About

Calling all Agilists… new and experienced!

Whether you call it Lean, Agile, Scrum, XP, Kanban, Scrumban, or any number of other names, many of us have discovered a new way of developing software (and other valuable endeavors) that can dramatically improve our productivity and joy at work. We believe in the empowerment that can be achieved for individuals within companies that have Agile cultures, team structures, tools and processes.

We started in San Francisco, CA in July of 2014. After over 3 dozen highly successful meetups, we are now opening up Agile Potlucks™ so that they can be hosted by everyone.

Who Should Attend?

We welcome everyone who has an interest in improving the productivity and well-being of their teams, regardless of industry. There are several experienced Agile coaches in our ranks. Whether you are a startup founder or a seasoned enterprise executive, a member of a long-running Scrum team or learning about Agile for the first time, we would be very glad to have you join us.

Why a potluck? Why not something “easier” to attend like Lean Coffee?

Because attending Lean Coffee is too “easy.” You can forge a deeper connection with someone when you’ve invested more in meeting them (just ask anyone who goes to Burning Man…).

Whose crazy idea is this?

The Agile Potluck™ was invented by Chris Gagné, an Agile Coach in San Francisco who helps everyone from startups to Fortune 100 companies create a more productive and joyful environment. Agile is his spiritual practice manifested at work. Through the gracious participation of gracious co-hosts and dozens of attendees, the potlucks keep getting better!

Reviews

Here are some of the reviews that we’ve received:

“Wow, this was a terrific event. Loved meeting everybody, talking Agile (including learning about NUMMI!), and enjoying great Paleo food! … This was a great networking event as it turned out…” Brian M. Wills,  Agile Coach

“Thanks for hosting this event Chris! I personally had a great time learning, dinning, and feeling honored to be part of a very refreshing and honest exchange ce soir!” — Alvin Du, Staff Engineer

“Lovely! What a wonderful evening. Truly one of my favorite experiences since moving to the city.” Brittany Fritsch, Project Manager

“We explored on how to best serve our clients/organizations :)” — Latha Swamy, Lean | Agile Transformation Leader and Executive Coach

“Great conversation, insightful discussion, and lots of insights.” — George Lawton, Technology Journalist

“We wined, we dined, we talked Agile, and had a great time!” — Lydia Sugarman, CEO/Founder of Venntive.com

The SF Bay Area Agile Potluck Series

The Agile Potluck started in San Francisco and you’re welcome to join us whenever you like! You can find out more about the San Francisco Bay Area Agile Potluck Series on our Meetup page. The Bay Area Agile Potluck Series is an official Scrum User Group, so you can earn SEUs every time you attend.

After over three years and over two dozen highly successful potlucks, we opened up the Bay Area Agile Potluck Series to five new hosts. They have all been wonderful participants of our potlucks in the past and know the spirit of it. Of course–as with all things Agile–they will inspect and adapt for their particular context. Please give a warm, inviting welcome to Edward, Dahm, Katherine, Michael and Tushar!

Start your own Agile Potluck™!

We’d like to invite anyone to start their own Agile Potluck™. Here are a few things we’ve found useful:

  1. Consider starting a group on Meetup.com, like ours: The Bay Area Agile Potluck™ Series. This makes it much easier to promote your potluck.
    • Ask your participants to provide their LinkedIn profile URL, company, title, and a brief introduction when they join the group so that others can get to know them better.
  2. Be prepared to accommodate a variety of food preferences. People’s diets can be vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, paleo, dairy-free, nut-free…
  3. Ask your participants to follow good potluck etiquette:
    • “Since this is a potluck, please bring something to share with several people. There are often leftovers, so bring a container if you’d like to take something home. When you RSVP, please add a comment indicating what you will bring. People typically bring an entree, side dish, desert, appetizer, or wine, cheese, and bread. Almost anything goes, just please bring something more substantial than a bottle of wine or bag of chips. Use your imagination!”
  4. Have a reasonable but explicit cancellation policy:
    • “This potluck is popular! If you RSVP “Yes” but cannot attend, please update your reservation at least 48 hours in advance to allow someone else to prepare a dish and attend.”
    • Be prepared to remove folks from the group if they habitually cancel late.
  5. Note anything about your cooking style or venue that may make it harder for some participants to attend:
    • “Dog Note: I have a very well-behaved pit bull named Ika. She is a total sweetheart. If you have a fear of dogs I can put her away for the dinner, but the only help I can provide for allergies is a dose of Claritin. She doesn’t shed much…”
  6. Ask your participants to help spread the word.

NB: We’ve trademarked the term Agile Potluck™ for the same reasons the Lean Coffee folks did: to discourage others from trying to mess with it or make a buck off of it. Feel free to use the mark without advance permission so long as you:

  • Actually host a potluck in which individuals bring dishes to share, network, and discuss Agile principles over a delicious meal together.
  • Provide a link to AgilePotluck.com to help spread the word.
  • Don’t charge anyone to attend or for food unless your space requires it (and then only at cost).
  • Don’t use the potluck for commercial purposes. Companies are welcome to sponsor their own Agile Potlucks™—even at their offices—just please don’t try to recruit, sell your product, or otherwise hype your company. This is a user group, not a marketing ploy.

Worldwide Potlucks

We welcome anyone and everyone to start an Agile Potluck™ anywhere in the world. Please reach out to us below to tell us about your potluck and we’ll add it to our site!

United States

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