ProductCampToronto1 Mindmap

I put this online mindmap together as a bit of an experiment. One branch lists the folks who were involved in organizing PCT1 with links to their blogs/sites. Another branch has our sponsors and links to their sites. The remaining branches are the sessions that took place with are linked to the PCT1 wiki page. While the sessions went well, not many notes were taken on the wiki. There were not that many people with laptops so this is understandable.

I'm hopeful that over the next little while PCT1 participants and the session leads will add their thoughts and ideas to these wiki pages so the PCT1 experience can continue.

Pictures from ProductCampToronto

Thank you!

ProductCampToronto is this Sunday! Wow. The event is "sold out" with about 160 folks registered and we have a fantastic slate of sponsors who are underwriting the cost of this event so participants don't need to open their wallets to participate....we want all participants to open their minds and mouths and participate!

Thank you for registering, thank you for sponsoring, thank you for participating and contributing. This is going to be a great event.

What do Product Managers Do?

The folks over at Enthiosys have an interesting post called "Revenue Products need Product Managers, not Product Owners". In the post they define what product managers do as:

Product Managers bear primary responsibility for the success of their products (services). They drive vision, roadmaps, target segments, market success metrics and customer acceptance. When executives demand one neck to choke, a Product Manager steps forward.

Head over to this post and give it a read and add to their conversation. Even if you are not a software product manager read the post. Regardless of what products you make the information and advice they give is invaluable.

Consider raising this topic at ProductCampToronto.

Here's the main area for ProductCamp Toronto

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Originally uploaded by b2bspecialist

Well, this area will be filled with at least 70 people on November 2nd! This is the main foyer where PCT participants will register, mingle and chat and where you will vote with your "stickies" for the sessions that are most important to you. All part of the "Open Grid" concept.

There will be four or more break out rooms on the same floor for each session. Where you see the windows where light is coming in is an outside patio where folks can get some air and chill out.

This venue, I'm told, has wireless connectivity.

A tour of ProductCamp Toronto's Venue

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Originally uploaded by b2bspecialist

Barry Clavir, one of the lead dudes helping us with PCT, and I paid a visit to Ryerson today to conduct a site tour for PCT. Here is a photo of one of the session rooms I took to give PCT campers an advanced look see. For more photos of the tour visit my Flickr Group...enjoy!

Less then 1 month till ProductCamp!

We're less then a month away from Canada's first ProductCamp!We're excited and hopeful that we will have a great turn out on November 2nd.

Here's a quick update:

• We are firming up sponsors and it looks like we're going to be able to offer a free T-shirt to participants. Here's the current list of sponsors with more coming on soon.
• This weekend we hope to have the preliminary "Open Grid" posted so you can get a feel for what's planned first thing when you arrive. It will explain how the day will unfold.
• I'd like for you to visit this page that outlines our goals for this event and to read our "cause". If you think it sucks feel free to change it/make it better. That's what this is all about...community creating and making change
• And finally, please ensure you now formally register as a participant so we know who's going to show up....we need this because we want everyone to be fed, have a shirt etc. Please register here.. our goal is to have 100 people attend this event!
  

Remember this event belongs to us all. An event that creates and brings together a community of people interested in the product management profession. Those that want to better their skills, social networks and careers. I think it will also create new friendships and professional relationships. Let us know what you want to get out of PCT.

Example of an Open Grid session

Another example of an unconference in action. This post talks about the Open Grid process. We'll be finalizing our Open Grid approach shortly. In the meantime, if you haven't registered for ProductCampToronto give it some serious thought. Here's where you can register, as well as see who's planning on attending. Head over to our proposed sessions to see what's been proposed....add to the list!

A quick look at what an Unconference is like

The "unconference" experience!

What is cool about this video is that it gives you a slice of what an unconference is like. This is a Startup event and I noticed three key things in this video.

First, you get to see them going through the Open Grid process. Where sessions are proposed and voted on in real time and the event schedule is generated on the fly. This is the first major activity that takes place an an unconference. Why is this cool? Because the participants that show up are what matter! We have over 40 potential session topics for PCT. These topics and new ones will be "proposed during the Open Grid session and participants decide which ones are most interesting and relevant! Cool!

Second, it shows you how interactive and engaging this type of event can be. No bullcrap presentations, no sales pitches... just authentic conversations about things that are important to the participants.

Third, it shows an interesting activity called "speed geeking" something we may think about doing for PCT.

Shameless PCT Promotion..podcast interview

Special thanks to Donna Papacosta host of the Trafcom News Podcast for interviewing me about ProductCampToronto. Donna attended our Pubnight on August 6th. The interview starts about 17 minutes into the podcast and lasts 2 minutes. An easy way to listen to this podcast from your screen is to use the blubrry player (see the "Listen Now" option to the right of her post).

Thanks for your help in promotiong ProductCamp Toronto Donna!

Great Pubnight Experience!

Wednesday night's Pubnight was a very interesting and rewarding experience for me and hopefully those who attended. We had about 20 or so folks attend. Here's what was really cool about this event:

First, there were no awkward introduction moments. Ever been to one of those "networking" events where you feel like you’re a duck out of water? It's almost like you feel forced to have a conversation. You have second thoughts about giving out your business card in case someone calls you selling something! Well it didn't feel that way at all! We all have genuine interest in product marketing/mgt and hopefully we all have invested interest in the success of PCT. Two attendees re-connected with those they'd not seen in months…that was real nice to see.
Second, I met some really cool people too! I met Libin (PCT's "unofficial" photographer!) who is a Ruby on Rails developer. Libin came from China about 3 years ago. He couldn't speak very much English but now his English is better then mine. If you want to see some of his work head over to LearnHub.

I met Melina who is the product manager over at Idee Inc. They have a really neat image search engine called TinEye. They are looking for more beta users...give it a shot! Idee has a pretty cool work environment, in fact, every Friday they have an informal "open house" where you can pop in. Check with them first though! =)

I talked with Adriana, who is working with a University on a system that facilitates innovation, learning and knowledge sharing. Sign me up!

Shaji from Esprida and I talked about "slash people". Chances are you are a slash person. Think about all the things you do in your professional and private life. For example I'm a marketing dude at a company, I'm bringing ProductCamp to Toronto (with folks like you), I blog etc, etc. I'm a marketing dude/pct organizor/blogger…etc. What this means is that many people have varied interests that round out their lives. There's a book about this but I don't know the title. I wonder how this concept of slash people might result in new products and services coming to market?

Donna Papacosta, from Trafcom News, and I talked about her recent Podcamp experience. PodcampToronto was a huge success! But, what really struck me as a true example of what an unconference is all about was what was missing the day of the event. The event was held at the Rogers Communications Center but if I recall correctly the pop machines were unplugged so participants didn't have anything to drink. In the true spirit of an unconference Donna and a couple of others went and bought water for everyone. No complaints, no waiting for someone to solve the problem. Instead, taking action for the betterment of all those involved. Pretty cool.

So, to sum things up I had a great experience! I hope all those who attended did as well. For those of you who couldn't make it … join us in September..yup we're having another pubnight!

Finally, thanks to Chris Gurney for coming up with the idea of having a pubnight!

Thanks Pragmatic Marketing!

Thanks to Pragmatic Marketing for promoting ProductCampToronto in your July 2008 news letter.

Help shape and promote ProductCampToronto!

ProductCampToronto is gaining momentum. Our August 6th pub night is full, our Facebook membership is up to 34 and Toronto Product Management Association has joined us along with you as we move towards our goal of making this event a learning and networking success.

We'd like to begin gathering ideas and thoughts around many things but two important areas are around session topics and publicity.

• We've started a discussion thread called "call for session topics" where we need you to suggest Product Mgt/Marketing topics that you'd like to put forward for PCT. Also, let us know if you want to lead the session too.
• Also, we are looking for those who have blogs to promote PCT. I see two types of bloggers being important to us. First, there are those who will do the odd post to promote and help us out. No complaints here from us! The second type of blogger is someone who plans on persistently blogging on PCT. Either way, we're not picky!

So, if you want to get involved in the "call for session topics" discussion visit our Google Groups site here. If you're interested in our planning activities feel free to visit here. If you do a post on your blog or want to become a PCT blogger let me know and we will add you to our Delicious site here.

Welcome Chris Gurney to ProductCampToronto

Welcome Chris Gurney to the ProductCampToronto planning group. Chris is a Technical Marketing Manager at Blueprint. They develop a pretty cool requirements definition tool called Requirements Center.

In the past Chris has worked in positions in quality assurance, development, consulting, technical sales, and product management. Over this period he has developed a good sense of how to effectively translate customer needs into great product ideas — it involves talking with them!

Chris is a member of the Toronto Product Marketing Association. He recently wrote about the value of having a ProductCamp here on his blog. He also lays out how we are using social media applications for this event.

ProductCampToronto pub night!

The wheels are in motion for our first PCT pub! To kick things off we're planning a pub night at Fionn MacCool's tentatively set for Wed Aug 6th (it was originally July 31st). The goal will be to hook up, network and talk about PCT, and what we want out of it. We're limiting this to 20 seats for the time-being. Stay tuned for registration details.

UPDATE: It was a blast.

FriendFeed Room for ProductCampToronto

FriendFeed seems to be heading in the same direction as Twitter in popularity. If you're interested in knowing more about FriendFeed pop over to this post.

I've set up a FriendFeed room for ProductCampToronto. A room is like a mini FriendFeed for a particular subject or group of people. Everyone in your room can share stuff with each other and leave comments that only other people in your room can see. Check it out and join our FriendFeed room.

The core social media tools are in place for networking, communication and collaboration. In the next week I'll be putting together a proposed plan for this event. Stay tuned!

Introducing ProductCampToronto

Join us this fall at ProductCampToronto! This event is an "unconference" where you get to choose the topics of discussion not sponsors with "planted presentations" and event organizers more interested in the agendas of sponsors. Hey, don't get me wrong, some shows are great to attend and deliver value. However, no show, asks and empowers you the attendee to set the topics and direction. ProductCampToronto is for anyone interested in the art and science of product management. To register visit the "official wiki" and join our Facebook Group. Subscribe to this blog for updates too.