The deadline for experience reports proposals for Agile 2006 is approaching fast. January 31st is the last day for submissions.

Presenting an experience report is a great way to advance your career. It's a gentle introduction to the world of professional speaking and conferences. (In fact, my first-ever professional public speech was delivering an experience report at the first XP conference.) At Agile 2006, we provide lots of hand-holding for the first-time speaker. Each accepted experience report is assigned a "shepherd" to help guide you through the process.

Not that experience reports are just for first-time speakers. I think experience reports are where the real innovation comes from, particularly in a field like agile software development. Experience reports are all about real people doing real work and reporting on what worked--and, just as importantly, what didn't work. No theory--just hands-on results.

If you'd like to present an experience report at Agile 2006, it's not too late to work on your proposal. All we need is a one-to-two page extended abstract. If your proposal is accepted, we'll assign you a shepherd and ask you to write a six-to-ten page paper, which will be due sometime around May. At the conference (July 23-28), you'll give a 25-minute presentation about your experience.

All you need is an agile experience to share. For more information, see the Experience Reports page of the Agile 2006 website. We have a sample proposal available; you may also be interested in reading some of the complete experience reports from last year.

The deadline is January 31st! I hope to see your proposal soon.

(And for something completely different, check out Waterfall 2006. Link courtesy of Rebecca Wirfs-Brock.)