In This Issue

• Agile Project Life Cycle: User Stories and Release Planning Summary - Rachel Davies at QCon London
• Top 10 Team Practices - Mike Griffiths of Leading Answers
• VersionOne Announces Latest Release (8.1) - V1: Agile Propaganda
• V1: Agile Team Released - V1: Agile Propaganda New Product Division
• Advantages of the “As a user, I want” User Story Template - Mike Cohn's Blog
• Upcoming Events You Should Know About:
  Austin, TX - Agile Austin Open Spaces: May 30-June 1 Dallas, TX - Dallas APLN June Meeting: June 3 Las Vegas, NV - Better Software Conference: June 9-12 Seattle, WA - APLN Leadership Summit: July 17-18

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Agile Project Life Cycle: User Stories and Release Planning Summary

In this presentation recorded during QCon London 2007, Rachel Davies, director of Agile Alliance, talks about the Agile development cycle starting with user stories and planning the releases. This presentation is less about "why" one should use Agile over other development process, and more about the practical "how" one should proceed about being agile.

View the presentation HERE
(http://www.infoq.com/presentations/Agile-Project-Life Cycle-Rachel-Davies)

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Top 10 Team Practices - Mike Griffiths of Leading Answers

"There are some great books on agile team dynamics nowadays. The problem is that most people do not get the time they want or need to read about these topics. So, I have created the following: Top 10 Team Practices list and one-page printer friendly version to remind us of some of the basic points."

View the list HERE
(http://leadinganswers.typepad.com/leading_answers/2008/03/top-10-team-pra.html)

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VersionOne Announces Latest Release (8.1) - V1: Agile Propaganda Dept.

VersionOne recently announced the latest release of V1: Agile Enterprise. Highlights include:

• fully customizable dashboard reports
• interactive testboard - another V1 industry first
• build integration with CruiseControl.net

Learn more here.
(http://www.versionone.com/Product_V1Enterprise_LatestRelease.asp)

Watch the 'What's New' video here.
(http://demos.versionone.com/video/R81WhatsNew/R81WhatsNew.html)

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V1: Agile Team Released - V1: Agile Propaganda New Product Division

<begin sales guy>A brand new product has been launched... V1: Agile Team is a lightweight version of our enterprise product designed specifically for single teams. The Team edition gives organizations a clear upgrade path to an enterprise planning and management tool. V1: Agile Team is also available at a reduced price... reduced all the way to free for a limited time. <end sales guy>

Learn more here
(http://www.versionone.com/team)

Get it free with unlimited users here
(http://pm.versionone.com/TeamEdition.html)

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Advantages of the “As a user, I want” User Story Template Mike Cohn's Blog

"In my user stories book and in all my training and conference sessions on user stories I advocate writing user stories in the form of “As a <type of user>, I want <some goal> so that <some reason>.” While I consider the so-that clause optional, I really like this template.

At a recent conference, someone asked me why. Because I get that question fairly often I want to give three reasons why here."
(http://blog.mountaingoatsoftware.com/?p=24)

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Upcoming Events You Should Know About

Agile Austin Open Space Conference
When? Friday May 30 - June 1
Where? Austin, Texas
How Much? $25.00
Event Registration: http://AgileAustinOpenSpace.eventbrite.com

Dallas APLN June Meeting
When? June 3
Where? Dallas, TX
How Much? $10 Advance, $15 at the door
Event Registration: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/117556615

Better Software Conference
When? June 9-12
Where? Las Vegas, NV
How Much? Save up to $200 - see below
More Info: http://www.sqe.com/go?BSCE8VOneLogo

With a significant portion of the sessions dedicated to Agile development practices, this will be a great conference to get to... Plus, it IS Vegas. Save up to $200 off your registration fees when you use promo code BNBV. For more information, call 888-268-8770 or 904-278-0524 or use the link above.

APLN Leadership Summit
When? July 17-18
Where? Seattle, WA
How Much? $300 Early Bird
More Information: http://www.apln.org/summits.html