Nathaniel Schutta

You're an Architect...Now What?

Tuesday, 8:30 AM EST

Many software developers point their career towards ascending to the gilded rank of Architect…but what does it mean to actually be one? While many of us labor under false pretense of abject technical decision making, the reality is often very different. You'll code less, spending more time on activities that lack an objective green/red bar. But you'll also an opportunity to impact far more than one project.

In this talk, I'll speak to my own journey. We'll touch on influencing coworkers, the importance of communication and the importance of cup of coffee.

Many software developers point their career towards ascending to the gilded rank of Architect…but what does it mean to actually be one? While many of us labor under false pretense of abject technical decision making, the reality is often very different. You'll code less, spending more time on activities that lack an objective green/red bar. But you'll also an opportunity to impact far more than one project.

In this talk, I'll speak to my own journey. We'll touch on influencing coworkers, the importance of communication and the importance of cup of coffee.

Communication for Architects

Tuesday, 10:30 AM EST

At the end of the day, an architect's primary job is to communicate. Not only do we need to make sure our teams understand the design of the system well enough to implement it, we must be able to explain our decisions to an audience that isn't impressed with how many TLAs you can rattle off in one sentence. Successful architects need to seamlessly transition from in depth technical conversations to budget meetings to discussions with end users adjusting the message to fit the audience.

While oral communication is key, good architects also spend a good deal of time putting pixel to screen via email, IM and various architectural documents we're expected to create. We need to write clearly and concisely while also knowing when the best course of action is to pick up the phone or walk to someone's desk.

In this talk, we'll explore the various methods that we as architects use to communicate with our stakeholders. We'll talk about knowing our audience, being able to present as well as how to run a good meeting. We'll discuss various patterns (and antipatterns) of presenting along with some concrete advice on how to do it better. At the end of the day, our job is to tell effectively tell a story - this talk will look at ways to do that.

Reviewing Architectures

Tuesday, 1:30 PM EST

Good architects are, almost by definition, good story tellers. And while good communication skills are vital to success as an architect, so too is an ability to constructively critique an architecture. In this talk, we'll explore why reviews are important and what it takes to perform them well. Additionally, we'll talk about the importance of planning and preparation in conducting a successful review.

Good architects are, almost by definition, good story tellers. And while good communication skills are vital to success as an architect, so too is an ability to constructively critique an architecture. In this talk, we'll explore why reviews are important and what it takes to perform them well. Additionally, we'll talk about the importance of planning and preparation in conducting a successful review.

Hacking Your Brain for Fun and Profit

Tuesday, 8:00 PM EST

The single most important tool in any developers toolbox isn't a fancy IDE or some spiffy new language - it's our brain. Despite ever faster processors with multiple cores and expanding amounts of RAM, we haven't yet created a computer to rival the ultra lightweight one we carry around in our skulls - in this session we'll learn how to make the most of it. We'll talk about why multitasking is a myth, the difference between the left and the right side of your brain, the importance of flow and why exercise is good for more than just your waist line.

The single most important tool in any developers toolbox isn't a fancy IDE or some spiffy new language - it's our brain. Despite ever faster processors with multiple cores and expanding amounts of RAM, we haven't yet created a computer to rival the ultra lightweight one we carry around in our skulls - in this session we'll learn how to make the most of it. We'll talk about why multitasking is a myth, the difference between the left and the right side of your brain, the importance of flow and why exercise is good for more than just your waist line.

Mind the Gap: Architecting UIs in the Era of Diverse Devices

Wednesday, 11:00 AM EST

Architecting and developing user interfaces used to be relatively easy, pick a server side framework, define a standard monitor resolution and spend your days dealing with browser quirks. But today, the landscape presents us with a plethora of screen sizes and resolutions covering everything from a phone to a tablet to a TV. How does a team embrace this brave new world knowing that the future will introduce even more volatility to the client space?

This talk will walk you through this brave new world. We'll discuss the deluge of devices the typical application must deal with today as well as looking at the plethora of client side rendering technologies. This isn't strictly a front end problem though, we need to reconsider how we've built our server side solutions as well; modern applications rely on RESTful web services delivering data to a diverse set of clients. The development landscape has changed, this talk will prepare you to face these challenges.

Leading Technical Change

Wednesday, 8:00 PM EST

Technology changes, it's a fact of life. And while many developers are attracted to the challenge of change, many organizations do a particularly poor job of adapting. We've all worked on projects with, ahem, less than new technologies even though newer approaches would better serve the business. But how do we convince those holding the purse strings to pony up the cash when things are “working” today? At a personal, how do we keep up with the change in our industry?

This talk will explore ways to stay sharp as a software professional. We'll talk about how a technology radar can help you stay marketable (and enjoying your career) and how we can use the same technique to help our companies keep abreast of important changes in the technology landscape. Of course it isn't enough to just be aware, we have to drive change - but how? This talk will consider ways we can influence others and lead change in our organizations.

Modeling for Architects

Thursday, 9:00 AM EST

In some organizations, architects are dismissed as people that draw box and arrow diagrams - the dreaded whiteboard architect. While we don't want to foster that stereotype, it is important for an architect to be able to construct basic architectural diagrams. An architect must also be able to separate the wheat from the chaff eliminating those models that don't help tell the story while fully leveraging those that do.

In this workshop, we'll discuss the various diagrams at our disposal. We'll walk through a case study and as we go, we'll construct a set of diagrams that will help us effectively communicate our design. We'll talk about stakeholders and who might benefit from each typ of diagram. Additionally we'll discuss how to constructively review an architectural model.

Modeling for Architects

Thursday, 10:45 AM EST

In some organizations, architects are dismissed as people that draw box and arrow diagrams - the dreaded whiteboard architect. While we don't want to foster that stereotype, it is important for an architect to be able to construct basic architectural diagrams. An architect must also be able to separate the wheat from the chaff eliminating those models that don't help tell the story while fully leveraging those that do.

In this workshop, we'll discuss the various diagrams at our disposal. We'll walk through a case study and as we go, we'll construct a set of diagrams that will help us effectively communicate our design. We'll talk about stakeholders and who might benefit from each typ of diagram. Additionally we'll discuss how to constructively review an architectural model.

Building An Architecture Community

Thursday, 1:30 PM EST

How is your architecture group perceived in your organization? Be honest now…is it seen as a group of ivory tower dilettantes intent on saying NO while filling a whiteboard with boxes and arrows? Or is it seen as a key component in developing rock solid software? If it's the former, how do you shift things towards the latter? Even if everyone thinks the world of the architecture team, odds are you have more work than you can handle and a bunch of tech leads that may (or may not) be thinking of all the right ilities. How do we reach out to them, mentor them, and bring them in to the fold?

Building an architectural community can help grow architects, improve the architect group's standing in the organization and ensure projects are built to last. This talk will discuss the steps one group took to grow a community of practicing architects, recognizing that not all those doing architecture work have “architect” in their job titles.