Software Conference at Calvin on Global Economy

October 3, 2006 == MEDIA ADVISORY

Calvin College's Computer Science Department is hosting a top-notch event in
October which will address a topic often in the news.

The Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference (GLSEC) will be held October
25-26 at the Prince Conference Center at Calvin and is organized jointly by XP
West Michigan and the Chapter 1001 of the American Society for Quality. A host
of national and local sponsors is financially supporting the conference.

A central part of the conference will be what West Michigan companies can do
to better compete in a global economy when it comes to computer programming and
writing software code.

Says Calvin computer science professor Pat Bailey, a conference co-chair:
"While the increasing globalization of software development tends to focus
strictly on hourly rates -- ignoring quality, value, and time-to-delivery --
GLSEC speakers promote shifting the criteria of competition to delivered value,
as well as techniques to improve quality and delivery time."

Featured keynotes speakers are: Tim Lister, principal in the Atlantic Systems
Guild, and Carl Erickson, president of Atomic Object and president of XP West
Michigan.

"GLSEC," says Bailey, "will tackle some of the fascinating and challenging
aspects of our profession. How do you go about analyzing customer needs? How
should software be tested? What is the right amount of documentation? How can
companies attract and retain talented staff? What is all this talk about
agility?"

"The organizers of this event and Calvin's Computer Science Department are
doing this to make a contribution to the community," Bailey emphasized.
"Conferences with the caliber of speakers we will have, which includes some
nationally recognized leaders in the software development industry, typically
go for three to four times the modest $300 two day fee."

In addition to the keynote speakers, the conference offers tutorials for
software developers and project managers on the first day. The second day
features breakout sessions and talks, including one lead by Calvin's Professor
Joel Adams.

In a separately organized seminar by Calvin on October 25th, which is
colocated with the conference, Bailey also will facilitate a discussion panel
that will include professional software engineers and Calvin students. The
topic is the ways in which the Christian faith might influence software
engineers, especially how they develop software.

Bailey recently surveyed professional software engineers and asked them a
variety of questions about their work and their faith. Calvin students are
assisting him in conducting follow up phone interviews.

Bailey came to Calvin a year ago and teaches classes for Calvin's new bachelor
of arts degree in information systems.

Contact Bailey at pmb4@calvin.edu or 616-526-7543
For more about the conference see http://www.glsec.org
For more about Bailey's study see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2005_06/bailey_survey.htm

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Received on Tue Oct 3 10:51:39 2006