The spotlight was on testing March 22 – 24, 2011 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville, Tennessee! This conference offered intriguing keynotes who not only entertained but inspired attendees in their daily challenges in testing. In addition, the conference offered 40 breakout sessions focused on all areas of testing – plus a day of pre-conference workshops gave attendees the option to go deep on the most pressing testing topics. Networking activities provided attendees with an opportunity to share their successes and failures with others in the industry who face the same hurdles every day.

Conference Program: Tracks, Sessions, Speakers & Presentations:

Track: Track: Test Strategy and Design

Before you begin testing on a project, your team should have a formal or informal test strategy. There are key elements you need to consider when formulating your test strategy, if not, you may be wasting valuable time, money and resources. In this track you will learn the strategic and practical approaches to software testing and test case design, based on the underlying software development methodology. This track includes topics related to developing a test strategy, test estimation, risk management and data management.

• 101: The Strategy Part of the Test Strategy
• 301: Data Management Strategy for Testing
• 404: Building a Culture of Quality at DaVita
• 501: DForce Testing: Rapidly Testing Applications Using Unconventional Strategies and Techniques
• 701: Testing Untestable Code
• 804: Test Effort Estimation: WAG or SWAG?
• 901: Stop Thinking About Risks, Manage Them

Track: Test Automation

Which tests can be automated? What tools and methodology can be used for automating functionality verification? Chances are these are some of the questions you are currently facing from your project manager. In this track you will learn how to implement an automation framework and how to organize test scripts for maintenance and reusability, as well as take away tips on how to make your automation framework more efficient. This track includes topics related to test automation architecture, continuous integration, agile automation, and what other tasks you need to perform after you designed your framework and scripted your test cases.

• 102: Automating the Automation
• 302: Test Automation with Cucumber
• 502: Think You’re Done Yet? Automation Tasks After Scripting is Done
• 702: Turbocharge Your Automated Tests with CI
• 902: Agile Test Automation

Track: Management Perspectives for Testers

Understanding the business side of testing is as important as amplifying our approaches and techniques. In this track you will learn how to effectively lead diverse test teams, communicate with stakeholders, and advocate for testing. This track includes topics related to building test teams, leading business testers, handling the challenges of remote teams, communicating the value of testing, and using metrics in the decision making process.

• 103: Becoming, Being and Building a Leader
• 303: Leading Business Testers
• 503: Deception Dangers of the Numbers Game
• 703: No Box Mixes: Building a Test Group from Scratch
• 903: Showing the Value of Testing
• 1004: A Remote Tester’s Perspective: Challenges and Solutions

Track: Performance Testing

Performance Testing is about collecting data on how applications perform to assist the development team and the stakeholders in making technical and business decisions related to performance risks. In this track you will learn practical skills, tools, and techniques for planning and executing effective performance tests. This track will include topics such as: performance testing virtualized systems, performance anti-patterns, how to quantify performance testing risk, all illustrated with practitioners’ actual experiences doing performance testing.

• 104: A Performance Testing Life Story: Conception to Headstone
• 203: Performance Testing Virtualized Systems
• 403: Where’s Waldo? Uncovering Hard to Find Application Killers
• 603: Wishful Thinking and Poor Planning: Load Testing in the Real World
• 803: Bean Counting for Propeller Heads: A Lesson on Risk-Based Performance Testing
• 1003: Did Homeaway Survive a Second Super Bowl Advertisement?

Track: Test Process

Test teams are constantly challenged to adjust by evolving project constraints. The ability to continually adapt testing processes to meet the changing needs of the project and the organization sets high performing teams apart. Presentations in this track will share methods for enabling teams to more effectively handle project challenges. This track includes real-world approaches to responding to change, leveraging testlists, testing in production, process improvement, and transforming organizations using metrics.

• 201:Test Process Improvement: Lessons Learned from the Trenches
• 401: My Crazy Plan for Responding to Change
• 601: Using Metrics to Change the Testing Organization
• 801: Testing in Production: Your Key to Engaging Customers
• 1001: Guided Exploratory Testing with Checklists and Testlists

Track: Test Environments

Gone are the days of a cookie cutter piece of software. Software runs in more places and is a cornerstone of more industries than ever before. Mobile devices, cloud computing, specialty medical devices such non-traditional environments pose their own testing challenges. Testing also has to accommodate specialty needs for different industries. This expansion is altering the way we exchange information and do business. In this track participants will learn testing techniques from real-world experiences in these different environments. Topics in this track will include cloud-based testing, testing in regulated industries, testing embedded software and testing mobile applications.

• 202: The Mobile Testing Challenges: Why Mobile Apps Need Real World Testing
• 402: Performance Testing: Putting Cloud Customers Back in the Driver’s Seat
• 602: Functional Mobile Testing
• 802: Adventures in Medical Device Testing
• 904: Testing for Healthcare: QA Challenges
• 1002: Better Search Engine Testing

Track: Agile Testing

More and more software development organizations are “going Agile”. This track will help participants understand how they can fit traditional test practices into an Agile environment as well as, explore real-world examples of testing projects and teams in varying degrees of Agile adoption. This track will include topics related to challenges in Agile testing, utilizing Agile testing techniques, coaching an Agile test team, and using games to internalize Agile principles and practices.

• 204: Agile Testing: Facing the Challenges Beyond the Easy Contexts
• 304: Adapting Conventional Testing Strategies for an Agile Environment
• 504: Agile Games and Thinking Differently to Support Agile Testing
• 604: Thriving as an Agile Test Manager
• 704: Agile in a Waterfall World

Track: Keynote Addresses:

• Keynote 1: Notes From a Testing Coach
• Keynote 2: How to Win an Unfair Fight: Influencing People You Don’t Have Authority Over
• Keynote 3: Top 10 Tech Trends and How They Are Altering the Testing Landscape
• Keynote 4: Making The Right Choice: Leading Successful Teams During Turbulent Times
• Keynote 5: Rising to the Challenge

Track: Pre-Conference Workshop

Get more out of the conference experience.  Pre-Conference workshops are valuable in-depth educational sessions.  Register now to take advantage of bundled discounts and educational offerings all in one location.

• Pre-1: Business of Testing
• Pre-2: Arming Yourself for Performance Testing: War Stories from the Trenches
• Pre-3: Automation and the Deployment Pipeline
• Pre-4: An Agile Tester’s Guide to Navigating an Iteration
• Pre-5: Creating and Leading a High Performance Test Organization