Lean Kanban Inc. is Anderson's company for the Kanban conference business. It originated as "Lean Kanban University Inc.," a joint venture established in 2011 with Alan Shalloway (of Net Objectives), and was restructured in 2013 as Lean Kanban Inc. after the joint venture ended. The company runs the Lean Kanban conference series worldwide — annual events held in North America, Europe, and other regions that serve as the primary professional gathering for the Kanban community.
Origins and the first conference
The Lean Kanban conference series began with the first-lean-kanban-conference in Miami, FL in May 2009, before Lean Kanban Inc. was formally established. That event — 66 attendees, keynotes from Anderson, Dean Leffingwell, and Alan Shalloway — demonstrated sufficient community interest to justify an ongoing conference series. The institutionalization of the series through the joint venture in 2011 provided the organizational structure to run events in multiple cities and countries.
Relationship to Kanban University
Lean Kanban Inc. and kanban-university are distinct entities serving different functions. Lean Kanban Inc. organizes the conference events — the Lean Kanban North America (LKNA), Lean Kanban Central Europe (LKCE), and other regional conferences — while kanban-university accredits trainers and certifies practitioners. The two organizations together constitute the institutional infrastructure of the Kanban Method community: conferences for community building and knowledge sharing, and a training organization for standardization and certification.
The Lean Kanban conference series
The conferences have been significant venues for the method's evolution: new concepts (STATIK, the Kanban Maturity Model, Enterprise Services Planning) were often first presented publicly at Lean Kanban events before being documented in books or formal publications. The community-building-era was largely shaped by these gatherings, which created a community of practice that extended the method beyond Anderson's direct influence.