Michael Vizdos

Events · Public sector agility

Commonwealth Agency Agile Conference logo

Commonwealth Agency Agile Conference (CAAC)

A free, online, three-hour morning conference on agile in state government, hosted by the Virginia State Police for Commonwealth of Virginia agencies since October 2020. It is built for Virginia agency teams, and anyone who wants to learn how agile works at the state level is welcome. Every recorded conference is below.

Next conference

CAAC 19: Engaging the Business and Team: Creating Buy-In for the Agile Method From the Ground Up

Friday, November 13, 2026, 9:00 a.m. to noon Eastern, online

Register on the Virginia State Police site ↗ · Event details

About these pages

Curated and reviewed by Michael Vizdos, on the volunteer CAAC planning team since CAAC 4 and a speaker at CAAC 5, 10, 11, 17 and 18. Summaries and takeaways are drafted with AI (Claude) from the recording's captions and reviewed by Michael Vizdos before publishing (how I use AI). Last reviewed October 20, 2026.

This is not the official conference site; the Virginia State Police hosts CAAC (vsp.virginia.gov/caac). These pages are an independent companion.

How a CAAC morning runs

  1. Welcome and agenda. The host sets the theme and opens the retrospective board for the morning.
  2. Session 1. A talk, a panel of agency leaders, or an agency case study.
  3. Break, then Session 2. Often team-level practice: Scrum Masters, Product Owners and developers from the agencies.
  4. Retrospective. Attendees say what worked and what to change, and that feeds the next conference.

A model other states can copy

What the organizers describe on the recordings, and what another state or city could reuse:

  • A volunteer planning team drawn from several state agencies.
  • A topic roadmap planned a year ahead, so each conference builds on the last.
  • Agency staff on stage next to invited outside practitioners.
  • A retrospective at the end of every conference, and the feedback shapes the next one.
  • Free to attend, online, and recorded for anyone to watch later.

Michael Vizdos has taken part as a volunteer since 2021. Agency details and registration live on the Virginia State Police CAAC page ↗.

Recordings: CAAC 8 to 18

The Virginia State Police channel on YouTube ↗

Origins: CAAC 1 to 7, before the recordings

The early conferences were not recorded publicly. Their programs come from the planning team's records.

  1. CAAC 1 · October 29, 2020 · the first conference
    • VSP's Agile Journey : Stephen Manley (Virginia State Police)
    • Agile Tools : Barbara Bronson (Virginia Department of Transportation), Elizabeth Conner (Virginia State Police), Julie Wilson (Virginia State Police)
    • Estimating in Agile to Support Planning : Barbara Phillips (Virginia State Police), Tim Roesch (Agile coach)
  2. CAAC 2 · January 29, 2021
    • Agile Journeys: VDOT and DMV : September Sickinger (Virginia Department of Transportation), Matt Ely (Virginia DMV), Ajay Kadyan (Virginia DMV)
    • Panel Discussion: Audience Questions about Agile : September Sickinger (Virginia Department of Transportation), Matt Ely (Virginia DMV), Ajay Kadyan (Virginia DMV), Sandra Magruder (Virginia Department of Taxation), Tim Roesch (Agile coach)
  3. CAAC 3 · April 30, 2021
    • Engagement: I Don't Care and You Can't Make Me (a skit) Performed by VSP staff.
    • Remote Work Best Practices : Veena Areti (Virginia Department of Transportation), Sandra Magruder (Virginia Department of Taxation), Sharmila Thokala (Virginia State Police)
    • DWR's Agile Journey : Nick Minneti (Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources)
  4. CAAC 4 · July 30, 2021 · The first hybrid seminar
    • The Scrum Guide and an Intro to the Sprint : Stephen Manley (Virginia State Police)
    • Daily Scrum : Elizabeth Conner (Virginia State Police)
    • Sprint Planning : September Sickinger (Virginia Department of Transportation)
    • Sprint Reviews : Sandra Magruder (Virginia Department of Taxation)
    • Retrospectives : Barbara Phillips (Virginia State Police)
  5. CAAC 5 · November 5, 2021 · The second hybrid seminar · Michael spoke
    • Story Writing : Nick Minneti (Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources)
    • Agile Roles and Responsibilities: Mind the Gap : Michael Vizdos
  6. CAAC 6 · February 25, 2022
    • A Day in the Life of a Product Owner : Catherine Day (Virginia State Police), Brian Lacks (Virginia State Police)
    • My Journey as a Product Owner : Ariel Cooper (Virginia Department of Taxation)
  7. CAAC 7 · June 24, 2022
    • Panel Discussion: Agile and VITA: Mixing Oil and Water : Linda Bell-Sinclair (VITA Project Management Division), Doreen Richmond (Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources), Tim Roesch (Agile coach)
    • The Future of Agile in the Commonwealth : Bob Osmond (VITA (Commonwealth CIO))

Questions about CAAC

Who can attend?

CAAC is built for Commonwealth of Virginia agency teams. Anyone who wants to learn how agile works at the state level is welcome, and the recordings are public.

What does it cost?

Nothing. CAAC is free to attend, and the recordings are free to watch.

How often does it run?

Usually three times a year. The most recent recorded one, CAAC 18, was Friday, July 17, 2026. CAAC 19 is Friday, November 13, 2026.

How do I register?

Register for CAAC 19 on the Virginia State Police registration page ↗.

Where are the recordings?

On the Virginia State Police YouTube channel ↗, for CAAC 8 to 18. Each conference's page here links to its recording and adds session summaries and takeaways.

Is this the official conference site?

No. The Virginia State Police hosts CAAC, and its page is vsp.virginia.gov/caac ↗. This is an independent companion site by Michael Vizdos, who volunteers on the planning team.