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ORIGINS

The Silicon Valley VPE/CTO Community of Practice (CoP) was founded in May 2003 by Stephen McHenry and Al Pappas, two Silicon Valley executives with substantial high technology business experience and knowledge. They saw the need for a confidential setting in which members could share ideas, request help, get trusted recommendations, and network with each other in ways much deeper than most typical Silicon Valley evening events.

ABOUT OUR GROUP

The CoP is a membership-based organization that holds monthly meetings to create a forum where members can learn about current trends in fields such as venture financing, employment law, patent litigation, etc. We have had talks from Barry Posner (leadership), Richard Curiale (employment law), Steve McConnell (software productivity), Celeste Matarazzo (cybersecurity), Ed Lu (former astronaut), Tony Wasserman (software engineering practices), Winston Copeland (Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.)), and Ken Thompson & Rob Pike (origins of the Go Language), among many others.

These meetings, which take place in a "cone of slience" atmosphere, also offer a confidential environment in which executives can discuss the featured presentation, or bring up their problems and issues, and get knowledgeable advice from other very senior engineering executives on how to deal with them - all without the worry that what is said will leave the room. (Note: this is more restrictive than "The Chatham House Rule" - which is commonly used in other venues.)

In addition to the meetings, members also gather after the meeting for a relaxed dinner and conversation. It is here that the deepest relationships are formed as people share personal experiences along with work experiences.

ABOUT COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

Communities of Practice are springing up in all locales, with one common purpose - to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and experience. Each is a group of peers that come together to ask questions, get answers and explore solutions together.

ABOUT THE FOUNDERS

Stephen McHenry has managed engineering organizations for over 30 years - most recently as SVP Engineering at Symantec. Prior to that, he was at Google, Netflix and several Silicon Valley startups. (detailed bio here)

Al Pappas has managed software development and IT organizations for over 30 years. His background includes CIO of Hotwire, Portal, Verifone (acuired by HP) and Adobe. He also has managed engineering development organizations at Adobe, Apple, Schlumberger and MSI Data Corporation. (detailed bio here)

 

                   
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