Launching a franchise · Oct 25, 07:38 PM
The first XP Day North America event was in Toronto at the Westin Price Hotel. Unsure what to expect, we invited the best of the best to join us: Ron Jeffries, Bob Martin, Mike Cohn, Mike Hill, Deb Hartmann, Micah Martin and Mike Bowler. It was an exhausting day, but a great one.
Ron started us off talking about the future of Extreme Programming. His message was one of hope, but one of caution: as XP takes off, don’t let the message be watered down just to keep the momentum of adoption. If we allow XP into the mainstream without defending its greatest strengths, we’ll look back ten years from now and wonder what was so extreme about XP, and why it didn’t change the face of software development.
Bob introduced an audience to Extreme Programming, then Mike Cohn dove into the details of how to estimate stories, plan releases and run iterations. After a break, Mike Hill shared ten important things to keep in mind while transitioning an organization towards XP.
Throughout the day, Open Space found people asking their burning questions and getting some answers from others in attendance. In the Project Room, programmers and customers alike gained valuable practical experience through pair programming, test-driven development, writing stories and customer tests.
The day ended with rousing discussions at the hotel bar, including speakers, attendees and even a delegate from the Canadian Undergraduate Software Engineering Conference. By the end, we had already begun preparations for our next event in the Washington, DC area.
You can look at the original event web site to find out more. It looks horrible, we know: we were just starting out.
— J. B. Rainsberger
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