St. Louis Product Management Group

Meeting are open to everyone — there is no charge to attend, RSVPs are not required.

June 29, 2010: Making Thunder –  Product Management Innovation

About this presentation: Thunder comes from lightning and lightning is sparked by ideas. Without new ideas, we cannot survive. Learn to Get Real, Get Focused, Get Ideas, and Get Results.

About the presenter: Steve Epner works with groups who want to find new answers to old questions.  To learn more about Steve’s background and professional accomplishments, visit www.steveepner.com/about/

Here’s the details:

• 6:00pm: Arrivals, snacks, informal networking
• 6:30pm: Meeting begins
• 8:00pm-ish: Meeting adjourns
• Location: SAVVIS; 1 SAVVIS Parkway, Chesterfield, MO, 63017. (Google map of SAVVIS)
• Directions from the West:
  • Take 64/40 East to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • At the end of the exit ramp, go straight (parallel to 64/40)
  • Move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Directions from the East:
  • Take 64/40 West to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • Move to the right and follow signs for South Outer Forty
  • You will make a U-turn under the highway, and then move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Thanks to SAVVIS for providing the facilities for this meeting!

Meeting are open to everyone — there is no charge to attend, RSVPs are not required.

The April 2010 meeting was held on Tuesday, April 27, 2010.

April’s topic: Is it a Puzzle or Is it a Mystery? Three tools for capturing the wisdom of crowds

About this presentation: Product Management professionals can deliver the greatest impact and maximize personal success by tackling the big mysteries, not just the puzzles, which confront their businesses. Mysteries are very different from puzzles. Both may be strategic, but mysteries are more complex and require a different mindset and toolset. To solve a mystery one must leverage the expertise of all functions and capture the insights of many people – perhaps the entire organization, and especially the senior team.

But solving the mystery is not enough – the challenge is to do so in an emotionally engaging manner which demands implementation of an actionable solution. This presentation will survey the three best collective intelligence tools for solving mysteries and will review best practice alternatives on how to implement them:

• War Games
• Scenario planning
• Charrettes

Download a copy of these slides (1.5MB PPT)

About the presenter: Dave Schnedler recently returned to St. Louis from the San Francisco Bay Area, and is President of the Corporate Planning Forum. He also teaches in the MBA program as an adjunct professor of strategy at the John Cook School of Business, St. Louis University. He has extensive senior executive corporate strategy experience as Sr. Director of Strategy and Planning with Palm Inc., Director of Corporate Planning for Sun Microsystems, and Planning Manager with Hewlett Packard. He is also an experienced entrepreneur. Dave began his career as a management consultant with Mckinsey & Company and is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration.

Here’s the details:

• 6:00pm: Arrivals, snacks, informal networking
• 6:30pm: Meeting begins
• 8:00pm-ish: Meeting adjourns
• Location: SAVVIS; 1 SAVVIS Parkway, Chesterfield, MO, 63017. (Google map of SAVVIS)
• Directions from the West:
  • Take 64/40 East to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • At the end of the exit ramp, go straight (parallel to 64/40)
  • Move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Directions from the East:
  • Take 64/40 West to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • Move to the right and follow signs for South Outer Forty
  • You will make a U-turn under the highway, and then move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Thanks to SAVVIS for providing the facilities for this meeting!

The November 2009 meeting of the St. Louis Product Management Group was held on November 11, 2009. Meeting are open to everyone — there is no charge to attend, though for this meeting, RSVPs are requested (email stlpm@stlpm.org to RSVP)

• Topic: Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) — Design for Six Sigma is a collection of powerful tools assembled to bring the advantages of “Lean” thinking to the product development process.  This presentation will provide a brief overview of these tools and provide some examples of DFSS successes. Download slides (3.6MB PDF)
• About the presenter: Jerry Fix is a product management and strategic marketing professional with over 15 years of experience in bringing products to market.  He was most recently the Global Product Manager for Specialty Power and Lighting Products at Energizer in St. Louis.  Prior to Energizer he has held senior product management and marketing positions at Cooper Bussmann, Ameriwood Industries, Fellowes Manufacturing and Hewlett Packard.  He started his career as an Electrical Engineer at McDonnell Douglas.  Jerry has BSEE degree from Michigan Tech University and an MBA from Saint Louis University.  He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Missouri, and a Professional Certified Marketer (American Marketing Association).  Jerry lives in St. Louis with his wife and son.

Here’s the details:

• 6:00pm: Arrivals, informal networking
• 6:30pm: Meeting begins
• 8:00pm-ish: Meeting adjourns
• Location: [note different location for this meeting] The Sevens Building, 7777 Bonhomme Ave., Suite 2222, Clayton 63105
• Directions:
  • Attendees can park in the building for free, since the parking company does not collect parking fees past 6:30 PM and leaves the gates up.
  • Anyone arriving past 6 PM will need to enter the garage through the drive-in entry and walk in the adjacent front door of the building, as the inside garage entry is locked at 6PM. They will return to their cars at the same time.
• Thanks to BizManualz for providing the facilities for this meeting!

The St. Louis Product Management Group begins its Fall 2009 season with a special event at a new day/time/location. Based on feedback we received from group members, we’re trying something different this month — we’ll be meeting on Wednesday, September 16 at 5:30pm for a Networking Happy Hour at El Paisano Mexican Restaurant at 9514 Olive Boulevard in Creve Coeur.

RSVPs are kindly requested so we know how much space to reserve. RSVP here, please!

You told us you would be interested in:

• Meetings on a different day of the week (rather than Tuesdays)
• Meetings at a different location (something a bit to the East, for those in Clayton and the City)
• A way to meet more local product managers (so we figured a Happy Hour would be a great occasion)

So, we thought this would be a great opportunity to get everyone back together after the summer break. It’s always good to meet other product managers, “talk shop,” and make connections. We’ll also be soliciting ideas (and interested volunteers) for upcoming meetings and events.

El Paisano is located at 9514 Olive Boulevard, east of Lindbergh and west of 170. It’s only 5 minutes from Olive and 270, and only 10 minutes from Clayton.

Just look for the STLPM group when you get there — don’t forget to RSVP and hope to see you then!

The St. Louis Product Management Group meets the second Tuesday of the month at 6pm at SAVVIS.

Meeting are open to everyone — there is no charge to attend, RSVPs are not required.

The May 2009 meeting was held on May 12, 2009:

• Topic: Requirements Management Tools: There Must Be A Better Way — You’ve captured some new product requirements, but now how do you effectively analyze, file, and prioritize them against all the others you already have? Note cards, ranked lists, and simple databases are easy to use for small projects, but quickly become unwieldy for most product projects. In this session, we’ll review and discuss methodologies, approaches, and software solutions for requirements management. Download the Presentation slides (405KB PPS file).
• About the presenter: Robert Grupe has over 20 years international experience in sales, marketing, support, and product management of high tech products and Internet services.

Here’s the details:

• 5:30pm: Arrivals, informal networking
• 6:00pm: Meeting begins
• 7:30pm-ish: Meeting adjourns
• Location: SAVVIS; 1 SAVVIS Parkway, Chesterfield, MO, 63017. (Google map of SAVVIS)
• Directions from the West:
  • Take 64/40 East to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • At the end of the exit ramp, go straight (parallel to 64/40)
  • Move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Directions from the East:
  • Take 64/40 West to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • Move to the right and follow signs for South Outer Forty
  • You will make a U-turn under the highway, and then move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Thanks to SAVVIS for providing the facilities for this meeting!

The St. Louis Product Management Group meets the second Tuesday of the month at 6pm at SAVVIS.

Meeting are open to everyone — there is no charge to attend, RSVPs are not required.

The April 2009 meeting was held on April 14, 2009:

• Product Management Advice Session: Having issues, problems, questions, or challenges related to product management? We will discuss topics that YOU — the attendees — choose, giving everyone a chance to talk with other product managers and get their advice and suggestions. We had a session like this in July 2008 and it got great response, so we’re looking forward to doing this again.
• Note: The presentation which was originally scheduled for April 14 will be rescheduled, likely for our May meeting. Apologies for the change in plans.

Here’s the details:

• 5:30pm: Arrivals, informal networking
• 6:00pm: Meeting begins
• 7:30pm-ish: Meeting adjourns
• Location: SAVVIS; 1 SAVVIS Parkway, Chesterfield, MO, 63017. (Google map of SAVVIS)
• Directions from the West:
  • Take 64/40 East to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • At the end of the exit ramp, go straight (parallel to 64/40)
  • Move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Directions from the East:
  • Take 64/40 West to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • Move to the right and follow signs for South Outer Forty
  • You will make a U-turn under the highway, and then move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Thanks to SAVVIS for providing the facilities for this meeting!

The St. Louis Product Management Group meets the second Tuesday of the month at 6pm at SAVVIS.

Meeting are open to everyone — there is no charge to attend, RSVPs are not required.

The March 2009 meeting was held on March 10, 2009:

• Topic: The Importance of the Requirements Phase — What is the definition of Quality? The most expensive faults are introduced during the Requirements Phase, while the highest density of faults is introduced during the Requirements/Design Phase. The presentation will provide examples from the software industry, as well as other industries, and will introduce methodologies to mitigate these concerns.  The tools are applicable to most industries. Producing the right deliverables during “the first pass” is a major cost saving for all organizations, with a “bonus” of increased job-satisfaction for employees. Download the PPT of meeting slides (1.3 MB)
• About the presenter: Shuly Cooper has a Ph.D. in Biophysics and specialized in Quality Engineering, Process Management, Quality Systems and Project/Program Management, with over 20 years of experience in the software industry and the nutraceutical industry. As a staff member, leader, manager, director and a consultant, Shuly has worked with startups as well as mature companies.  In all companies, she has simplified processes, demonstrated cost reduction, improved productivity, enhanced customer satisfaction, and increased product quality, as measured by the relevant metrics.

Here’s the details:

• 5:30pm: Arrivals, informal networking
• 6:00pm: Meeting begins
• 7:30pm-ish: Meeting adjourns
• Location: SAVVIS; 1 SAVVIS Parkway, Chesterfield, MO, 63017. (Google map of SAVVIS)
• Directions from the West:
  • Take 64/40 East to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • At the end of the exit ramp, go straight (parallel to 64/40)
  • Move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Directions from the East:
  • Take 64/40 West to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • Move to the right and follow signs for South Outer Forty
  • You will make a U-turn under the highway, and then move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Thanks to SAVVIS for providing the facilities for this meeting!

The St. Louis Product Management Group meets the second Tuesday of the month at 6pm at SAVVIS.

Meeting are open to everyone — there is no charge to attend, RSVPs are not required.

The February 2009 meeting was held on February 10, 2009:

• Topic: Managing the Strategic Product Roadmap — One company’s approach to integrating the Product Management lifecycle through automated Roadmap tracking. Laurie Waligurski of MasterCard Worldwide would like to get feedback on their approach and facilitate a roundtable discussion on Roadmap challenges and potential solutions other companies approaches.
• About the presenter: Laurie Waligurski is Business Leader, Program Management for the Integrated Processing Solutions team at MasterCard Worldwide. In this role, she facilitates process development on behalf of the IPS Product Management, Project Management Office and Technology teams. Among these functions include the management of the Product Roadmap, facilitation of release prioritization, and governance of the IPS Investment Management processes (Changepoint). In addition Waligurski is focussed on creating Portfolio analytics to assist in managing the IPS product lines.

Here’s the details:

• 5:30pm: Arrivals, informal networking
• 6:00pm: Meeting begins
• 7:30pm-ish: Meeting adjourns
• Location: SAVVIS; 1 SAVVIS Parkway, Chesterfield, MO, 63017. (Google map of SAVVIS)
• Directions from the West:
  • Take 64/40 East to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • At the end of the exit ramp, go straight (parallel to 64/40)
  • Move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Directions from the East:
  • Take 64/40 West to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • Move to the right and follow signs for South Outer Forty
  • You will make a U-turn under the highway, and then move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Thanks to SAVVIS for providing the facilities for this meeting!

The St. Louis Product Management Group meets the second Tuesday of the month at 6pm at SAVVIS.

Meeting are open to everyone — there is no charge to attend, RSVPs are not required.

The January 2009 meeting was held on January 13, 2009; Jennifer Ruffino presented a recap of highlights from the recent Forrester Consumer Conference. Download the Presentation slides (8.8MB PPT file).  Topics included:

• How to get your web site ready for the next 10 years
• Social computing
• The psychology of product adoption
• Mobile and gps advancements
• Methodology best practices

Here’s the details:

• 5:30pm: Arrivals, snacks, informal networking
• 6:00pm: Meeting begins
• 7:30pm-ish: Meeting adjourns
• Location: SAVVIS; 1 SAVVIS Parkway, Chesterfield, MO, 63017. (Google map of SAVVIS)
• Directions from the West:
  • Take 64/40 East to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • At the end of the exit ramp, go straight (parallel to 64/40)
  • Move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Directions from the East:
  • Take 64/40 West to Woods Mill / Highway 141 (Exit 22)
  • Move to the right and follow signs for South Outer Forty
  • You will make a U-turn under the highway, and then move to the right, following signs for South Outer Forty
  • The SAVVIS building will be on your right; turn right after you pass it and park in the main parking lot on the South side of the building
  • Follow signs in through the main entrance
• Thanks to SAVVIS for providing the facilities for this meeting!

The St. Louis Product Management Group meets the second Tuesday of the month at 6pm. We normally meet at the offices of SAVVIS, though for our December 2008 meeting, we will be having a Holiday Happy Hour at Growler’s.

Network, mingle, share stories with and get advice from other product managers.

Please RSVP for the Happy Hour by email — stlpm@stlpm.org — if you are planning on attending. We need to know how much space to reserve!

Details:

• Tuesday, December 9, 2008: 6pm
• Growler’s Pub; 763 Old Ballas Rd, Creve Coeur, MO; Growler’s is off of Olive just a bit East from 270 — on the south side of Olive, behind/below the Blockbuster, across the street from Provision’s
• Please RSVP for the Happy Hour by email — stlpm@stlpm.org — so we can know how many peopl to expect!
• What to bring: Business cards (for networking). Cash (for paying). That’s all!