CAST 2011 August 8 - 10, 2011

This year's Conference of the Association for Software Testing (CAST) promises to be another outstanding opportunity to learn about and contribute to context-driven software testing. Last year's conference was again critically acclaimed, and most attendees are returning for more. The 2011 conference is being held in Seattle, WA on August 8 - 10 (http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/conference/). The price is kept reasonable because the AST is a not-for-profit professional society dedicated to advancing the understanding of the science and practice of software testing (not dedicated first to making money).

Besides being reasonably priced, CAST is really unusual in the realm of software quality and software testing conferences because the participants actually confer. It's not just talking heads and experts telling you the way things are according to them. Half of the session time at CAST is devoted to facilitated questions and shared experiences from the floor. Rooms are available (and have been used) to continue discussions after a session is over. Networking time is scheduled into the conference and the culture encourages open, professional questioning and debate. New ideas, emerging topics, debates, and expressing contrary opinions are all encouraged because we learn so much more from our differences and failures than from similarities and successes.

It looks like CAST is going to have a full house this year, with the majority of seats already sold months before the conference. There are still seats available and time to register. I'm looking forward to meeting up with associates and making new friends.

CAST 2010, August 2-4

For each of the past 4 years the AST has put together a conference focused on software testing. This year CAST runs August 2-4 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It's not just any conference. It's really a different kind of conference because of the way we encourage dialog - actual conferring at a conference. It's not for everyone, only people who want to think about what they do and are willing to learn and share new ideas. The track sessions are not just talking heads dumping their messages unchallenged and unchallengeable. (E.g., the speakers only get 1/2 the time to speak - the rest of the time is for questions and counter-examples from the attendees. We designed CAST to allow open discussion of issues and real thinking to take place. Not as just a venue for consultants and vested interests to dump their messages and run.

What we did was design a unique conference for software testing:
o For Professional Testers (or those who want to be professional)
o Striving to advance and improve the science of software testing
o Opportunities for networking and dialog are encouraged by the conference format
o Many testing leaders with diverse (and often conflicting) views participate
o Debate and passionate discussion is encouraged
o Half the session time is set aside for moderated feedback, questions, and experience reports from participants
o There are spare rooms available if discussion/debate spills over past the end of the session)

I'd really like to encourage people to attend CAST. It's not your grandfather's software conference, though. Plan to meet with people, talk about testing, share your ideas, and hear unique viewpoints from other professionals.