Entries from March 2010 ↓

productcamp.org is your definitive source for all product camps.

There are six eight ProductCamps in the near future. While you are here, why not check out my events (or subscribe to the RSS feed) page for the most comprehensive list of product management events available.

In the spirit of BarCamp, ProductCamp is a collaborative, user organized unconference, focused on Product Management and Marketing. At ProductCamp there are no “attendees”, since everyone is an active participant in some way: presenting, leading a roundtable discussion, sharing their experiences, helping with logistics, securing sponsorship, setting up wifi, or volunteering. ProductCamp is a great opportunity for you to learn, share, and network with professionals involved in the Product Management, Marketing, and Development.

Having attended six (!) ProductCamps, I can attest to the content and value you will receive from attending. I also encourage you to participate and volunteer.

ProductCamp RTP (Raleigh, NC)
Date: Saturday, May 22, 2010
Location: Cambria Suites at RDU Airport
URL: http://barcamp.org/ProductCampRTP

ProductCamp Boston (Boston, MA)
Date: Saturday, May 22, 2010
Location: The Microsoft New England Research & Development Center
URL: http://barcamp.org/ProductCampBoston

ProductCamp Toronto (Toronto, ON)
Date: Saturday, May 30, 2010
Location: TBD
URL: http://www.productcamp.org/toronto/
Twitter Hashtag: #pct2010

ProductCamp Berlin (Berlin, Germany)
Date: June 5th, 2010
Location: ZANOX.de AG, Stralauer Allee 2, 10245 Berlin
URL: http://www.productcampberlin.org/
Twitter Hashtag: #pcampb

ProductCamp London (London, England)
Date: Saturday, June 19th, 2010
Location: eBay/PayPal, Whittaker House, 2 Whittaker Avenue, Richmond, TW9 1EH
URL: http://www.productcamplondon.com/
Twitter Hashtag: #PCampLDN

ProductCamp Chicago (Chicago, IL)
Date: June 19, 2010
Location: Illinois Technology Association
URL: http://productcampchicago.eventbrite.com/; http://www.pcampchicago.org
Twitter Hashtag: #pcampchi

ProductCamp Melbourne (Melbourne , Victoria, Australia)
Date: Saturday, July 03, 2010
Location: TBD
URL: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/633963201
Twitter Hashtag: #pcampmelb

ProductCamp Atlanta (Atlanta, GA)
Date: August 21, 2010
Location: TBD
URL: http://pcampatl.com/
Twitter Hashtag: #pcampatl

ProductCamp DC (Washington, DC)
Date: TBD
Location: TBD
URL: http://productcampdc.eventbrite.com/
Twitter Hashtag: #pcampdc

ProductCamp Montreal (Montreal, QC)
Date: TBD
Location: TBD
URL: http://barcamp.org/ProductCampMontreal
Twitter Hashtag: TBD

ProductCamp Dallas (Dallas, TX)
Date: TBD
Location: TBD
URL: TBD
Twitter Hashtag: TBD

ProductCamp Austin Spring 2010 (Austin, TX)
Date: Saturday, March 27th, 2010
Location: AT&T Conference Center on the University of Texas campus
URL: http://www.barcamp.org/ProductCampAustinSpring2010
Twitter Hashtag: #pca10

See Winter / Spring 2010 ProductCamp Annoucements and Summer / Fall 2010 ProductCamp Annoucements for previous ProductCamp announcements.

Have a Marketing, Product Development, Product Management, Innovation or other related event you want to promote? Contact me and I’ll add it to the growing list for others to see. Also, why not subscribe to the events feed. Tell other people about these events.

I received another request in my “suggest a post” area (thanks!).

The use of the Product Road Map for internal planning vs in support of the selling process?

I am going to make one assumption that the author of this suggestion is referring to the external sales selling process and not an internal selling process (i.e getting roadmap buy-in).

In my opinion and I think everyone else will agree, having a roadmap for internal planning purposes is not an option. It is mandatory! The roadmap for selling is generally frowned upon.

Roadmap as a Planning Tool

Some of this is rehashed from previous posts, but your roadmap is your strategy. It is your long-term plan for success. It’ll contain the details of your value network, vision and mission statement.

I know, I know. Typically your roadmap is a power-point presentation or a spreadsheet, but it is time to mature that process. Your roadmap should contain descriptions of your partners, your buyer and user personas. It should contain describe your vision and the plan to to achieve that vision. (Unless you are a single product company you will want to provide some additional commentary on how this vision helps the company achieve their vision.) Typically, this plan is described with your release plan for the short term (less than 12 months), a feature plan for the longer term (more than 12 months) and any business development plans. Your mission statement defines your product’s purpose and primary objectives. Its prime function is internal – to define the key measure or measures of the product’s success. I have written in the past about metrics. Everything should be written using a language that shows alignment across your value network, vision and mission.

As you can see, the content is driven from the planning for your product. The nice thing about using a roadmap, is that it allows you to bucket all your strategic thinking into one document.

Roadmap as a Sales Tool

Now despite the comment above that using your roadmap as a sales tool, you will sometimes not have a choice. Prospects may want to see your vision. You’ll need to make everyone aware the risks with showing prospects the roadmap. It could delay the sales cycle if they wait for future features or set poor expectations if they believe the roadmap will not change (and it will change). There is nothing wrong with sharing your vision, but the appropriate expectations need to be set for the Sales team and the prospect.

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