The DREAM15 Conference - my experience

DREAM15 - Hotel Vianen Conference

DREAM15 Event

Location: Hotel Vianen, Utrecht, Netherlands

In my earlier post “22 reasons why I’m Attending the DREAM15 event“ I described a conference that DREAM (Dutch Requirements Engineering And Management) were holding.

In it I had mentioned that one session didn’t have a speaker yet. I was ecstatic when the organisers asked me to fill that spot. While you can read my slidedeck from that session here, today I’d like to describe the conference itself.

Arrival

“Buzzing” is the word I would use to describe the atmosphere at the conference when I arrived. I was taken aback at the number of people that were attending. The place was packed. And this became even more evident during the opening keynote.

Opening Keynote

The opening keynote speaker was Paul Turner. As I’ve mentioned (in the above-mentioned post), Paul Turner is one of the co-authors of the excellent book “Business Analysis Techniques (99 Essentials Tools for Success)“. Paul was entertaining while being informative, and while Paul presented in English, and the audience was Dutch, everyone enjoyed his presentation. In fact, what he had spoken about was repeated at several times during the day by other speakers. (However, Arjen Uittenbogaard, one of the speakers, commented in his (dutch) blog that Paul had given a bit of a mixed message at one stage.)

Sessions

This was where it was difficult. And the organisers, in the introduction in the morning, acknowledged that it would be . There were just so many great sessions running in parallel. It really meant that you had to make a choice.

I had intended to write a little bit about them all. I even tried this, in the morning, by watching a little bit of each presentation, running from one conference room to another, Unfortunately, this was not very effective.

Brainwriting

In the afternoon, there was one session that I wanted to attend: “Brainwriting“.

Like brainstorming, this technique also allows for the generation of ideas. However, unlike brainstorming that relies on the quick, and “public” shouting out of ideas, brainwriting involves lists. Blank ones. The main problem, or goal, is written at the top of the lists. Participants are divided into groups of 6, and then each person is given a list. They write their idea down on the list and, after a given time, each participant hands their list to the person to the right of them. A new idea is written down. And so on. At the end, there are a large number of ideas, and these can be discussed.

As mentioned, the aim of this technique is similar to brainstorming but lets everyone come up with an idea, rather than just the loudest people in the room.

This was a practical session and very effective. As well as being a lot of fun. I recommenced searching for more on this.

My Session

It was an honour (and a surprise) when the organiser’s asked me to present.
(You can view my presentation here).

There were more people in the audience than I had expected, and my presentation was well received. (Even considering that I presented in English – just goes to show how well the Dutch can speak a language that isn’t their own.)

Closing Keynote

The closing keynote, by Theo Severein, took the opposite angle from the opening keynote and looked at organizational improvement from a holistic viewpoint. This was also a crowd-pleaser.

Socialising

This is one of the big draw-cards for me. A chance to mix and mingle with other like-minded people. It also was a chance to meet, in person, people that I have been interacting with online.

During one of the breaks I was doing the rounds of the vendor stands and had a chance to meet Jan Willem Knop, one of the committee members of the IIBA NL chapter. it was really great to finally meet him in person, and learn more about the IINA in the Netherlands.

Carrying on around, I also got to meet Stefan Sturm, the Managing Director of IREB (International Requirements Engineering Board). Through some of my blog posts and posts on LinkedIn, I been “conversing” with Stefan for awhile. Also a really great chance to meet him in person.

Just before the end of the break, I was able to introduce myself to Paul Turner (the keynote speaker). This was an honour, and I had a very, very interesting chat with him.

In fact, it was a great chance to learn more from Jan Willem, Stefan, and Paul, how the IIBA, IREB and BCS will be playing together in the new alliance/partnership that the IIBA had announced.

Conclusion

All-in-all, a great day. Great sessions combined with an excellent chance to meet, and talk with, others in the industry.

Want to learn more?

Below is a selection of resources that I personally feel are relevant to this blog post, and will allow you to get more in-depth knowledge. I do earn a commission if you purchase any of these, and for that I am grateful. Thank you. (Important Disclosure)