A SIGiST in Review

SIGiST – Special Interest Group in Software Testing

Many of you would have heard of these, or similar events where the aim is to bring together the local community of testers and allow them to network, listen to speakers, be a speaker, etc.  A truly great thing for our industry.

For the past twelve months (or thereabouts) I have been pushing for one of these in little old Adelaide,South Australia.  I started a LinkedIn group (Software testing – South Australia) and tried to drum up interest there, but it was difficult.  I then approached both the ANZTB (Australia and New Zealand Testing Board) and ACS (Australian Computer Society) to enlist some assistance.

The ANZTB got back to me first and stated that had been interested in trying a SIGiST in Adelaide for some time but lacked the local that could assist in organisation.  “Great!” I though, that’s me.  So we got the ball rolling and started talking dates, venues, and I started chasing speakers.

The ACS then also got back to me.  They too had been keen for some time to commence a meet-up of testers here in Adelaide.  So it was only natural that we make the first SIGiST in Adelaide a joint venture.  Props go to both the ANZTB and ACS for assisting me in finally making this happen.

The event was held on November 1^st, 2011.  At the time of choosing the date I didn’t realise that it was Melbourne Cup day (the day ofAustralia’s biggest horse race).  I guess that shows how much I rate horse racing!  Anyway, I started the worry a little bit about attendance at the event.  It was well and truly after the big race, however many Melbourne Cup parties flow well into the evenings.  When I had originally planned for this I thought that attendance of twenty to thirty people would be great… two weeks out from the event we had fifty registered!  I was blown away and somewhat excited.  One week out, we were ten over capacity (which was eighty) and the waiting list had begun!  Good form Adelaide, good form.

So, it was a full house for the first of its kind in Adelaide.  We had two speakers lined up and the majority of attendees got there on time.

First up we had Sharon Picken on Testing Careers – What You Should Know.  This was a good one for those just starting out with their testing careers. Sharon has been testing for over 20 years (I think – could be more), so had some great little stories of ‘how times have changed’.  There were some great snippets of advice for those looking at a career in testing and one point I’d like to share was her analogy to the gold rush. Sharon advised people not be the ones digging for gold, but the ones making and selling the shovels!  Great advice.

Next up we had Michael Fagan on The Anatomy of a Continuous Delivery Pipeline.  TDD (Test Driven Development) was the main focus of this presentation.  Michael also had some great stories of both good and bad experiences.  He also reminded all the testers in the room that there is such a thing as a ‘nice developer’.  Michael sang music to our testing ears throughout his presentation by giving us (the testers) more of the power in decision making throughout development of a product.  I want Michael leading the development team on my next project, without a doubt!

If you’d like to see the slides from the event you can find them here - under Adelaide SIGiST Presentations.

It was a wonderful evening which carried with it a great amount of value.  Not just value for the individuals, but value for the Adelaide testing community.

During the refreshments break, an attendee gave me a great idea… at the end of the event why not close out by letting every attendee call out the company they work for or the industry they are from.  I went ahead with this as I was closing out and it was brilliant.  To finally see the vastness of testing in Adelaide.  It turns out there is a large amount of testing that happens in Adelaide, but for some reason we tend to keep to ourselves.  Hopefully this event, and the future events, helps to change this.

The power of knowledge sharing is unquestionable!

If your local area doesn’t do this, then organise it!  If your local area does do this, get involved!

Until next time

A SIGiST in Review, 9.5 out of 10 based on 2 ratings

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