Chicago Visual Studio Application Lifecycle Management Group Reboots!

So you may have been sitting around, sadly wondering “What ever happened to that really great ALM user group that Angela girl used to hold in Chicago and Downers Grove?” I know you were, right?! Smile We had a short hiatus after launch that included a great Scrum meeting with some very special guests, and then we took some time to regroup. I’m happy to announce that we are back with some great new speakers and topics lined up for you!

I’d like to announce the RELAUNCH of a user group in Chicago focused on ALM and I’d like to invite you to join us at our first meeting in December, which will be held at the Aon Center in downtown Chicago. The mission of the new and improved Chicago Visual Studio ALM User Group is to further our collective understanding of the ALM practice (the tools, the processes, and how to get the most out of them in all of our organizations). We plan to meet on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at Microsoft – Chicago and Microsoft – Downers Grove.  To join the group, please go to https://chicagoalmug.org and click on Sign Up along the top navigation. Joining the group allows you to keep up to date on news, events, and take advantage of some of the site features. You still need to register for the events, which brings me to my next topic…

Our first meeting will be on Wednesday December 15th, 2010 at the Microsoft Downtown Chicago office - (AON Center: 200 E Randolph, Chicago – 2nd Floor). Food and drinks will arrive between 6:00 and 6:30 and our presentation will begin at 7PM and go until roughly 8PM. The topic this month, Traceability and Manual Testing with Visual Studio 2010. will be a walkthrough the new testing functionality and more importantly how to leverage it.

The organizing sponsors for the user group are Chris Kadel and Jim Morrison from Polaris Solutions, along with myself. If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please let us know!

Some questions you might have…

  • How can I register for the next meeting? Just go to www.chicagoalmug.org and click on the link on the right hand side to “Click Here to Attend”
  • How can I find out about future meetings? By signing up on the website, you’ll be included in future emails from the Chicago Visual Studio ALM User Group – we’ll notify you about new meetings as well upcoming meetings that you’ve signed up for.
  • What if I can’t make it to the December meeting, but I want to know about future meetings? Please go to the website https://chicagoalmug.org and click on “Sign Up” and that will get you into the system going forward.
  • Is my email address private? Yes, setting aside the legal verbiage, email addresses are completely private to the UG and will only be used to contact you with user group updates, notifications, and reminders. Your email address will not be shared or used for any other purpose.
  • How can I get off the email list? We’ll have an unsubscribe link on future emails, but for now, just reply back to me (chris.kadel@polarissolutions.com) and let me know, and we’ll take you off the list immediately.
  • If I have problems signing up, what do I do? Just email me (chris.kadel@polarissolutions.com) and let me know. We’ll look to get any kinks ironed out quickly.

Please note – due to heightened security at the Aon Center, security personnel require that you be pre-registered for this event. Aon Center security must have your name on their list ahead of time to allow you into the building.