matt Youell.

Startup Lessons Learned 2011 is the sequel to last year's inaugural event, which brought together nearly 400 entrepreneurs and executives interested in building and supporting lean startups. The goal for this event is to give practitioners and students of the lean startup methodology the opportunity to hear insights from leaders in embracing and deploying the core principles of the lean startup methodology. The day-long event will feature a mix of panels and talks focused on the key challenges and issues that technical and market-facing people at startups need to understand in order to succeed in building successful lean startups.

Confirmed Speakers Include: Eric Ries, The Lean Startup (@ericries) Brad Smith, President and CEO, Intuit (@IntuitInc) Mitch Kapor (@mkapor) Steve Blank (@sgblank) Suneel Gupta, VP Product, Groupon (@guptathink) Drew Houston, Co-Founder and CEO, Dropbox (@drewhouston) Clara Shih, Founder and CEO, Hearsay Social (@clarashih) Janice Fraser, Lean User Experience Residency (@clevergirl) Manuel Rosso, Founder, Food on the Table (@manuelrosso) Dave Binetti, Founder and CEO, Votizen (@dbinetti) Roy Bahat, President, IGN Entertainment (@roybahat) Pascal-Louis Perez, VP Engineering and CTO, Wealthfront (@pascallouis) Tim McCoy, Dir, Integrated Product Development, Cooper (@seriouslynow) Jeff Gothelf, Dir of User Experience, TheLadders.com (@jboogie) Josh Seiden, Program Dir, LUXr NYC (@jseiden) Zach Larson, Entrepreneur/Former CPO, SideReel (@zachlarson) Tony Ford, Dir of Engineering, IGN Entertainment (@tony4d)

Startup Weekend is coming back to Portland for the 4th time, and we are headed to the suburbs! Prior Portland Startup Weekends have launched companies such as Mugasha, CPUsage and Taggr.

The event is a 54 hour sprint where software developers, business people, designers, and other experts go from ideas to full fledged businesses by Sunday night.

To learn more, visit www.startupweekend.org.

Whether deliberately or accidentally, corporate culture starts developing the day you form your partnership, and blossoms as the company grows. Emphasis on a healthy corporate culture and assuring "fit" with each hire can lead to unprecedented success with happier, more productive employees...and customers.

Sara Davey-Schmidt will lead the discussion at the brown-bag lunch event. For the past 15 years, Sara has worked with many, many clients to help them identify talent who are not only qualified for the positions in their organization, but are--more importantly--a cultural fit with the company's core values and approach to business. In this brown bag session, Sara will provide some tools to articulate your own values and strengths in order to determine the Business Partner who is right for you. The benefits: Your partnership will thrive, a healthy corporate culture will develop deliberately, and your business will evolve into an entity authentic to you and your Business Partner.

When: Thursday, Feb. 24 from noon to 1pm Where: OTBC, 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, Beaverton, OR (Directions) Cost: Free (bring lunch!)

You're starting a company and have multiple founders. A number of questions come up:

• What exactly is founders stock? How is it different from options?
• How is it different from investors' stock?
• How do you decide how much stock each founder will receive?
• Do founders purchase their stock?
• How much do they pay?
• Should the stock vest?
• What happens if a founder leaves?
• What happens if you add more founders a few months down the road?
• How do founders get diluted when investors buy stock?
• How much stock do founders typically have when a company gets acquired or goes IPO?

We'll answer those questions and more at this event. OTBC exec director (and former startup CEO) Steve Morris and Ernie Bootsma, an emerging-business attorney with Ater Wynne will provide an overview of how stock works, and answer your questions.

As an extra incentive - all attendees to this event will receive, courtesy of the Synergy Consulting Group, a stock structure / growth spreadsheet that will help you evaluate different valuation/growth/dilution scenarios. The spreadsheet is a $29.95 value!

So join us for this seminar. You'll learn a few things, and walk away with a very useful tool.

Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2011 Time: 4:30pm to 5:30pm, followed by food, beverage, and networking Where: OTBC: 8305 SW Creekside Place, Suite C, Beaverton Cost: $15

We're heading back to Beaverton and the OTBC, but this time, let's try something a little different.

Instead of a lunch, we're doing a happy hour-ish.

Are you vegan or vegetarian? Please leave a comment so we can plan food accordingly. Thanks.

Wondering what Lunch 2.0 is?

Lunch 2.0 is a phenomenon that began in Silicon Valley. You can read about their current events and the history behind Lunch 2.0 at lunch20.com.

We imported the concept to Portland in 2007, and you can follow all things Portland Lunch 2.0 at the Silicon Florist.

This is a joint TiE Oregon - OTBC (Oregon Technology Business Center)event. If you have an idea for a company and you're looking for others to join your team, this is the event for you. You have the opportunity to make a 1-minute pitch presenting your idea and the skill-sets you are looking for in a team member. Attend this workshop if you are looking to add people to your team, or even if you simply want to network with other entrepreneurs and listen to pitches of new ideas.

If you plan to attend and have an idea for a pitch, please email us a tag line describing your idea so organizers can keep an account of the pitches that will be made.

Cost: Suggested $5 contribution to cover pizza and beverage

A polyglot programming group meeting in the heart of The Beave. We seem to talk a lot about oddball programming languages and their features. And the usual geekery you'd expect from a programmer's group.

This month's talk is by Richard Fobes:

"Faster than an FFT, the audio-oriented QRST (spectral transform)"

Based on the interest Phil and Ed expressed in my spectral transform, I've spent lots of time during the past two months further developing the software. Besides getting it to work better -- it still needs refinement -- I've ended up creating an audio-compression method I call QRST. I'll be playing sound files to demonstrate what the spectral transform, the audio-compression format, and decompression back into sound files can do, so this will be much more interesting than the words "spectral transform" suggest.

BTW, being faster than the FFT is just one of the side effects of having designed it for use with sound files. Fourier transforms are sooo ssllooww.

Everyone designs. Business people have focused on designing organizations to reliably generate profits. Today’s designers have focused on designing products and services to be truly compelling to customers. What is most compelling to customers though, is often not rational or logical. So designers have evolved effective and efficient trial-and-error approaches that recognize and accommodate rational and non-rational factors. When these heuristics have been applied to strategy and business modeling, it has produced businesses such as the Apple’s iTunes and iPod ecosystem. Design Thinking balances left brain and right brain decision-making, and when applied to strategy work often creates bigger win-wins for companies and their customers, than achievable through conventional thinking.

In this short experiential workshop, based on techniques used at HP, we will provide a brief introduction to the key concepts, break up into small teams and step through a facilitated Design Thinking exercise. At the end of the session, we will regroup to learn from each team’s experience with the process.

The Design Thinking approach is collaborative, interdisciplinary and highly relevant to anyone involved in the development of new products and services: product managers, engineers, designers, and marketers. The objective of this workshop is to provide you with the foundations of Design Thinking and launch your on-going learning on the topic.

Due to the interactive nature of the exercise, we’ll have to limit the number of registrants so register early to make sure you get to participate that evening.

A special thanks to the Oregon Technology Business Center (OTBC) for hosting this event.