Date:    Mar 03/27/15 10:13 AM
Subject: NEJUG Meeting: Soft Skills for Software Engineers
From:    Stevel Lintz

The next general meeting of the NEJUG is coming up soon and you are welcome to attend.
All you need do is register, show up for the meeting, relax and absorb. Come by a bit early,
and you'll have time for networking plus pizza and sodas - fully sponsored by Constant Contact
(who also provide our excellent meeting facility).

Register now to reserve your seat

Title: Soft Skills for Software Engineers
Presenter: Various Speakers
Location: Constant Contact
Date: Thu, Apr 9


We'll be following an adjusted meeting agenda:

5:00 - Doors open for pre-meeting socializing (and seat claiming)
5:30 - Pizza, enough for two slices per person
6:00 - Start of Meeting (*)
                  - Welcome and NEJUG Announcements
6:10 - Announcements from the floor
                  - Upcoming events, e.g. workshops, meetings, space launches
                  - Job announcements - real jobs from real people (not head-hunter trolling)
6:20 - Introduction and Overview
6:30 - Short Presentations (x3)
7:30 - Short Break
7:40 - Short Presentations (x2)
8:20 - Panel discussion with Q/A
8:45 - Adjourn - Clean Up & Get Out (*)

(*) All but the start and end times are approximate, depending on the flow of the meeting.


Register now to reserve your seat

Presentation Summary:

We've all heard – and we've even said it ourselves, that “soft skills” make a critical difference in an engineer's career.
Oddly, despite this recognition of their importance, the whole cluster of soft skill competencies are rarely given more than lip service.
With the April 9 meeting, the NEJUG will make a multi-faceted push to rectify this short fall.
In a series of short presentations, experienced professionals from a range of companies will each focus on one or two specific soft skills,
such as Integrity in Work, Listening, Cooperation and Alignment, Technical Writing, Leadership, Public Speaking, and others. Each presenter
will give their perspective on the importance of their skill topic, share in detail how it makes a real difference, and – most importantly,
provide a specific technique for developing that skill. Where appropriate, a live demonstration of the technique will be made, possibly including
a short in situ exercise.
After about 5 of such mini-presentations, we will switch to a panel discussion format. One or two prepared questions will get the ball rolling,
after which we will take questions from the floor. As time allows, the panel should have at least 20 – 30 minutes to deepen this very important
conversation.


Speaker Background:
The final set of presenters (and their specific topics) remian fluid. As we coordinate the talks, we continue to shuffle and refine the evening as a whole.
Nevertheless, we have already selected speakers from VMware, McGraw-Hill Education, Edletech Recruiting, and Pivotal. The speakers are each experienced
in software development with several years of direct experience working with and/or managing developers, from recent college graduates through principle
engineers. Additionally, as we finalize the speaker selection, we are making sure to represent range of perspectives, such as: Team Leader, Direct Manager,
Upper Manager, Quality Assurance, Customer Support, HR, Recruitment.

All in all, we will select – and you will receive – a widely scoped overview with specific useful details that will make a difference in your career.

We look forward to seeing you on Thu, Apr 9.  Register now to reserve your seat


Stevel Lintz
NEJUG President


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