• 6:00 - 6:15pm: Networking with other NWA business analysis practitioners
• 6:15 - 6:20pm: President’s Box
• 6:20 - 6:35pm: Tools and Techniques Spotlight – Context Diagram
• 6:35 - 7:30pm:“Spring Forward with your Business Analysis Career

 
Synopsis:
“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?” –Percy Bysshe Shelley
 
Have you ever had a series of events that made you feel like you were stuck in a long, cold winter? Where you just felt like cocooning yourself in blankets and forgetting about the world for a while? The good news is, just like winter, those times will eventually come to an end. And the better news is, you can learn strategies to help the spring arrive early, allowing you to emerge with enthusiasm and zeal! Join Laura Robey as she shares insights from a presentation at the 2017 Building Business Capability conference on overcoming burnout, and get you ready for spring renewal!
 
About the Presenter – Laura Robey:
Laura Robey has been performing business analysis in one form or another for the world's largest retailer for over 15 years. She started her career with Walmart as a programmer in HR systems, working on a variety of projects including bonus and recruiting/hiring software applications. Later, she transitioned to the business analyst role and continued performing analysis work on projects within the compensation, payroll, and diversity domains, as well as the Veterans Welcome Home Commitment initiative. She has a passion for visual models in business requirements and has incorporated them wherever she could, ever since one of her business partners asked her to "draw me a picture..." in one of their sessions.

Her current role at Walmart is a manager within the Global Compensation organization, where she is responsible for the calculation and on-time payment of the annual incentive for over 225,000 corporate and field associates. She now serves as a product owner for the compensation domain, prioritizing work effort to achieve the greatest business value.

Additionally, Laura served the Walmart BA community via the Business Analysis Center of Excellence (BACE), where she mentored associates within the organization and initiated the BA "Power Hour" internal knowledge sharing program. As part of her continuing dedication to the BA profession, Laura has served the local IIBA community of northwest Arkansas as the Vice President of Communications of the NWA IIBA chapter since January 2014. She was recently elected to serve as President of the NWA IIBA chapter, beginning in January 2018. She has a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems and achieved the Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP®) designation from the International Institute for Business Analysis (IIBA®) in April 2014.

In her free time, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and reading murder mysteries, as well as creating educational games for her coworkers.