Business of Software Conference USA 2016 Summary.

Attendee notes from Business of Software Conference USA 2016. If you attended and want to share something, please forward us a link in the comments or direct to us by email.

From our breakout session on Monday 12th September, we asked participants to design a picture/cartoon or take a photo which sums up the spirit of Business of Software.

Below are a few of the designs submitted.

How do we select speakers for Business of Software Conference?

Business of Software has gained a great reputation over the years as being one of the best software conferences in the world. As a result, we receive tens of approaches a week to speak at the event, despite only having 15 slots to fill over 3 days. Most of the speakers at BoS are previous and/or regular attendees. Many people who attend the conference would be keynoting at another event but we are lucky to be able to convene so many great people together under one roof to discuss the things that really matter in their businesses.

In the hope this helps your application to speak at any event, we’ve put together a list of things we look out for in potential BoS speakers. Related to this, we’ve also wrote up the 15 traits of the most brilliant conference speakers too.

From our breakout session on Monday 12th September, we asked participants to suspend M&Ms from a structure made from materials including spaghetti, marshmallows, strawberry laces and other things they had at hand. Scores were calculated by multiplying the number of individually suspended M&Ms suspended at least 2 inches from the structure by the height of the lowest M&M off the ground. (Simpler than it sounds!).

Below are a few photographs of the mess that was made genius designs they came up with!

From our breakout session on Monday 12th September, we asked participants:

“Why Agile Sucks?”

They have a minute to explain.

From our breakout session on Monday 12th September, we asked participants:

“Why Agile Rocks?”

From our breakout session on Monday 12th September, we asked our participants:

“Which Software Companies Inspire You, and Why?”

Here are a few short videos of what they said.

From our breakout session on Monday 12th September, we asked our participants:

“What are software executives consistently wrong about?”

Here are a few short videos of what they said:

From our breakout session on Monday 12th September, we ask our participants:

‘Tell Us Something You Have Learned at BoS That Is Important To Your Team.’

Here are a few short videos of what they told us.

“Where’s Neil Davidson?”

“Is Neil coming?”

The two most asked questions from regular attendees at BoS Conferences… Many of you will now that Neil set Business of Software Conference up when he was co-CEO of Redgate Software. He stepped back from the world of software a few years ago to study art history and latterly, fine art. A huge change in personal direction but one that he seems to have embraced with his customary zeal. He has just helped set up an artists’ co-operative, Lot5 Collective, specialising in emerging contemporary figurative artists.

He wrote a blog post that could be as applicable to software developers as artists. Enjoy.

Business of Software Conference USA 2016 was awarded with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 88 by the attendees at the conference.

We’re thrilled because it means you love what we do – so thank you to everyone who contributed to result. But, you might still be scratching your head wondering what on earth this NPS score is about, and why it matters.

From our breakout session on 12th September 2016. Attendees had a piece of paper and a pair of cheap scissors. The aim of the task was to cut the paper into an unbroken ring and get as many people as possible inside the ring without breaking it.

A BIG thank you to the BoS community.

{TLDR} I am a first timer to BoS and a very grateful BoS scholar. This is my letter of thanks to Mark Littlewood and all the organisers, John Knox, Peldi from Balsamiq, Dave Collins and the entire BoS community for a fantastic three days. BoSTen 2016 was for me, an insightful experience, a group of new friends and a wise investment. From Henry Jinman at Crowdfund Campus.

To everyone involved with BoS…

Join your fellow Business of Software attendees on a fun tour and photowalk around Boston! Make conference friends before the event starts. You might even make friends who aren’t attending.

Last year we sang happy birthday to a group of colorful strangers we met in a bar.

All skill levels and all cameras/camera phones are welcome. Or, no camera needed – just join us for a walk!

We will meet in the lobby of the Seaport Hotel Sunday at 1:00pm.

Our hashtag for the walk is: #bosphotogs

Look for John Knox (@windaddict on twitter) or Betsy Weber (@betsyweber on twitter).

If you want to join the photowalk later, you can reach John at: +1.352.871.3101 or Betsy at: +1.517.410.0030

The latest in our regular AMA sessions – a look into Mindfulness at work. Your questions answered by Matthew Bellows, Meditator of 25 years, Entrepreneur of 20, and CEO of Software Company, Yesware.

At BoS 2015, Matthew spoke on the subject of mindfulness in this direct and personal talk. Matthew links mindfulness and work in a way that makes clear why training in this skill is so helpful for managers in the 21st century.

The latest in our regular AMA sessions – a look into Mindfulness at work. Your questions answered by Matthew Bellows, Meditator of 25 years, Entrepreneur of 20, and CEO of Software Company, Yesware.

At BoS 2015, Matthew spoke on the subject of mindfulness in this direct and personal talk. Matthew links mindfulness and work in a way that makes clear why training in this skill is so helpful for managers in the 21st century.

You can ask Matthew anything about Mindfulness in this AMA on Tuesday, 1100EST, 1600BST.

Click on the link and press ‘yes’ on ‘are you going to watch?’ That way, you’ll get an automatic calendar invite and email reminder before we go live.

Lightning Talks follow a simple format – every speaker gets 15 slides and 30 seconds per slide to talk about a subject of their choice. The slides advance automatically.

Lightning Talkers have a special place in the hearts of the BoS audience and many people have made the jump to more speaking gigs at BoS and other events.

These are the brave souls taking on this year’s lightning talk session at BoS USA 2016.

Promise started her career in at BEA Systems where she ultimately led product marketing. We think she is badass. You will too.

Promise is now CEO of TapInfluence, an automated influencer marketing company. She also is speaking at the Tenth BoS Conference USA. Promise’ll be speaking about why ping pong tables and free beer do not cut it or produce anywhere near the same results as a great culture.

In this informative AMA with Promise, she took your questions, initially focusing on the what’s, why’s and how’s of influencer marketing, before ‘getting real’ and discussing how great cultures prospered, giving examples of good and bad company cultures along the way.

A real great hangout. 48 minutes of learning to save you a lifetime of having to learn these hard earned lessons yourself along the way.

Mathew Bellows, Yesware

You’ve likely heard of Intel Corp’s mindfulness training for 100,000 global employees. Maybe you know that Google, Aetna, General Mills, Goldman Sacks and many other companies sponsor mindfulness programs for their workers. You might be experimenting with a mindfulness program at your own company.

In this direct and personal talk, Matthew Bellows, CEO of YesWare, explains why. Drawing on 25 years as a meditator and 20 years as an entrepreneur, Matthew links mindfulness and work in a way that makes clear why training in this skill is so helpful for managers in the 21st century.

Slides, Video, AMA & Transcript below

An integral part of a complete BoS experience is the Wednesday afternoon workshops. Speaker or expert led sessions where you get to put the lessons learned during the main conference in approximately 3 hour long workshops.

Workshops can be added to your BoS experience through purchasing your ticket with workshop inclusive, or buying a workshop only ticket, which only grants you access to these workshops on the Wednesday afternoon, and not the conference itself.

We’ve announced the 2016 batch on the schedule, but here they are collated in one place with descriptions, so you know everything you need to know about them.