A few people have asked me why my blog is called 'Over the Falls'. Well, it's a subtle double meaning, that's so subtle, I think I'm the only one who understands it. So, allow me to explain.
When I started blogging, I decided I'd probably end up carrying on about my job - which involves managing a software development team. But then I thought that it was inevitable that I'd end up bragging about my surfing to at least some degree. So, how best to combine those...
In surfer land, going "Over the falls", is when you take off on a wave, but you don't match the wave for speed - and you end up getting sucked right up to the top of the wave, and unceremoniously pounded into the ocean ( or whatever is under it). It's not fun. (Although it can be funny when you see someone else do it)
In Project Manager land, there's an old fashioned, long standing bastion of project management called the 'Waterfall Process'. Basically, it's where you do everything sequentially - design, build, document, test and ship, and then dust your hands and gleefully congratulate yourself (and skip town before everything comes crashing down around you). And after a few bad experiences, I decided (along with most of the Software Development world ) that I was, in effect, over the said process.
I tease, but the lineup at Waterfall 2006 looks pretty tempting - from the agenda:
And so that's where Over the Falls came from.
When I started blogging, I decided I'd probably end up carrying on about my job - which involves managing a software development team. But then I thought that it was inevitable that I'd end up bragging about my surfing to at least some degree. So, how best to combine those...
In surfer land, going "Over the falls", is when you take off on a wave, but you don't match the wave for speed - and you end up getting sucked right up to the top of the wave, and unceremoniously pounded into the ocean ( or whatever is under it). It's not fun. (Although it can be funny when you see someone else do it)
In Project Manager land, there's an old fashioned, long standing bastion of project management called the 'Waterfall Process'. Basically, it's where you do everything sequentially - design, build, document, test and ship, and then dust your hands and gleefully congratulate yourself (and skip town before everything comes crashing down around you). And after a few bad experiences, I decided (along with most of the Software Development world ) that I was, in effect, over the said process.
I tease, but the lineup at Waterfall 2006 looks pretty tempting - from the agenda:
See? You know it makes sense... (thanks to Cam for the link)
Because it's possible you may want to attend all sessions, Waterfall 2006 features no concurrent sessions. All sessions are run sequentially for your enjoyment. However, since in a waterfall process we don't want testers to know anything about coding, or programmers to know anything about design, and so on, you can only attend sessions that match your job function. When you register to attend you'll be asked to select an appropriate job function. When sessions that are not relevant to you are running you will be required to sit idle in the lobby.
And so that's where Over the Falls came from.
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