Would people be interested in a 'Masterclass' #ArchiMate?

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As people who have read this blog  may know: I have a bit of serious experience with ArchiMate. Not just modelling:  I’ve written a reasonably well-received book about it. It’s basic explanation was clear enough for The Open Group to like to have it as a White Paper.

Now, I just love teaching. Not just in writing (as you may have noticed), but also in the flesh. Especially the way you can shape interaction and take people along is fun. If teaching turns into `collectively investigating’ the experience is not only most effective but also the most enjoyable.

At the company where I am Lead (Enterprise) Architect, we have a 75,000 elements and relations modelling setup in ArchiMate, and that is made possible only by designing the right patterns to use. That experience and the subtleties that lay behind it are generally too deep down for the basic training that beginners need.

But I guess there are people who already have become rather proficient at modelling ArchiMate and who might be interested to delve more deeply in the use of the language. These are the people I was thinking about when I thought it could be both fun and profitable to get a small group of experienced ArchiMate modellers together for a ‘Masterclass’ ArchiMate that I could organise as a special event. It would not be something to do all the time (I just can’t take that kind of time off work) but just a single event for a group of minimally 9 and maximally 16 people.

For the class to be maximally useful to the participants: all participants must have decent ArchiMate modelling experience already. It is not just learning from the teacher: in the best classes, participants will also continuously challenge each other (and the teacher) and learn from each other.

Organising a single world-wide event for a few people will be difficult. It would work roughly like this:

  • Date and location will be set in advance so you can check if you can come before entering.
  • You would have to pay a relatively small sum (€100) in advance to register (first come, first served, but see below). After 30 entrants, no more can enter.
  • The first 20 entrants would receive one or a few specially crafted modelling exercises and asked to pay for the class. The rest of the entrants is put on the reserve list.
  • You would have to send your answer (set of views) in before a certain date.
  • If people drop out, the reserve list will be used to ask people to join up if  the group becomes smaller that 16.
  • If there are enough (minimally 9) good entries (with enough variability/quality/depth) at a certain date, the ‘Masterclass Day’ will be held, but only those that created a good entry will be eligible for participation.
  • If you drop out before a certain date or if your entry is deemed too limited (either in quality or quantity) for the ‘Masterclass Day’ at that date, you will be refunded everything you have paid except the initial small sum. You will get personal feedback on your entry, though.
  • People on the reserve list who are not invited to the masterclass get a full refund of everything they have paid.
  • If there are insufficient entries to base the day on, all entrants will receive all of their paid money back and the ‘Masterclass Day’ will be canceled.
  • The class will be held in English and the entries will have to be in English.

The subject will be limited to modelling the Enterprise (Core ArchiMate and the use of the Motivation Extension for aspects of the Enterprise not covered by Core ArchiMate), and not cover modelling meta-levels of Enterprise Architecture (e.g. Architecture Principles, Gaps & Plateaus, etc.). Only ArchiMate experience is required, no other experience (e.g. TOGAF or any other EA Framework, or any other modelling language such as UML or BPMN) is required. I might cover connecting BPMN and ArchiMate during a ‘passive’ period of the class, though.

This is not a ‘one day’ course, even if it may seem so at first glance. Participants will have to spend a serious amount of time in advance to create their entries. During that period, I will be available for questions via email. I will review each individual entry and all participants will get a booklet with all entries. Then, on the ‘third day’, the participants will meet and (among other things, like getting presentations by me) discuss their results with each other and me. This is intended as a unique event, where you will meet your peers and have advanced discussions, something that is otherwise probably impossible to do as these peers are still pretty thin on the ground. Cost of participation will be €1500.

It seems to me a first opportunity to organise the ‘third day’ this would be on 24 October 2013 in London. This is the day that follows the The Open Group London 2013 conference.

If you would like to participate in this unique event, I’d like you to mail me at masterclass@masteringarchimate.com. If enough people want to participate, I can set up this event in collaboration with The Open Group (who have reacted positively to the idea) and it will then be held at the same venue as the TOG conference.