Rebel Scrum: Scrum Day 2023: Madison’s Premier Agile Conference Celebrates the Power of Teamwork

Madison, Wisconsin – May 30, 2023 – Scrum enthusiasts and Agile practitioners from across the region will gather on September 14, 2023, for Madison’s highly anticipated inaugural Scrum Day conference. The one-day event, held at the Alliant Energy Center, promises to be an immersive experience focused on the theme, “Scrum is a team sport.”

Scrum, the most popular Agile framework in use today, has revolutionized how teams approach complex projects, ranging from IT product development to human resources management. Scrum Day provides an invaluable opportunity for professionals and organizations to deepen their understanding of Scrum principles and techniques, fostering continuous improvement and collaborative success.

“Scrum is a team sport,” emphasizes the core message of this year’s event. The framework’s effectiveness lies in its ability to harness the collective intelligence and effort of the team. Scrum Day 2023 aims to remind attendees of the crucial role teamwork plays in implementing Scrum successfully and delivering outstanding results.

“The event’s theme reflects the essence of Scrum,” said Mary Iqbal, the event organizer. “By showcasing the power of collaboration, we aim to inspire participants to embrace the ‘team sport’ mentality, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and excellence within their organizations.”

Scrum Day 2023 will feature an impressive lineup of renowned speakers, industry experts, and experienced Agile practitioners. Attendees can look forward to engaging keynote presentations, enlightening panel discussions, interactive workshops, and networking opportunities. The conference will provide a platform for knowledge sharing, exchanging best practices, and gaining insights into the latest trends and developments in the Agile and Scrum landscape.

To further enhance the Scrum Day experience, the conference warmly welcomes exhibitors to showcase their businesses and demonstrate support for local businesses while connecting with influential Agile leaders. As an exhibitor, your business will play a vital role in the event, with booth space located right in the main hall. Scheduled time for games and activities that encourage engagement with exhibitors will ensure that your organization remains front and center throughout the conference.

“We believe that exhibitors are a valuable part of Scrum Day, and their presence adds to the overall experience,” said Iqbal. “We invite businesses to join us, connect with our attendees, and showcase their products and services to a highly influential audience.”

Interested exhibitors are encouraged to visit the official conference website at www.ScrumDay.org to sign up and secure their booth space. Early registration is recommended as availability is limited.

Event Details:

Date: September 14, 2023

Venue: Alliant Energy Center

Address: 1919 Alliant Energy Center Way, Madison, WI 53713

About Scrum Day

Scrum Day is an annual conference dedicated to the Agile methodology’s Scrum framework. The event brings together Agile practitioners, industry leaders, and enthusiasts to share knowledge, exchange ideas, and promote continuous improvement. With a focus on teamwork and collaboration, Scrum Day serves as a catalyst for personal and professional growth in the Agile community.

Contact:
Mary Iqbal
Event Organizer, Scrum Day 2023
Phone: 414-687-6279
Email: mary@scrumday.org

Wisco Barbell Club’s Summer Kickoff Challenge

Our Summer Kickoff Challenge is the perfect way to jumpstart your fitness routine! Join us for 3 HIIT classes a week for 6 weeks and pay HALF OFF the standard price. Better yet, if you attend all 18 classes, you will win 1-month of a Silver Membership. That’s a $350 value for only $99!

Wisco Barbell Club’s HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) classes are strength-based sessions that incorporate pre-set work times followed by shorter rest periods with a different primary focus on a daily basis. You will be building strength and improving your conditioning with these classes.

Co-Owner and Lead Trainer, Dakota Selje, tailors each class to your current fitness level (adapting for any physical limitations) making it an unique experience for everyone training in the same hour-long session. Whether you’re just starting out, or have been training all your life, Dakota adjusts the weight and reps for each person to challenge themselves equally.

“Dakota as a coach helped tremendously to achieve where I wanted to be with my first bodybuilding experience; Not only was he informative, he was straight forward, focused, and honest. He covered dieting and training yet when it came down to a week out he even helped with all the prep.” – Elijah, Current Member

Challenge: $99 for 3 HIIT classes a week for 6 weeks. Get a perfect attendance and win 1 month free of Silver Membership for unlimited HIIT classes.

Rules: Must take HIIT classes 3x a week for 6 weeks (or 18 classes total) to win the free month.

Restrictions: Only 5 spots available per month. Can start the consecutive 6-weeks anytime between June 1st – August 31st. For new Silver Members only. 

How to sign up: Go to wiscobarbell.club/challenge to sign up right away or schedule a tour to view the space.

Wisconsin Union: Free Outdoor Movies, Including Surprise Sunday Selection, to Bring the Cinema to Memorial Union Terrace

MADISON – This summer is bringing a beloved tradition back to the Memorial Union Terrace but with an exciting new addition. The Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Film Committee’s 2023 Lakeside Cinema series will bring free outdoor movies of many genres to the Terrace each Monday, with a select group of Sunday titles to be announced just before each screening to make for some summer surprises.

The Sunday series, titled Secret Sunday Scaries, features an array of spooky-themed films whose titles will be hinted at and then announced on the WUD Film Committee’s Instagram and Facebook accounts on the Thursday afternoons before each screening. Each screening begins at 9 p.m. Secret Sunday Scaries dates and film ratings are as follows:

• June 11, PG-13
• June 25, R
• July 9, PG-13 
• July 23, unrated
• Aug. 6, G

Along with these select Sunday screenings, from May 29-Sept. 4, patrons can enjoy free Lakeside Cinema films every Monday evening at 9 p.m. on the UW Credit Union Terrace Stage. The scheduled dates, titles and film ratings are as follows:

• May 29: “Good Burger,” PG
• June 5: “Booksmart,” R
• June 12: “But I’m a Cheerleader,” R
• June 19: “Black Panther,” PG-13
• June 26: “Men in Black,” PG-13
• July 3: “High School Musical 2,” G
• July 10: “Grown Ups,” PG-13
• July 17: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” PG-13
• July 24: “The Big Lebowski,” R
• July 31: “The Princess and the Frog,” G
• Aug. 7: “Cars,” G
• Aug. 14: “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” PG-13
• Aug. 21: “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” PG
• Aug. 28: “Muppet Treasure Island,” G
• Sept. 4: “Pitch Perfect 2,” PG-13

“Our Terrace screenings celebrate Madison as a city and as a community,” said Heewone Lim, WUD summer film coordinator and University of Wisconsin–Madison student. “In a regular theater viewing experience, you wouldn’t be able to sit in our iconic sunburst Terrace chairs or split a cup of ice cream from the Daily Scoop with friends and family. With Lakeside Cinema, we’re able to provide a space where our audience can make and share memories, creating something that the entire Madison community and visitors can enjoy.”

Filmgoers can enjoy the many dining options found at Memorial Union and the Terrace, including hot dogs, chips, and sodas for $1 each – a special deal exclusively offered on Lakeside Cinema Sunday and Monday screening evenings at the on-site Brat Stand starting at 8 p.m.

Terrace seating at film showings is available on a first come, first served basis. In the event of inclement weather, the Wisconsin Union team will aim to host the screening in der Rathskeller in Memorial Union. 

In addition to the summer screenings on the Terrace, the WUD Film Committee presents free film showings in the Marquee at Union South each fall and spring and is one of the 11 student-run committees and six clubs that make up WUD. These WUD student leaders create more than 1,000 free or low-cost events each year while cultivating real-world leadership skills. Many of them receive academic stipends funded by Wisconsin Union operating revenue and donations for their work. 

The Union’s free and low-cost events, as well as student leadership opportunities, are made possible through donations to the Wisconsin Union, purchases at the Union’s dining options and online store, as well as Wisconsin Union membership purchases. For a full lineup of Terrace season events, visit terracesummer.com.

StartingBlock Madison: Deadline Tomorrow (May 26) to Apply for Madworks Mission Based Accelerator

The Madworks Mission Based Accelerator, Summer 2023, runs every Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from June 14 through August 17. (Taking a break the week of July 4).

In order to learn more about you and your company, we’d like you to complete the Mission Based Accelerator application. Once we receive your application, we will be in touch to discuss next steps.

Learn more information here.

Apply here.

If you have questions, contact Leslie Weissburg at leslie@startingblockmadison.org.

Outcomes looking good for WPS midway through Depression Screening Innovation Challenge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
DeAnne Boegli
Vice President of Communications
608-512-5754
deanne.boegli@wpsic.com

Outcomes looking good for WPS midway through Depression Screening Innovation Challenge

MADISON, Wis.—May 23, 2023—At WPS Health Solutions, the company’s WPS Government Health Administrators division has reached the halfway point in its 12-month Depression Screening Innovation Challenge Grant project issued by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Midway through the project, the outcomes of the division’s efforts look promising. 

In November 2019, CMS issued a challenge to Medicare Administrative Contractors. WPS accepted the challenge and is now in its third year of working toward increasing the use of chronic care management and depression screening for Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Jurisdictions 5 and 8. Based upon success in years one and two, WPS added combating health inequities to the project’s scope.    

The Innovation Challenge project team is led by the WPS Government Health Administrators Medical Director, Dr. Joelle Vlahakis. Her team includes data analysts, educators, billing specialists, and a population health specialist.  

“Innovation requires the willingness to recognize when an idea needs to be altered or abandoned in favor of a better idea, and we are up for the challenge,” Vlahakis said. “Our priorities align with CMS’ priorities, and we have a special interest in areas where health care disparities are high.”  

The company’s efforts in the first and second years of the depression screening pilot were successful, and WPS saw a 13% increase in screening in Jurisdiction 8 in the first year alone. Increased depression screening appears to have lowered the rate of suicide attempts in both jurisdictions in the project’s first two years.  

“When patients enroll in chronic care management, their care is focused on what makes their life better. Care is less fragmented and dependent upon the use of emergency rooms or hospital stays. And providers of the care report that they can spend more time seeing patients face to face and less time managing crises,” Vlahakis said. 

Building on its success, WPS is using the Area Deprivation Index—a measure for the theoretical domains of income, education, employment, and housing quality—to combat health inequities in Jurisdiction 8. The ADI and beneficiaries’ ages are potent predictors of the risk of depression. ADI has been the foundation for WPS identifying places where social determinants of health are most likely to contribute to health inequities. 

“Our project team has found that connecting with organizations, societies, and other large groups has been productive and instructive. Aligning ourselves with such stakeholders, especially those whose purpose is to address the social drivers of health, has been especially compelling and useful. What we did not expect is that our one-on-one conversations with individual providers, clinicians, administrators, or even beneficiaries would also shape our approach to the project,” Vlahakis explained. 

The Innovation Challenge core work group is divided into two smaller groups. One work group focuses on the data and its analysis, and the other on educational outreach.   

Through WPS’ Provider Outreach and Education Department, the team educates practitioners, clinicians, and their support teams through webinars, a YouTube channel, and in-person events. Audiences vary (support staff, clinical staff, and providers, for example), and discussions are tailored to the skills demanded of each role. The team has worked to create a platform for high-quality education that is simple and accessible.  

Data analysis is another driving force in what WPS is accomplishing. Employees are examining and targeting their efforts based on three major points of data: 

1. Health care providers with a low utilization rate of depression screening  
2. Health care providers with the greatest number of beneficiaries in their jurisdiction  
3. An ADI score that falls greater than the 70th percentile where the risk of depression is highest 

WPS reported the following for Jurisdiction 8:  

• Based on 2021 data, WPS has established an average monthly goal of 7,341 depression screening claims. According to Medicare claims data from September 2022 to February 2023, WPS averaged 7,641 claims per month, which is 300 claims above the goal and is a 9% increase from 2021. 
• To analyze the efficacy of the educational intervention program on the most at-risk Medicare beneficiaries, WPS is tracking the primary benchmark of a 2.5% increase in depression screening claim count for beneficiaries who live in the most at-risk neighborhoods. Based on 2021 data, WPS has established an average monthly goal of 2,444 depression screening claims. In the second quarter of year three, WPS averaged 2,366 claims per month, which is 78 claims below the goal and a 1% decrease from 2021.  
• To analyze the downstream impacts of its educational intervention program, WPS is tracking the primary benchmark of a 5% reduction in the number of claims featuring a suicide attempt diagnosis. Based on 2021 data, WPS established a monthly goal of 82 claims featuring a suicide attempt. In the second quarter of year three, WPS averaged 51 claims per month, which is 31 claims beyond the goal and equates to a 41% decrease from 2021. 

About WPS Health Solutions^®

Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS Health Solutions), founded in 1946, is a nationally regarded benefits administrator for a variety of U.S. government programs and a leading not-for-profit health insurer in Wisconsin. WPS Health Solutions serves active-duty and retired military personnel, seniors, individuals, and families in Wisconsin, across the U.S., and around the world. WPS Health Solutions, headquartered in Madison, Wis., has more than 2,600 employees. Within the enterprise, there are three divisions: WPS Government Health Administrators, WPS Military and Veterans Health, and WPS Health Insurance/WPS Health Plan/EPIC Specialty Benefits. For more information, please visit wpshealthsolutions.com.

About WPS Government Health Administrators^®

As a large contractor for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, WPS Government Health Administrators, a division of Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation, manages Medicare Part A and Part B benefits for more than 7 million seniors in multiple states.

WPS Government Health Administrators is headquartered in Madison, Wis. Visit the WPS Health Solutions About page for more information.

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