At this year’s P-Camp, I learned a lot of things. Some about Product Management. Some about people. And some some about organization. Here’s a short list of my observations and learnings. If you are on twitter, search for the tag #pcamp09 or #pcamp to see what other folks thought. I’ll be back next time.
- Even unorganized events need organizing (thanks, Rich and team)
- Discussions serve a different purpose than presentations
- Topics are just the starting point
- Just like in the real world, squeaky wheels get the grease
- Equal access to participation is not equal participation
- Product Managers sometimes have to act like Sales to get their message out
- Labels, definitions, and functional inconsistencies continue to be the bane of Product Managers’ growth as a profession
- Every product has problems; every Product Manager has problems; sometimes they overlap, sometimes they don’t
- User Interface == User Experience
- Requirements are not the answer
- Product Managers are friendly, if you say hello first
- It’s hard to twitter and pay attention
- Product Management is a “renaissance” role
- Agile is a good tool, but not salvation
- Product Managers are part of the problem
- Product Managers fill the voids left by other roles
- Others fill voids left undone by Product Managers
- Product Management is political
- Product Managers, as a general rule, spend too much time NOT listening to the market
For more information about this P-Camp, check out the Facebook group, LinkedIn group and the wiki.
Thanks to all who planned, staffed, and participated.