Meeting: May 19, 2008

The St. Louis Product Management Group normally meets the last Tuesday of the month at 5pm at SAVVIS — however, in May 2008, we had a special meeting in coordination with the Pragmatic Marketing training being held in St. Louis on May 19-21.

Stacey Weber of Pragmatic Marketing was our special guest speaker, talking about The Strategic Role of Product Management.

Here’s the details:

  • 5:00pm: Arrivals, snacks, informal networking
  • 5:30pm: Meeting begins
  • 7:00pm-ish: Meeting adjourns
  • Location: SAVVIS; 1 SAVVIS Parkway, Chesterfield, MO, 63017. (Google map of SAVVIS)
  • The parking lot is located on the South side of the building. If doors are locked (they shouldn’t be), please buzz to security and let them know you are here for the St. Louis Product Manager’s Association Meeting. Sign in as a visitor to the front desk for this meeting and reception will point you in the direction of the meeting room, which will be close to reception.
  • Thanks to SAVVIS for providing the facilities for this meeting!

Presentation summary

Product management is often ill-defined and misunderstood in typical technology companies. Yet the role can be one that propels the company to the next level of performance. Rather than running the business like a hobby, effective product managers focus on the business aspects of defining and delivering products to market. Stacey Weber explores the strategic role of product management using the Pragmatic Marketing Framework. Also included are action items for reviewing and assessing the product management role at your company.

About Stacey Weber

Stacey Weber is an author, speaker, and instructor for Pragmatic Marketing. She specializes in developing and delivering market-driven technology products. An accomplished product manager who has successfully launched many products, she has used the Pragmatic Marketing Framework to help increase market focus and dramatically increase revenue. Stacey now helps other companies reap those benefits through her role at Pragmatic Marketing.

Prior to joining the company, Stacey was a director of product management at Business Objects. She began her technology career as a software tester in a privately held company and soon learned that her passion was for product management. She moved into a product specialist position and worked her way up through product manager, product line manager, department manager, and director. Over this period, she brought many new products to market, managed products in late-life maintenance, and ushered products out of the market at obsolescence. She is particularly interested in the dynamics of market-led organizations, and the interactions between Product Management and Development.

Stacey has the experience and knowledge to view situations from a myriad of perspectives. This, coupled with her ability to understand details and communicate vision, have been key to Stacey’s many successes.