Groundhog Day (plus Q&A with John Roman)

Groundhog Day is the uiltimate A/B testing movie. It doesn’t just show how iteration and user testing leads to better products. It demonstrates how these practices push us to understand things about ourselves, to become better people. That’s why we’ll be showing Groundhog Day at The Lean Startup Conference on Thursday, Dec 11 and encouraging the local Lean Startup comunity to attend as well.

Even better, we’ll have a special guest. John L. Roman, film and television producer and Adjunct Professor at USC, was an assistant director on Groundhog Day, and says that making the movie was its own set of experiments. He will be answering your questions about the making of the film and what Lean Startup practitioners can learn from movie-making.

There will be a cash bar, some Groundhog Day DVDs given away, and other shenanigans. Come and meet your fellow Lean Startup practitioners who share your taste for fun!

Jazz Improv, with a Side of Team Collaboration

Great team collaboration is the secret sauce of successful companies. At its core, collaboration comes from the culture of your company and the dynamics of your team. This entertaining session by Mode Shift intends to demonstrate empathy, embracing uncertainty, and following patterns. It weaves live jazz improvisation with exercises designed to teach:

– What makes up an effective team
– The power of empathy and listening
– The importance of a iterative exploration
– The role of following patterns and conventions
– How great collaborators never make mistakes

Mode Shift is:
Jim Kalbach, bass
Jeff Gothelf, keys (absent for this event)

With special guests:
Vic Wong, guitar
Benny Torres, tenor sax
Riley Bandy, alto sax
Rolf Wilkinson, drums