[Delta Agile Austin]One Year Later - The Impact of the Change

Hi all:

It’s been about a year since we last met to discuss changes that the community would like to see in the way that Agile Austin is run, the programs that we host, and the mission and purpose of this now-gigantic and much more decentralized user group.

Some of the key changes that have come about from these efforts in the past have included:

• Opening of every single Agile Austin program to all members of the Austin community.
• Opening of the board meetings to all members of the Austin community.
• Publication of the notes from board meetings to all members of the Austin community.
• Advance insight and ability to put items onto the board meeting agenda for all members of the Austin community.
• Reconsideration of membership—we will put forth a proposal in the next election to change Agile Austin membership to be not fee-based ($30/year) but participation-based.
• Deprecating the practice of having any fees associated with any Agile Austin program including the book discussion group—any exceptions now need a board meeting vote.  In the past year, we had one exception, which was the Keep Austin Agile Conference.

While we did not implement every change that was suggested, I represented all ideas in front of the board.  Now that our board meetings are open, it may be fine to deprecate this program, but I wanted to see if there was any interest.

These discussions were the engines that drove increased quality, expanded breadth and depth, and more inclusive nature of our programs.  I really enjoyed them as they were intense, sometimes heated, but always made me think different(ly).  Perhaps that's the biggest and most persistent delta (i.e. "change")--the change of mind that will continue to push us to work together and continue to focus on the community as we build this amazing organization by and for our friends and colleagues.

If anyone is interested in continuing the discussion, please let me know and I’ll set up an open meeting.

All the best,

Matt Roberts
president@agileaustin.org

@multicastmatt