SESSION PROPOSAL: How Product Managers Can Supercharge Art to Balance Science in Product Management

Great Product Management is 1/2 art and 1/2 science. We've got science and process down. "Art" though seems to be a lost one. This presentation will help product pros re-energize their use of intuition and discovery to provide fuel for their development roadmaps.

This session is being co-presented by Steve Youngblood and Caroline Dunn. 

Presenter Bio: 
Steve Youngblood has nearly 30 years of experience in the software industry, most of that in product management and entrepreneurial product creation roles. Steve has huge passion for 360 degree product management to include creativity, ideation, definition, collaboration, process, engineering, testing and launch activities.

Caroline Dunn is also a product management and marketing expert and has successfully launched dozens of hardware and software products resulting in many new multi-million dollar revenue streams. Caroline has a great passion for innovation and in particular, IoT, mobile and voice assistant technologies.

SESSION PROPOSAL: Customer Discovery on software for Product Management - A case study with a micro view and macro view

Join us for a Case Study on lessons learned about product management and the customer discovery process while doing customer discovery on software tools for product management.

Presenter Bio: Mark Lummus provides on-demand or fractional CTO services to non-technical founders and emerging businesses, applying his broad experience in driving the development and launch of software products and services.

Areas of Expertise
• Launching new software products using Lean Startup techniques
• Designing and building complex software applications ranging from mobile products to desktop applications to SaaS web applications
• Leading and building interdisciplinary teams that are distributed globally
• Creating force multipliers with outsourcing while protecting intellectual property and core skills
• Transforming organizations using Agile development methodologies

SESSION PROPOSAL: Can Agile Techniques be utilized in various aspects of sports sales and products?

In this session we’ll discuss how various agile techniques were used in the non-traditional space of sports sales and product development to see what kind of impact these (methodologies/practices) have on a sports staff, and if it can induce the intended outcome that would result in a traditional software development.

Presenter Bio: Jason Dawbin has worked at various levels in professional sports over the span of 16 years. Never satisfied with "hope things have always been done" he has looked to incorporate new technologies and innovations into sports business operations. Now recently relocated to Atlanta Jason is looking at how agile techniques could be incorporated into the sports products sales and management in hopes to increase efficiency and staff inclusion in overall ticket product creation.

SESSION PROPOSAL: 'How to Beat the Odds and Build Products That People Buy and Use'

The mortality rate for new products and businesses is stunning. In this workshop, you'll learn a practical set of actions you can follow right now to dramatically improve your odds of building products people buy and use.

► Learn a customer discovery process to get you moving incredibly fast.
► Understand cognitive biases that can result in big mistakes in assessing customer demand.
► Discover a powerful approach to testing your ideas that you’d never come up with on your own.
► Learn simple but non-obvious hacks you'll love.

In this session, you'll experience a fast-moving hands-on program led by a product guy who has done it himself – and is dedicated to teaching you. For product managers, product marketers and startup founders in companies of all sizes.


Presenter Bio: Expect an outstanding seminar. David Eckoff is a ProductCamp veteran and his sessions have been voted “Best Session” and "Best Presenter" at recent conferences.

"David Eckoff is a cannonball of energy, delivering passion and engagement through his presentations. Mr. Eckoff is a boon to any conference that values itself as speaking truth, not fantasy."
- Chris Brogan, New York Times Bestselling author

SESSION PROPOSAL: Scaling a Mutiny - A Plan for Strengthening Culture at 5x Growth and Beyond

If only we could do work that excites us alongside coworkers we enjoy... That's the goal, isn't it?

Whether you are a founder or a team member, workplace enjoyment and healthy culture go hand in hand. In this Town Hall, we'll unpack our straight forward approach to growing our team, enriching our culture, and hiring with ease.

If you've struggled hiring, keeping, or motivating 'great talent', this presentation will at least be entertaining and at most change the way you approach your work.

Presenter Bio: Morgan Lopes leads a team of designers and software engineers at Polar Notion. As the company continues to grow and their services evolve, Morgan is committed to providing remarkable experiences for the Polar Notion team, their clients, and their clients' customers. While he reluctantly accepts the title CEO, his role is to identify and amplify the strengths of each person who chooses to join their team.
As of 2016, Morgan has also been serving as Chief Technology Officer for New Story, a startup-minded nonprofit that is moving the needle on the global homelessness crisis. In just two over 2 years they've grown from one home in Haiti to over 800 homes around the world.

SESSION PROPOSAL: 'Breathe In / Breathe Out -An Exercise in Customer Discovery

There are so many articles and blogs written about the best way to discover a customer’s needs. Too many, I contend. It is much simpler that that and really boils down to three words – three words that will focus your customer discovery process and lower your anxiety.

This session will be part workshop and part interactive presentation and will demonstrate the power of these three simplifying words. If you are allergic to Play-Doh, this session isn’t for you.

Presenter Bio: Joe Kleinwaechter is the head of the Innovation and Design team at Worldpay, where he leads a team of designers and product managers in creating the next generation of integrated payment experiences. Joe has been an integral part of teams that have delivered the industry’s first electronic receptionist, first power line communications system for energy management, most commercially successful intrusion detection system, and the best groupware product that never sold. He is proud to count many failures as some of his greatest successes.

SESSION PROPOSAL: Ice Breakers and Improv for Better Team Work

In this workshop, we'll go through icebreakers, warm-ups, and games to bring your team together! Suitable for introverts, extroverts, and everyone in between, these activities will help your team play together, so they can work together better.

Bio: Brandy Nagel has developed and launched marketing plans at startups, corporations, non-profits, small businesses, and agencies - from strategy to execution, . Her background includes marketing communications and trademark licensing. Currently, she teaches entrepreneurship to students on several campuses.

SESSION PROPOSAL: Adapting an Improv Mindset for Collaboration and Storytelling

What do you think of when you hear the word improvisation?

If you think about it, many of the same things we do on stage are probably similar to what you manage in the workplace. Nothing is scripted and we often need to deal with the unexpected. Each time we improvise, we focus on a certain set of guidelines. First, we withhold judgment of ourselves and others. We trust in our instincts and go with the first thing said, and we always show support for the other people on stage. 

In this session we’ll focus on how to work with others toward the best possible output, be it a new product idea, a company’s strategic plan, or even how to better handle a meeting. What is needed in this moment for the good of the group? Are you able to set aside your agenda? We will also work to strike a balance between your own personal tasks and development, and what is needed for the team/department/organization

Bio: Kristy West is an Account Director at Second City Works, the innovative business solutions arm of the world-famous Second City comedy theater.Kristy joined Second City Works in March of 2017, bringing her years of experience to the premier practitioners of improv and its vast benefits to the workplace. She is based in Atlanta, where she runs the southeast operations.

Prior to joining Second City Work, she spent 14 years working in sales and business development in the Atlanta market while simultaneously studying, performing, and teaching improvisation. Over time, her improv training began to spill over into her professional life, helping develop critical communication skills and propelling her career to new heights. In 2009, Kristy merged her passion for improv with her extensive sales experience and began consulting, coaching companies like Home Depot, Mailchimp, Bank of America, WorldPay, and Cox Automotive on how to apply the principles of improvisation to build more cohesive teams and creative, collaborative work environments.
 

SESSION PROPOSAL: Secrets of Customer Discovery (Part 2) Advanced Methods - All New Material

At “Secrets of Customer Discovery (Part 2 )”, you’ll learn advanced methods to dramatically improve your odds of building products people buy and use. - Find out what real desire for a product looks like (it's not what you'd think) - Discover the one thing you can rely on your customers to do (you can bank on this) - Learn how to not get fooled by false positives that lead to expensive business mistakes - Discover a little-recognized behavior in your customers (that might be the most important thing you can learn before building a product) This session - with all new material - builds on a foundation from David's award-winning "Secrets of Customer Discovery (Part 1)" seminar. Ideally, attendees should have already attended "Part 1", either at this year's or last year's ProductCamp. You’ll experience a fast-moving hands-on program led by an entrepreneur and product guy who has done it himself – and is dedicated to teaching you. For product managers, startup founders, marketers, and investors, in companies of all sizes. Expect an outstanding seminar. David Eckoff’s sessions have been voted “Best Session” and "Best Presenter" at recent conferences.

 

BIO: 

David Eckoff specializes in working with teams to develop and launch game-changing online businesses. He has defined go-to-market strategies and led teams in companies ranging from startup to Fortune 500. He is an advisor to technology companies, helping take revolutionary ideas from the drawing board to market. Eckoff has advised companies including Kleiner Perkins backed Zazzle.com, live interactive broadcasting platform Ustream.TV, 3D Virtual World innovator Kaneva, and more. Eckoff co-founded technology startups Pickoff Sports and Spitter.com, leading teams developing social media engagement platforms. Pickoff was selected as 1 of 14 startups for the Flashpoint accelerator program at Georgia Tech. Previously, Eckoff was Vice President, New Products at Turner Broadcasting. He was Senior Director at RealNetworks Inc., leading teams pioneering online sports broadcast, music, movies and games. Prior, Eckoff was Senior Vice-President at Rivals.com, the leader in online college sports. ## What they’re saying about David Eckoff’s seminars: “David Eckoff is a cannonball of energy, delivering passion and engagement through his presentations. Mr. Eckoff is a boon to any conference that values itself as speaking truth, not fantasy." - Chris Brogan, New York Times Bestselling author “Great session!! Best of the conference!!” - Andrea Moe, product management and marketing “An energizing session that made me think. I can’t wait to apply new ideas!” - Lisa, healthcare technology product manager “WOW! Great presentation – I’m energized!!” - Phil, serial entrepreneur, applied technologist, product manager

SESSION PROPOSAL: Secrets of Customer Discovery (Part 1): How to Beat the Odds and Build Products That People Want

The mortality rate for new businesses and products is stunning. 80% of all businesses started today will not last beyond five years. At “Secrets of Customer Discovery (Part 1)”, you’ll learn a practical set of actions you can follow right now to dramatically improve your odds of building products people buy and use. - Learn a customer discovery process to get you moving incredibly fast - Find out the most common big mistakes people make in assessing customer demand (don’t do these!) - Discover a powerful approach to testing your ideas that you’d never come up with on your own - Learn simple but non-obvious hacks you’ll love Without the right strategy, you can innovate yourself right out of business - like so many before you have. Learn the winning formula from David. You’ll experience a fast-moving hands-on program led by an entrepreneur and product guy who has done it himself – and is dedicated to teaching you. For product managers, startup founders, marketers, and investors, in companies of all sizes. This session introduces key concepts, and is a pre-requisite for "Secrets of Customer Discovery (Part 2)". Expect an outstanding seminar. David Eckoff’s sessions have been voted “Best Session” and "Best Presenter" at recent conferences.

BIO:

David Eckoff specializes in working with teams to develop and launch game-changing online businesses. He has defined go-to-market strategies and led teams in companies ranging from startup to Fortune 500. He is an advisor to technology companies, helping take revolutionary ideas from the drawing board to market. Eckoff has advised companies including Kleiner Perkins backed Zazzle.com, live interactive broadcasting platform Ustream.TV, 3D Virtual World innovator Kaneva, and more. Eckoff co-founded technology startups Pickoff Sports and Spitter.com, leading teams developing social media engagement platforms. Pickoff was selected as 1 of 14 startups for the Flashpoint accelerator program at Georgia Tech. Previously, Eckoff was Vice President, New Products at Turner Broadcasting. He was Senior Director at RealNetworks Inc., leading teams pioneering online sports broadcast, music, movies and games. Prior, Eckoff was Senior Vice-President at Rivals.com, the leader in online college sports. ## What they’re saying about David Eckoff’s seminars: “David Eckoff is a cannonball of energy, delivering passion and engagement through his presentations. Mr. Eckoff is a boon to any conference that values itself as speaking truth, not fantasy." - Chris Brogan, New York Times Bestselling author “Great session!! Best of the conference!!” - Andrea Moe, product management and marketing “An energizing session that made me think. I can’t wait to apply new ideas!” - Lisa, healthcare technology product manager “WOW! Great presentation – I’m energized!!” - Phil, serial entrepreneur, applied technologist, product manager “David’s keynote at our event was simply extraordinary. He captured the minds, imaginations and hearts of the audience in ways few speakers can. David’s keynote will entertain you, educate you and bring new life to the concepts of invention and innovation!” - Thomas Koulopoulos, Author Smartsourcing, Founder Delphi Group

SESSION PROPOSAL: Ideate, Improvise and Iterate

3 improv games to take back to your team to inspire creativity, build teamwork, overcome obstacles and innovate. #RapidIdeaGeneration #fun

BIO

Brandy Nagel is a marketer and innovation enthusiast. She's been taking improv classes and has discovered it boosts creativity and team productivity. She currently works at Georgia Tech where she helps students build startups - and shares what she has learned with schools and communities around the world.

SESSION PROPOSAL: 12 ways to improve your game

Critical PM Activities to get better at; increasing your value as Product Manager; succeed at companies where PM is "highly evolved" vs. firms that are fairly new to PM.

BIO: 

Werner currently works in the Compliance and Risk Management space, managing Content solutions (Industry Standards, Legislation, Regulatory) at SAI Global, a firm with offices in 29 countries. Werner has worked at companies both large and small and has seen his fair share of great Product Management organizations, as well as a few that were clearly flawed. I'm here today to give you my perspectives, but also want to hear your perspectives.

SESSION PROPOSAL: Have Your Customers Design Your Next Product

Some of the most profitable products are those that involve customers during the product design phase. In this session, you’ll get an overview of quick and inexpensive techniques you can use to have your customers feedback guide your designs. Choose the right technique for each step of your design process, including some methods you probably didn't hear about in school. You'll learn: • How to find un-met needs before you decide what to build • How to watch what the customer does, not what they say • How to protect your intellectual property while involving customers • How to validate that you have the right product during the concept phase and throughout the development phase • How to make sense of all the data you have • How to align user insights with your business and technical landscape prior to starting

BIO:

Winner of ProductCamp Atlanta's Best Session for two years running, Peter Hildebrandt has been helping product people make sound business decisions for 35 years. He is the principal in Covetability, a consulting firm specializing in bringing customer data into the design of product offerings. His clients range from high technology Fortune 500 companies to startup businesses. Peter is active on two non-profit boards, is a SCORE mentor, and plays the string bass in his spare time.

 

SESSION PROPOSAL: Making your offerings unique and highly profitable using Blue Ocean strategies

Named Product Camp Atlanta's Best Session in 2014 and 2015. How your products or services compare with others in your industry can make a huge difference in how profitable you are. Common wisdom is to “out feature” your competitors. But by using “blue ocean” strategies, you can not only separate your offerings from your competitors, but reduce your costs in the process. In the end, your offerings are more desirable and more profitable. In this workshop, you'll create your own blue ocean strategy canvas to see how your offering compares with your competitors’ and where the opportunities lie. You'll learn: • The difference between a red ocean and a blue ocean • How to quickly determine where your competitors are not • How to add value to your offerings while reducing cost • How to create a strategy map • Why getting rid of features is a good thing • How to find and exploit needs your customers have but haven’t asked for

 

BIO:

Peter Hildebrandt has been helping product people make sound business decisions for 35 years. He is the principal in Covetability, a consulting firm specializing in bringing customer data into the design of product offerings. His clients range from high technology Fortune 500 companies to startup businesses. Peter is active on two non-profit boards, is a SCORE mentor, and plays the string bass in his spare time.