Join Polaris Solutions and Microsoft in Downers Grove This Month for a FREE...
Are you still hovering around the edge of the Azure watering hole? Looking to get some deeper discussion and hands on experience around developing for the cloud, deploying to the cloud, and/or...
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Improve your Retrospectives with Agile Kaizen!– Feb 17th at the Chicago ALM...
Continuous self-improvement on agile teams is traditionally done through agile retrospectives, a form of post-mortem held at the completion of an iteration. More often than not, retrospectives begin to...
View ArticleJoin IAMCP WIT in Chicago on March 10th for a Breakfast Discussion on Work...
Everyone is striving for a WORK-LIFE balance these days which is a good thing! However, we seem to misunderstand what that REALLY means and what it will REALLY look like. The pursuit of this fabled...
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Chicago Code Camp Call for Speakers is Open
In case you haven’t heard, Chicago Code Camp call for speakers opened last week and we need you! Not heard of Chicago Code Camp? Well, grab a cup of coffee and pull up a chair because we have a great...
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Meetups, meetups, everywhere! But where do you start?
At our most recent Chicago ALM user group meeting I was approached by someone who was attending their very first technology meetup ever, and had chosen mine! I was glad to hear that he had really...
View ArticleFree Chicagoland Event on April 7th - Azure and the Modern Datacenter
This looks like an awesome free event being put on by one of my talented local peers, Michael Blumenthal, who is a Microsoft MVP (Office Servers and Services). Wanted to make sure everyone knew about...
View ArticleFREE Half Day DevOps Community Roadshow Event in Chicago on April 15th
Everyone seems to be asking for "better DevOps" these days, but admittedly it's hard to pin down exactly what that means, and to complicate things even more, it seems to mean different things to...
View ArticleJoin Polaris at the QAI QUEST Conference in Chicago Next Month
Next month, the Quality Assurance Institute brings the Quest conference back to Chicago. Quest is the Quality Engineered Software and Testing Conference & EXPO, and it’s a fantastic place to...
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IAMCP WIT Chicago event - Personal Branding Panel Discussion - March 30th
Wanted to share this event in case you are not already a member of IAMCP or IAMCP WIT!In today's competitive marketplace, personal branding is more important than ever. Personal branding is about...
View ArticleDiscover TFS 2015 and VSTS Build Services with Paul Hacker At the Chicago ALM...
In case you missed it, Update 2 for both Visual Studio 2015 and TFS 2105 were announced at //Build yesterday! Be sure to download it and check out the new features as soon as you get a chance, you...
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FREE CQAA Webinar April 6th: Improve your Retrospectives with Agile Kaizen
I am doing a quick lunch-time webinar for CQAA this week Wednesday on how to improve your software team’s retrospectives with the Kaizen process. Check it out if you’re free! And check out CQAA...
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Help us Make Chicago Code Camp 2016 Awesome by Marking Sessions You Plan to...
Hopefully you’ve already signed up for Chicago Code Camp 2016! If not, get on over to the site, check it out, and get signed up! Sure, you can register the day of, but we get a LOT of people first...
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What Conference? ThatConference! That Joke is Getting Old But I Love It
Feels like just yesterday I was packing up and moving down another career path, and talking about this awesome conference with a funny name that was having it’s very first year. Can you believe it’s...
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Preliminary Chicago Code Camp Schedule is Up!
Hey campers, I hope you’re registered for Chicago Code Camp on April 30th. If not, get on over there and sign up for a great day of tech! It’s free, it’s fun, and we’d love to see you there.Remember...
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Chicago DevOps Community Roadshow–April 2016 Recap
Last week myself and some of my favorite community leaders and MVPs were able to deliver a free community event focusing on DevOps practices and tools thanks to the generosity of Microsoft. Not only...
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POWERFUL Beyond Measure–Free Workshop in Chicago on May 12th hosted by IAMCP WIT
A little background in case you’re thinking “oh god, ANOTHER freaking workshop for women on networking and empowerment” ::cue an eye roll that could cause a tidal wave:: This one is different, no...
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Chicago Code Camp 2016–A Recap
If you made it out to Chicago Code Camp 2016 then I don’t have to tell you that it was an AWESOME day! It may have been rainy and cold outside, but inside it was action packed and full of surprises. 2...
View ArticleChicago Coder Conference is Next Week! Hope to see you there
There are a lot of conferences in Chicago this summer, well I suppose technically it’s still spring but from these temps you’d never know it! Anyway, I was invited to speak at Chicago Coder Conference...
View ArticleNavigating the Scaled Agile Framework–FREE Lunch and Learn With Polaris...
With so many agile-based process frameworks and methodologies out there, it’s hard to know where to begin. And just when everyone seems to be warming up to agile, here comes SCALED agile, there are...
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Coming to ThatConference Game Night? We have exciting news to share
Hope you have all of your gear charged, packed, and ready to go to ThatConference next week! I’m packing the family truckster up with supplies for blinging out your badge, badge ribbons including some...
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Polaris Solutions Agile Lunch and Learn Series Continues with Rapid Product...
You may have noticed that the Chicago Visual Studio ALM user group has been ramping down, and in its place we are ramping up an Agile Lunch and Learn series. This past winter we had a Release...
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Get Registered for ST Louis DevUP Before Tickets Sell Out
You may be thinking, what the heck is St Louis DevUp. Well, previously you may have known this conference as St. Louis Days of .NET. The conference is about a LOT more than just .NET, and has a shiny,...
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Join Me at Advancing the Careers of Technical Women in Chicago this October
ACT-W Chicago 2016 is almost here. Haven’t heard of it? Either had I until about a month ago, which is why I am trying to help them spread the word! This regional, annual, action-packed event is where...
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2 Day Azure Tech Summit in Chicago Next Week
Just found out about a great event coming to Chicago next week, which lasts two full days and will be held at McCormick Place. If you’re not local, be sure to check out their schedule as they are...
View ArticleALM and DevOps Focused Consulting is Messy
Lately I have been hearing this a lot, both as a general statement and more often than not, as a lament. However you define ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) and DevOps (definition hotly being...
View ArticleFebruary Agile Lunch and Learn: Better Testing with Microsoft Azure Resource...
It’s hard to believe it’s already 2017! It’s time for another agile focused lunch and learn and this time, we are focusing on better testing with Microsoft Azure Resource Management Templates. Please...
View ArticleSeveral Chicago-Area Tech Conferences Have Open CFPs
In case you missed any of the announcements, there are now at least 3, yes THREE, call for presentations (CFP) open right now in the Chicagoland area. At least 3 that I know of, there are probably a...
View ArticleFear, A Major Speed Bump on the Road to Quality
I warned you that I’d be blogging about the “messiness” of ALM and DevOps consulting. And this is a long one so grab a cup of coffee, tea, or cocktail of your choice (whatever I won’t judge). It’s...
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Free Microsoft DevOps Strategy Event Coming to Cities Across the US
This looks like a really great event if your organization is still trying to wrap its head around what DevOps really means and how to get started, particularly if you’re already investing heavily in...
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Nervous about Submitting Talks to Conferences? I Was Too
Note: If you’re itching to get right to the part where I offer ideas for improving your chances of being selected for conferences, skip past this right to the bottom. I promise I won’t be offended,...
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Chicago ALM and Agile Meetup Series: Introducing Visual Studio ALM 2017 on...
Have you seen Team Foundation Server (TFS) and its cloud based sibling Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) lately? TFS/VSTS has evolved significantly over the past 2 – 3 years. In this presentation and...
View ArticleFREE Lunch and Learn: Enterprise Adoption of Visual Studio Team Services on...
If you are a Team Foundation Server customer, you may already understand how valuable it is to bring your teams together in one place to orchestrate your entire development lifecycle. Now that Visual...
View ArticleSpring Into DevOps on April 12th in Chicago with Donovan Brown
DevOps is about people, process and products. Getting it all right requires effort but the benefits to your organization and customers can be huge. Microsoft has a fantastic set of products that can...
View ArticleVisual Studio 2017 - Best of Launch - Downers Grove on April 17th
In case you hadn’t seen the announcements, there is a great, free event coming to the Chicagoland area to celebrate the launch of Visual Studio 2017! Details and registration link below… Since Visual...
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Polaris at the St. Louis Silver Linings 2017 - Where IT is Going
Polaris is a proud sponsor of the St. Louis Silver Linings conference this year, and I wanted to pass on the news about this amazing event in case you haven’t had a chance to check it out. St. Louis...
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Dinner with Aaron Bjork from Microsoft on June 8th in Chicago: Building an...
In June we have another great opportunity to talk to someone at Microsoft who has walked the path that many of us are looking to walk. Please join us in hearing from someone who knows how rocky an...
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Managing your Infrastructure as Code with Azure and VSTS–Chicago Agile and...
In order to be successful in today's global marketplace, organizations are moving to a more agile approach to software development. In order to be competitive, organizations must look to reduce lead...
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re-BUILD 2017 Comes to Chicago on June 1st
It’s a new age, a new era, where Microsoft is leading the Open Source revolution. //BUILD is the Microsoft Developer event of the year where we learn about the strategy and direction that the...
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MTM 2017 and the End of the Desktop Tooling? Yes, Please
So if you’ve installed and started playing around with the latest version of Visual Studio Microsoft Test Manager (MTM), you might have noticed this “Warning”: “Consider using the Test hub in web...
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Chicago Suburban SQL Server User Group - June 2017 Meeting Announcement
Just wanted to share an event that I’ll be speaking at later this month, it will be my first time ever with this group so I’m excited to be able to meet a bunch of new tech-minded folks in the Chicago...
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ThatConference Game Night update! Boardlandia Returns
As you may or may not know, I was one of the masterminds behind #ThatGameNight at ThatConference. My husband and I are huge fans of board games and it felt like a great way to get people together for a...
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VS Live is Coming to Chicago in 2017 and I have a $400 discount to share with...
Hey friends! In case you haven’t heard, I’ll be speaking at Visual Studio Live in Chicago this year! ::cue massive Imposter syndrome episode:: Not familiar with VS Live? Visual Studio Live! provides...
View ArticleTrust and the Marble Jar
I am a big fan of Brene Brown and her work around vulnerability, shame, and trust. At first it was something I was spending time on with my own coach as a self-improvement project, then, over time, I...
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Overcoming Adversity and Keeping a Positive Attitude on September 26th,...
It’s with special thanks to the Kate Spade store on Michigan Ave that the Chicago IAMCP WIT chapter invites you to join us for an evening of networking, cocktails and a fireside chat with Jo Ann...
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Azure Red Shirt Dev Tour with Scott Guthrie comes to Chicago October 16th
Wanted to share out this awesome opportunity coming to Chicago next week, on October 16th. I’ll be down in St Louis at the DevUp conference, but I’ll be watching my twitter feed to see what exciting...
View ArticleNovember 2017 Chicago Agile and DevOps Meetup –Damian Brady Talks DevOps for...
Microsoft and Polaris Solutions are teaming up to host Damian Brady on Wednesday November 1st in Downers Grove, IL. He'll spend an action packed hour giving you a guided tour of Visual Studio Team...
View ArticleJoin me at APLN on Nov 9th to Talk Agile Metrics that Matter
Join APLN on Thursday, November 9, 2017 between 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM to chat with me about metrics that really matter. This talk is aimed at any organization regardless of your size, industry, platform,...
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The Agile Coach Has No Plan, and other tropes
About once a quarter, I come to a breaking point where I’ve dug myself into a commitment hole so deep I don’t see any way out other than working nights and weekend for a couple of weeks to get my head...
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It’s Getting Better All The Time - Getting ALL THE THINGS under control: Step 1
Remember that time I admitted that I had lost control of my backlogs? Admitting you have a problem is always the first step to getting back on the right path. It’s been a few weeks since I hit rock...
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Step 2 of getting my WIP under control: Categorizing ALL THE THINGS
I took an actual, honest-to-goodness, “no working when people aren’t paying attention: vacation for the holidays so it’s been a quiet few weeks for me. Last time I posted, I described how creating a...
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