Product Bash!

We are delighted to announce that our April BASH is confirmed for the 23rd, based around the theme of Product Management. As usual we will begin at 12 noon and finish between 13:30 and 14:00

Apologies for the late notice, this has been a much shorter April than usual :-) Because everyone is hard pressed we have opted for a more extemporaneous format than usual, as described below.

Emma Mulholland from Instil will be kicking off - with a short presentation on what Product Management is, and why its relevance has skyrocketed in recent years. Then Steven McComb from Signifyd will speak on common bad practices and anti-patterns that teams fall into when embracing a product centred approach.

After this grounding, we will be joined by experienced Product People Leela Collins and Charlie Tuxworth for a round table discussion on the issues that have been raised, plus whatever other attendees would like to suggest. Your usual host Garth Gilmour will be on hand, to pose your questions and take on the persona of 'clueless newbie requiring enlightenment'.

We hope this format will lead to a stimulating and entertaining discussion. Please join us and come prepared with questions regarding Product in general and its relationship to Agile Software Development in particular.

------------------------- About the Speakers -------------------------

Emma Mulholland helps organisations adopt a product mindset. Over the last 15 years she has worked across startups and large enterprises, including an XP lab which used Lean techniques and Design Thinking to solve business problems.
She is an advocate of Lean methods and passionate about Product Management, and has been active in helping build the Belfast Product community through groups such as ProductTank Belfast, LeanCoffee Belfast and Product Camp Belfast, and by working as a trainer for Mind the Product.

Steven started his career as a software developer and switched to Product after he got the bug for it when he launched his own startup business. Steven is now a Senior Product Manager at Signifyd, the world's largest provider of guaranteed fraud protection. A passionate advocate for the Belfast Product community, Steven is also a co-organiser of ProductTank, an informal meetup that brings together the Product network in Belfast.

Charlie headed up the enterprise software team of ICS in Belfast for many years, before being appointed Director of Innovation in a UK Financial Services PLC, where he took on responsibility for identifying & commercialising new products and services. During the lockdown Charlie joined the ISO team writing the international standards for Innovation; as well as founding Innovate Island - the all-island, go-to community for practitioners, advocates, and explorers of innovation.

Leela is founder of Run.Design, Leela Collins is utilising her experience as a product manager to support the rapidly growing Game Industry in Northern Ireland. Providing training & consultancy, Leela works to support local studios with business development, marketing strategy, and audience analysis.