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Conference Schedule

Sunday, October 20

Registration Desk Hours—7:30am–5:00pm
7:30 am to 5:00 pm
Continental Breakfast—7:30am–8:30am
7:30 am to 8:30 am
Multi-day Training Classes Begin—8:30am–5:00pm
8:30 am to 5:00 pm
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Mobile Application Testing
Brian Hicks
8:30 am to 5:00 pm

Many testers attempt to apply what they know to mobile testing, and while that may work for some functional testing, it often leaves many critical features untested. Critical errors that go untested can mean a swift end to a mobile application. Learning how to identify common issues in mobile applications and how to test the unique aspects of a mobile application is the only way to be truly successful. This two-day course will cover usability across multiple platforms and resolutions, network and security testing, creating application unit tests, mobile UI automation, and performance testing for various devices over various networks and carriers.

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Foundations of DevOps—ICAgile Certification
Byron Katz
8:30 am to 5:00 pm

DevOps combines development, testing, and operations and includes continuous integration, automated testing, continuous delivery, and rapid deployment practices. Because DevOps practices require confidence in nearly all changes, automated testing is an essential ingredient that is integrated into the process and relied upon for enforcement of quality gates and to ensure overall delivery quality. This two-day course will teach you how to avoid the common mistakes of DevOps implementations and to leverage DevOps best practices. Test professionals, operations engineers, developers, project managers, and business owners will all benefit from this curriculum.

 

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Agile Test Automation—ICAgile
Robert Sabourin
8:30 am to 5:00 pm

Explore the many ways automation supports agile testing in this two-day course with real-world, vendor-neutral examples of agile test automation approaches and tools. In addition, successful attendees are awarded the ICAgile Certified Professional in Agile Test Automation (ICP-ATA).

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Software Tester Certification—Foundation Level
Conrad Fujimoto
8:30 am to 5:00 pm

Accredited training for the ISTQB® Certified Tester—Foundation Level (CTFL) certification, aligned to the new 2018 syllabus. ISTQB is the only internationally accepted certification for software testing and has granted more than 500,000 certifications in more than 110 countries around the world. In this three-day course, learn what it takes to be a successful software tester and learn about the relationship of testing to development, test levels, black-box methods, white-box testing, experienced-based testing, and more. This course is appropriate for those new to the testing profession and those seeking certification in software testing. 

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Agile Tester Certification
Mike Sowers
8:30 am to 5:00 pm

Agile software practices are being employed within many development organizations worldwide, and as a result, many testers struggle to understand the agile development process and their place in it. In Agile Tester Certification, both novice and experienced testers learn the fundamentals of agile development, the role of the tester in the agile team, and the agile testing processes. Learn technical and team skills testers need for success in the world of agile development, as well as the techniques of Test-Driven Development (TDD), Acceptance Test-Driven Development (ATDD) and Behavior-Driven Development (BDD) during this two-day course. All participants are expected to have experience in or knowledge of agile development fundamentals.  

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Security Testing for Test Professionals
Jeffery Payne
8:30 am to 5:00 pm

Explore security testing in an interactive workshop setting. This course is appropriate for software development and testing professionals who want to begin doing security testing as part of their assurance activities. 

Lunch 12:00pm-1:00pm
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Training Classes Continue—1:00pm–5:00pm
1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Monday, October 21

Continental Breakfast—7:30am–8:30am
7:30 am to 8:30 am
Registration Desk Hours—8:00am–5:00pm
8:00 am to 5:00 pm
Multi-day Training Classes Continue—8:30am–5:00pm
8:30 am to 5:00 pm
Lunch 12:00pm–1:00pm
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Training Classes Continue—1:00pm–5:00pm
1:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Tuesday, October 22

Continental Breakfast—7:30am–8:30am
7:30 am to 8:30 am
Registration Desk Hours—7:30am–5:00pm
7:30 am to 5:00 pm
Multi-day Training Classes Continue—8:30am–5:00pm
8:30 am to 5:00 pm
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Tutorial TA Selenium Test Automation: From the Ground Up Preview
Matthew Grasberger
8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Knowledge of Selenium, the industry-standard tool for testing web applications, is a much sought after skill in today’s world of test automation. If you want to learn Selenium, then this full-day tutorial provides a great start. Matt shows you how to build test automation using Selenium. But he doesn’t stop there. He uses his years of experience to show you how to build automation that is clean, robust, and easy to maintain. Matt introduces other tools that work with Selenium to help manage the data used to drive your tests, evaluate JavaScript-heavy applications, manage your test...Read more

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Tutorial TB Critical Thinking for Software Testers Preview
Michael Bolton
8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Critical thinking is the kind of thinking that specifically looks for problems and mistakes. Regular people don't do a lot of it. However, if you want to be a great tester, you need to be a great critical thinker. Critically-thinking testers save projects from dangerous assumptions and ultimately from disasters. The good news is that critical thinking is not just innate intelligence or a talent—it's a learnable and improvable skill you can master. Michael Bolton shares the specific techniques and heuristics of critical thinking and presents realistic testing puzzles that help you practice...Read more

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Tutorial TC Test Design for Fully Automated Build Architecture Preview
Melissa Benua
8:30 am to 12:00 pm

Imagine this … As soon as any developed functionality is submitted into the code repository, it is automatically subjected to the appropriate battery of tests and then released straight into production. Setting up the pipeline capable of doing just that is becoming more and more common and something you need to know about. But most organizations hit the same stumbling block—just what IS the appropriate battery of tests? Automated build architectures don't always lend themselves well to the traditional stages of testing. In this hands-on tutorial, Melissa Benua introduces you to key test...Read more

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Tutorial TD Integrating Automated Testing into DevOps Preview
Jeffery Payne
8:30 am to 12:00 pm

In many organizations, agile development processes are driving the pursuit of faster software releases, which has spawned a set of new practices—DevOps. DevOps stresses communications and integration between development and operations, including rapid deployment, continuous integration, and continuous delivery. Because DevOps practices require confidence that changes made to the code base will function as expected, automated testing is essential. Join Jeffery Payne as he discusses the unique challenges associated with integrating automated testing into continuous integration/continuous...Read more

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Tutorial TE Shifting Our Testing to Embrace Customer Experience Preview
Isabel Evans
8:30 am to 12:00 pm

In today’s environment, customer and user experience (CX/UX) is overwhelmingly important—and is not just about the product. CX/UX describes all facets of a person’s interactions with and reactions to the product, the organization that supplies it, and the environment in which it is experienced. Isabel Evans says that in order to focus our tests appropriately, it is vital that we testers understand our users’ experiences. We need to explore and measure human, business, and societal impacts of products we develop, and how those aspects are underpinned by technical qualities. We need to shift...Read more

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Tutorial TF Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Skills for the Testing World Preview
Tariq King
8:30 am to 12:00 pm

Software continues to revolutionize the world, impacting nearly every aspect of our work, family, and personal life. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are playing key roles in this revolution through improvements in search results, recommendations, forecasts, and other predictions. AI and ML technologies are being used in platforms for digital assistants, home entertainment, medical diagnosis, customer support, and autonomous vehicles. Testing practitioners are recognizing the potential for advances in AI and ML to be leveraged for automated testing—an area that still...Read more

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Tutorial TG System-Level Test Automation: Ensuring a Good Start Preview
Chris Loder
8:30 am to 12:00 pm

Many organizations invest a lot of effort in test automation at the system level but then have serious problems later on. As a leader, how can you ensure that your new automation efforts will get off to a good start? What can you do to ensure that your automation work provides continuing value? This tutorial covers both “theory” and “practice”. Chris Loder explains the critical issues for getting a good start and his experiences in getting good automation started at a number of companies. The tutorial covers the most important management issues you must address for test automation success...Read more

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Tutorial TH Develop and Refine Your Company Testing Strategy Preview NEW
Dr. Jess Ingrassellino
8:30 am to 12:00 pm

Every quality director wants to implement a modern, forward-looking testing strategy, and many test managers look to other companies to figure out the "magic bullet" for achieving excellent quality quickly and reliably. But the truth is that everything you need to know about your best test strategy is already in your company. In this workshop you will use your quality priorities, strategies, and code base as the foundation for defining and improving your testing strategy. You’ll work individually and in small groups to examine your current testing structure and methodologies, perform risk...Read more

Lunch 12:00pm–1:00pm
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Full-Day Tutorials Continue —1:00pm–4:30pm
1:00 pm to 4:30 pm
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Tutorial TI Continuous Testing Using Containers Preview
Melissa Benua
1:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Containers. Every manager thinks they want them, but few teams have experience in knowing what to DO with them. Used thoughtfully, containerization of your services can transform the way your organization thinks about testing. Gone can be the days of maintaining X different compute environments with Y different configurations. Imagine instead spinning up just the code you need, on the machine type it needs, and only for as long as you need it. In this technical training, Melissa will walk through what containerization means for a legacy code base attempting to practice continuous...Read more

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Tutorial TJ Success with Test Automation Projects: A People-driven Approach Preview NEW
Isabel Evans
1:00 pm to 4:30 pm

As we face increased demands for speed, change and technical excellence—the pressure, and the need for automating aspects of testing increases. But, successful test automation is not just about selecting and implementing tools and a technical infrastructure. People ensure the success or failure of the automation project; they must drive the project. Join Isabel Evans as she shows you how to make your test automation projects people-driven, by focusing on two vital but often neglected elements of any automation project: attitudes towards automation and experiences of automation. What...Read more

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Tutorial TK Automation Framework Essentials Preview NEW
Chris Loder
1:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Automation is critical in today’s software delivery lifecycle, and yet many organizations struggle to keep their automation running. How can we mitigate difficulties and get consistent automation runs and results we can trust? The secret is implementing a solid automation framework, but that isn’t as easy as it seems. Chris Loder has built several automation frameworks over his career and has learned what works—and, more importantly, what doesn’t. This tutorial will cover what an automation framework is, the benefits of having one, and the keys to a successful framework, including...Read more

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Tutorial TL Quality and Testing Measures and Metrics Preview
Mike Sowers
1:00 pm to 4:30 pm

To be most effective, leaders—including development and testing managers, ScrumMasters, product owners, and IT managers—need metrics to help direct their efforts and make informed recommendations about the software’s release readiness and associated risks. Because one important evaluation activity is to “measure” the quality of the software, the progress and results of both development and testing must be measured. Collecting, analyzing, and using metrics are complicated because developers and testers often are concerned that the metrics will be used against them. Join Mike Sowers as he...Read more

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Tutorial TM Testing Transformation: The Art and Science for Success Preview
Jennifer Bonine
1:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Technologies, testing processes, and the role of the tester have evolved significantly in the past few years with the advent of agile, DevOps, and other new technologies. It is critical that we testing professionals evaluate ourselves and continue to add tangible value to our organizations. In your work, are you focused on the trivial or on real game changers? Jennifer Bonine describes critical elements that help you artfully blend people, process, and technology to create a synergistic relationship that adds value. Jennifer shares ideas on mastering politics, maneuvering core vs. context...Read more

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Tutorial TN Differentiated Management: Building Stronger Teams Preview NEW
Dr. Jess Ingrassellino
1:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Hiring and team-building are two significant issues faced by every quality manager or director. However, what happens once you have hired your team? How do you keep valued members on board and help struggling members to become better, all while continuing to manage your organization and meet deliverables? During this highly interactive workshop, you will learn how to differentiate content, process, and products by learning more about employee readiness, interest, and lived experiences. You will participate in a role-playing game and will work as a team to practice each of these skills. The...Read more

Welcome Reception—4:30pm–5:30pm
4:30 pm to 5:30 pm

Wednesday, October 23

Morning Yoga/Morning Run—6:45am-7:30am
6:45 am to 7:30 am
Continental Breakfast—7:30am–8:30am
7:30 am to 8:30 am
Networking Events—Lean Coffee (7:30am-8:30am) | Test Lab (All Day) | Couch Sessions (All Day) | Genius Testing Bar (All Day)
7:30 am to 8:30 am
Registration Desk Hours—7:30am–4:30pm
7:30 am to 4:30 pm
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Keynote K1 A Framework for the Whole Team to Own Quality Preview
Dr. Jess Ingrassellino, Salesforce.org
8:30 am to 9:45 am

Enterprise software teams often keep testers in silos, only to be frustrated when testing is slow. A frequent answer is to make the whole team responsible for quality. But how does that work? How can testers engage key stakeholders in testing throughout the software development cycle? How can test managers build teams where everyone participates in a way that plays to individual strengths while simultaneously increasing collaboration? In this practical and inspiring talk, Jess Ingrassellino will share how she developed collaborative test charters when she started working as the first...Read more

Networking Break in the Expo—9:45am–10:15am
9:45 am to 10:15 am
Concurrent Sessions—10:15am–11:15am
10:15 am to 11:15 am
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Concurrent Session W1 Continuous Delivery Requires Radical Changes for Testers Preview
Jeff "Cheezy" Morgan, Industrial Logic Canada
10:15 am to 11:15 am

What do testing and quality look like in a continuous delivery world? Who does what and how? Is there still a need for testers, or do developers do all the testing? Is it really possible to achieve quality when you deploy to production many times each day? What should testers do when there is no time for a “testing phase”? These are some of the questions people in the testing community ask as the software development industry moves toward this new paradigm of design and delivery. Continuous delivery is a radical change in the way we build and deliver software, so it requires a radical...Read more

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Concurrent Session W2 How Fast Is My App? Performance Testing 101 Preview
Gene Gotimer, Coveros, Inc.
10:15 am to 11:15 am

Product owners and stakeholders love to ask about performance. “Is the app fast? How fast?” What do those questions even mean? Are they interested in the number of transactions per second? The time for the page to load? How many users it can support at once? Performance testing is a much broader topic than just being able to say an application is “fast” or “slow.” There is load testing, stress testing, and soak testing. You can measure transaction times, concurrency, and capacity. You can address some performance issues with more systems, others with more memory or faster processors or a...Read more

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Concurrent Session W3 Destroying the Horcruxes of Full-Stack Automation Preview
Iryna Suprun, Xandr
10:15 am to 11:15 am

Testing complex, distributed systems that consist of many layers and different types of software is a challenge. Creating a successful automation solution for such systems is like battling Voldemort: You need to pay attention to flying curses while fighting. Automation teams often concentrate on solving technical issues but forget about the evils popping up that can harm their project. Just like in the Harry Potter books, there are Horcruxes that can curse a robust, high-quality framework unless the QA team finds and destroys them. Fortunately, we are luckier than Harry because...Read more

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Concurrent Session W4 Advanced Principles of API Testing | Part 1 Preview
Varuna Srivastava, ThoughtWorks Canada
10:15 am to 11:15 am

When your enterprise application is moving from a monolithic to a microservices architecture, migrating your testing approach, design and framework can be quite an undertaking. This interactive workshop will introduce you to new advanced techniques and design patterns. Varuna Srivastava will introduce you to how to use design patterns and teach you how to apply those in your test automation code. Come learn how to put together the advanced concepts of an API test in a framework that is scalable, robust, and easy to read and eliminates the brittleness in your checks. You will leave with...Read more

Concurrent Sessions—11:30am–12:30pm
11:30 am to 12:30 pm
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Industry Technical Presentation ITP1 Eliminate waiting times within continuous testing Preview
Renato Quedas, Micro Focus
11:30 am to 12:30 pm
Wait time is the silent killer of faster application delivery and nowhere is this more true than in testing. You need to be “testing early and often” while simultaneously creating practices that standardize and automate processes so they’re easier to monitor and enforce. Join this session to see how to: Increase your DevTesters' efficiency in building and maintaining automation assets using multiple SDKs Remove bottlenecks that often slow down projects and damage quality Accelerate feedback and visibility over pipeline executionRead more
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Concurrent Session W5 Stabilizing Continuous Testing in DevOps Preview
Eran Kinsbruner, Perfecto
11:30 am to 12:30 pm

Organizations have matured their software development practices over the past few years. Despite advancements and innovations, testing remains one of the biggest challenges in DevOps. To increase test automation coverage and scale agile, we need to match software testing deliveries with the right testing tool, the right skill set, and the right testing persona. This could be a developer, a software development engineer in test (SDET), or a test engineer. Eran Kinsbruner will address the most painful challenges developers and testers face and offer an agile testing approach that examines...Read more

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Concurrent Session W6 Automating the New York Times Crossword Preview
Phil Wells, New York Times
11:30 am to 12:30 pm

The New York Times digital crossword has more subscribers than the population of Iceland. The team responsible for this media mainstay add new features all the time. They release new games, like Spelling Bee and Letter Boxed. They introduce new features, like leaderboards and vertical streaks. They add engaging bonuses like milestone animations to the crossword. How does a team doing so much, with a product so renowned, ensure that they're building in quality with every new release? Join Phil Wells, a software engineer in test for the Games team, as he discusses that very topic. Phil...Read more

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Concurrent Session W7 Taming Your Dragon: From No QA to Fully Integrated QA Preview
Priyanka Halder, Goodrx
11:30 am to 12:30 pm

Many companies struggle with their QA processes and think of them as bottlenecks to their releases. Join Priyanka on her journey of transforming QA and improving its reputation and reliability. Transforming QA has required Priyanka to take deep dives into some of the technical challenges organizations face when a company tries to integrate an automation-focused QA team. She talks about 3 stages of QA adoption: Strategies on smart learnings from failure, pre-planning for success, and key action points for successful implementations (POC, tools, team structure). Priyanka also reviews how she...Read more

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Concurrent Session W8 Advanced Principles of API Testing | Part 2 Preview
Varuna Srivastava, ThoughtWorks Canada
11:30 am to 12:30 pm

When your enterprise application is moving from a monolithic to a microservices architecture, migrating your testing approach, design and framework can be quite an undertaking. This interactive workshop will introduce you to new advanced techniques and design patterns. Varuna Srivastava will introduce you to how to use design patterns and teach you how to apply those in your test automation code. Come learn how to put together the advanced concepts of an API test in a framework that is scalable, robust, and easy to read and eliminates the brittleness in your checks. You will leave with...Read more

Lunch in the Expo—12:30pm–1:30pm
12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
Concurrent Sessions—1:30pm–2:30pm
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
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Industry Technical Presentation ITP4 What does Quality Assurance Do for you? Preview
Neil Price- Jones
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm
Process Improvement – what is it and why is it important Why does QA matter to you? What do you use to get QA into your organisation?

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Concurrent Session W9 Safety-Critical Software the Quality Agilist’s Way Preview
Roy Tuason, Zap Surgical Systems
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm

Delivering hundreds of laser beams to brain tumors with sub-millimeter precision requires accurate, safe, and effective software that is developed and tested carefully and meticulously. But to be competitive in the market and responsive to customer needs you’ve got to be fast. How do you satisfy this contradiction? How do you know when the software is ready? When is good enough, truly good enough? Are you fast enough, and are you compliant? In two-week sprints, Zap Surgical develops software for planning brain cancer treatments, and then delivering those treatments on its new gyroscopic...Read more

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Concurrent Session W10 Performance Testing in a Containerized World Preview
Valentin Guerlesquin, National Bank of Canada
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm

Containerizing applications introduces major changes to the way we run those applications. With Docker and other container orchestrators, we can now share infrastructure and resources, but this introduces the need to control the way resources are used—from a sanity perspective first and a financial objective second. There are several use cases for containerization, from the legacy application replatforming to the creation of a new stateless microservice. Any of those may lead to a specific approach, depending of the risk it brings. This presentation will expose typical risks of...Read more

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Concurrent Session W11 Enabling Enterprise Quality Preview
Mike Cullen, Wawanesa Insurance
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm

Too often quality is identified as solely owned by the quality assurance team. By taking a broader approach to roles, tools, and ideology, you can restructure your vision of how to provide rapid, frequent releases that empower all delivery team members. From advancing the QA role to developing in-house frameworks to facilitate developer testing, you can make significant strides to become a leader in software development. Learn how Mike Cullen's team built and deployed an automated test framework that allows developers to write supplementary UI tests that reside within their code base...Read more

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Concurrent Session W12 API Testing Is Critical—Here's How to Do It Right Preview
Adam Sandman, Inflectra Corporation
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm

It is important to make sure you have a sound API testing strategy because it relates to the critical operation of today’s connected businesses. But all too often, API testing is overlooked. Adam Sandman will provide practical techniques for how to ensure you have sufficient test coverage of your API endpoints, how to leverage realistic test data, and how to integrate API tests into your DevOps toolchain and overall test reporting environment. He will also cover API design patterns such as endpoint versioning, self-describing data formats, authentication, authorization, and...Read more

Networking Break in the Expo—2:30pm–3:00pm
2:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Concurrent Sessions—3:00pm–4:00pm
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
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Industry Technical Presentation ITP2 Continuous Testing Made Awesome with Sauce Labs Preview
Sarah Petrie, Sauce Labs
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Overview of how to run your automated Selenium tests in the Sauce Labs cloud Decrease the amount of time it takes your suite to run by executing tests in parallel Ensure your apps work all of the time with functional testing on real devicesRead more
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Concurrent Session W13 Document Generation for Regulated Industries Preview
Jonathan Miller Kauffman, Coveros, Inc.
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm

One of the lines in the Agile Manifesto is "Working software over comprehensive documentation." This doesn't mean that no documentation is produced, but instead that only documentation that brings value to the team and the customer should be created. So what do you do when you are working in a regulated industry and you need to produce extensive documentation to prove that the system works correctly? Jonathan Kauffman recently worked with a company that produces FDA Class II medical devices and wanted to reduce the overhead of creating the documentation required by regulatory...Read more

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Concurrent Session W14 Continuous Application Security Testing Preview
Josh Gibbs, Contrast Security
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Because of its specialized nature, many aspects of application security testing are often assigned to testers from another team or another company who may be brought in to perform a point-in-time assessment prior to a release. If your team is interested in implementing continuous deployment, automation seems like the obvious answer. But when attempting to automate your security tests, you may run into a wide variety of challenges beyond simply adding a tool into your build system. Josh Gibbs will help you navigate these potential roadblocks and be prepared to overcome them. We'll...Read more

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Concurrent Session W15 Testers: The Unsung Data Heroes Preview
Connor Dodge, Domo
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Data is the most valuable commodity in the world, and testers generate the most valuable data in the product development organization. When effectively tracked and presented, that data can inform release schedules, aid in decision-making, and shape the direction of the product. Connor Dodge will explain how testers can create and use real-time dashboards to analyze the status of agile projects and prove their quality to the organization. He'll discuss what metrics are important, how to pull the data to power those metrics from existing popular applications such as Jira and...Read more

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Concurrent Session W16 Ask Me Anything! Preview
Melissa Benua, mParticle, Chris Loder, InGenius Software, Dawn Jardine, Independent QA Consultant , Alison Wade, TechWell Corp.
3:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Have you ever wondered how a conference program is put together? Did you always want to know what happens behind the scenes at a conference? Maybe you have an automation question for the self-proclaimed lazy Automator, Chris Loder? Perhaps you wanted to ask Melissa Benua about continuous testing, containers, or imposter syndrome? It may be that you are interested in asking Dawn Jardine about her career path, what she thinks about One-On-One meetings, or how you too can be a speaker? Or conceivably your very curious mind wants to know "so why did Alison Wade start Women Who Test?" During...Read more

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Keynote K2 The Logic of Verification Preview
Michael Bolton, DevelopSense
4:15 pm to 5:15 pm

Software testing is sometimes described as verification and validation—according to Wikipedia, “the process of checking that a software system meets specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose.” Yet, if we examine the concept and logic of verification, we recognize that there are serious limitations to what can and cannot be checked and verified. This is not to say that checking is a bad thing—on the contrary; checking can be very valuable. Still, it’s important for testers and their clients to recognize the fundamental limitations of checking and to address those limitations...Read more

Expo Reception—5:15pm–6:15pm
5:15 pm to 6:15 pm

Thursday, October 24

Morning Yoga/Morning Run—6:45am-7:30am
6:45 am to 7:30 am
Continental Breakfast—7:30am–8:30am
7:30 am to 8:30 am
Registration Desk Hours—7:30am–4:00pm
7:30 am to 4:00 pm
Networking Events—Lean Coffee (7:30am-8:30am) | Test Lab (All Day) | Couch Sessions (All Day) | Genius Testing Bar (All Day)
7:30 am to 8:30 am
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Keynote K3 The Lazy Student’s Guide to Test Automation Preview
Chris Loder, InGenius Software
8:30 am to 9:45 am

Do you loathe regression? Do you tire of the repetitive tasks that are part of your product's lifecycle? If you do, then you might be lazy like Chris Loder. Since his Grade 4 teacher wrote “Chris is lazy” on his report card, it has become his way of life. Chris will share how his “lazy” mindset has enabled him to produce world-class test automation with minimal effort. He’ll show examples of his work with software verification, documentation, reports, and analytical functionality, and even go into the archives to bring out some of his earliest automation efforts. You’ll leave with key...Read more

Networking Break in the Expo—9:45am–10:15am
9:45 am to 10:15 am
Concurrent Sessions—10:15am–11:15am
10:15 am to 11:15 am
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Industry Technical Presentation ITP3 Blockchain Testing Preview
Anjali Chhabra Nandwani, Tech Mahindra Americas Inc.
10:15 am to 11:15 am

The past few years have seen a growing appreciation of Blockchain as a concept and its application in many industries especially in the Financial Services and Healthcare sector. Testing for Blockchain is not straight-forward, due to the variables involved viz. technology stack (smart contracts and associate rules can be written in many languages), domain considerations, user experience covering complex interfaces, environment set-up needs. In addition, the non-functional aspects such as security, performance and accessibility take center stage due to the rapidly growing number of transactions being carried out with the help of Blockchain. Testing each of the above aspects require specific detailing from Strategy to Execution. Tech Mahindra, as an organization is continuously focused on predicting future trends and enabling our clients to turn it into opportunities. We have achieved significant maturity in terms of our frameworks and accelerators around Blockchain Testing. This session will give us the opportunity to cover salient details around the Blockchain Testing strategy with relevant examples from real implementations. This session will enable the audience to learn about key aspects of Blockchain applications, key quality considerations, strategies we enabled, our approach and our experience dealing with real world implementation challenges.Read more

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Concurrent Session T1 3 Steps to QA Success from a VP of Quality Assurance Preview
Karen Holliday
10:15 am to 11:15 am

Are you a leader with a quality problem? Every organization struggles with quality at some point in their product lifecycle. Knowing what to measure and how to build a culture of quality with specific and actionable methods is key. Join Karen Holliday as she goes through the three steps you can take to ensure success. She'll begin by guiding you through an analysis of the issues, including product, customer, and organizational factors. Next you'll learn the five key quality differentiators to implement within your development process. Finally, focus on how to create your own customer...Read more

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Concurrent Session T2 Authoring an Accessibility Story Preview
Elizabeth Langston, SAS
10:15 am to 11:15 am

Anticipating the needs of users with visual impairments can be a challenge for sighted testers. We can draw insights from the principles of plotting novels: developing empathy for "characters" as they navigate a journey, confront obstacles, make decisions, and successfully realize their goals. Elizabeth Langston's company releases an accessibility product that allows users with visual impairments to access and analyze charts and graphs through sound. She will discuss the basics of writing fiction and how to apply them to creating use case tests. You'll learn character development...Read more

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Concurrent Session T3 Testing in Production Preview
Talia Nassi, WeWork
10:15 am to 11:15 am

How do you know your feature is working perfectly in production? If something breaks in production, how will you know? Will you wait for a user to report it to you? What do you do when your staging test results do not reflect current production behavior? In order to test proactively as opposed to reactively, why not test in production?! By testing in production, you will have an increased accuracy of test results, your tests will run faster in production due to elimination of mock/bad data, and you will have a higher confidence before releases. You can accomplish this through feature...Read more

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Concurrent Session T4 Peer to Peer Session: Solving Your Continuous Delivery Problems Preview
Melissa Benua, mParticle
10:15 am to 11:15 am

Peer-to-peer Discussion: How Do I Make CD Work in My Environment? Building a successful continuous delivery pipeline is very context specific. Large organizations with legacy code, existing physical environments, regulatory constraints, large monolithic applications, or stove piped organizations often struggle to find a continuous delivery approach that will work for them successfully. If this sounds familiar, this session is for you. Join facilitator Melissa Benua as conference participants work together to identify and solve difficult continuous delivery challenges. Learn how other...Read more

Concurrent Sessions—11:30am–12:30pm
11:30 am to 12:30 pm
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Concurrent Session T5 Reality Driven Testing in Agile Projects Preview
Robert Sabourin, AmiBug.Com, Inc.
11:30 am to 12:30 pm

Many agile teams rework previously deployed stories, even after plenty of in-sprint testing. Well groomed, refined, stories framed with typical, alternate and error scenarios, gracefully described in well formed gherkin, continue to encounter all sorts of bugs. Software engineering consultant, Rob Sabourin, often sees rework in over 20% of deployed stories. In this presentation Rob shows how agile teams can drive rework down dramatically, often achieving near Zero rework after a story is DONE. Rob teaches teams to identify and implement relevant testing activities above and beyond those...Read more

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Concurrent Session T6 How to Ensure That Requirements Are Testable Preview
Arnika Hryszko, Polish Testing Board
11:30 am to 12:30 pm

Everything starts with a requirement—a singular, documented need that a particular design, product, or process aims to satisfy. No other part of our work paralyzes the resulting system if it is done wrong, and no other part is more difficult to repair later. And yet we devote so little attention to requirements. By teaching people who create requirements, Arnika Hryszko learned a lot about their ways of working. She will share those lessons so that you will be able to improve your teams and projects by establishing detailed technical requirements. Discover practical ways to plan...Read more

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Concurrent Session T7 Testing as a Top-Notch Service Preview
Noha Gomaa, Aldo Group
11:30 am to 12:30 pm

Companies today must respond to the ever-increasing demand of delivering products in a fast-paced digital environment. As a result, many traditional system testing departments are being dismantled, teams are being split up, and individual testers are being distributed across multiple projects or functional teams. This transition can lead to workflows that are awkward and siloed, with team members trying to figure out what exactly to do with the tester. Noha Gomaa feels there must be a better way to handle the transition. She champions "testing as a service" to project teams, helping them...Read more

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Concurrent Session T8 Providing Value as a Leader: More Than Just Being the Boss Preview
Jeff Abshoff, ANSYS Inc
11:30 am to 12:30 pm

Being a test manager is more than just being the boss. Sure, there is direction to set, issues to address, hiring, performance reviews, and status updates. But does that mean there’s no real work for a manager to do? Managers want to empower their team members to make good decisions and execute well, but how do you provide value when specific testing tasks are done by others? How does a manager go beyond being the boss to actually helping their staff do amazing work? Join Jeff Abshoff as he shares his experience working with new and seasoned testers. Hear some of the struggles he has faced...Read more

Lunch in the Expo—12:30pm–1:30pm
12:30 pm to 1:30 pm
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Keynote K4 Conscious Curiosity: The Key To Innovation Preview
Jessie Shternshus, The Improv Effect, LLC.
1:30 pm to 2:30 pm

Curiosity is the spark that drives ideas. It fuels imagination, creative work and innovation, and it is the driving force behind discoveries of all kinds. Yet we tend to lose our drive to be curious as we grow up. How can we all be more consciously curious? How can you help instill a culture of curiosity at your company or at home? What are the benefits of a curious mind and culture? Jessie will share her innate and learned curiosity, and how it fueled her exploration of the subject. She will walk you through how she has learned to ask more inquisitive questions, looks for new and...Read more

Concurrent Sessions—2:45pm–3:45pm
2:45 pm to 3:45 pm
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Concurrent Session T9 The Hidden Testers in Your Organization Preview
Carrie Hughston, SAS Institute, Lynneth Lohse, SAS Institute
2:45 pm to 3:45 pm

The market demands that high-quality software is released at an increasing pace, yet resources remain fixed. How can organizations expand and improve testing under these conditions and help prevent costly and embarrassing bugs in production software? Why not invite internal staff to test-drive preproduction software? Structured testing events engage everyone across the company—sales, legal, day care workers, front desk receptionists—to exercise emerging software and give feedback directly to the development team. The results are incredibly valuable feedback for the development...Read more

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Concurrent Session T10 The ROI of One-On-Ones Preview
Dawn Jardine, Independent QA Consultant
2:45 pm to 3:45 pm

Having regular one-on-ones is the key to supporting employee performance. As a leader, you know regular conversations are important. When can you find time? How can you make them more productive? What can you do to make them valuable to both you and your team member? What is the benefit to the organization? As a manager of a 50+ testing team, Dawn has successfully rolled out a one-on-one format that produced an increase in team performance across the organization. She will share her experiences and lessons learned from NOT having one-on-ones, and show you how you can use your one-on-ones...Read more

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Concurrent Session T11 Virtual Insanity: Overcoming the Pains of Managing Remote Test Teams Preview
Matthew Weinstock, Align Technology
2:45 pm to 3:45 pm

Globally distributed software teams are no longer just a trend—they are industry commonplace. Creating these teams allows companies to lower their costs by tapping into developing markets and to provide support around the clock. While this seems like a great idea at a high level, the complicated nature of managing the test effort for remote teams can be quite daunting. If many test managers barely have enough time to dedicate to their local team, how can they support their remote teams properly? Join Matthew Weinstock as he shares his experience managing global remote test teams....Read more

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Concurrent Session T12 Testing Uncertainty—and a Chatbot Named Ginger Preview
Rajni Singh, nagarro
2:45 pm to 3:45 pm

Uncertainty has always been a key challenge for testers. But testing a chatbot adds a completely new level of uncertainty. There are a lot of platforms and tools available for chatbot development, but what we lack is a standardized chatbot testing strategy. The way testing is performed on chatbots differs a lot from "traditional" testing (like for an app or web portal) due to the apparent randomness of a conversation with a chatbot. From testing numerous clients' chatbots and her company's own, named Ginger, Rajni Singh has experienced that it is impossible to anticipate all the...Read more

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Keynote K5 Automation Face-Off Preview
Four Incredible Speakers, Panelists
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm

What do you think about when you hear the words "test automation"? Are you considering developing your own tools to help you probe the product deeply, or will you apply a commercial tool for automated checking? Are “tools” and “automation” the same thing in your world, or do you see them as fundamentally different? Are you excited by new, powerful, enabling technologies, or do you worry that a robot will replace you? And are these our only choices? One thing is for sure: When we apply automation and tools, we may fundamentally change the context and the nature of the work we do. Our...Read more

Friday, October 25

Registration Desk Hours—7:30am–4:00pm
7:30 am to 4:00 pm
Continental Breakfast—8:00am–8:30am
8:00 am to 8:30 am
Women Who Test Bonus Session 8:30am–3:45pm
8:30 am to 3:45 pm
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Women Who Test
8:30 am to 3:45 pm

Women Who Test is a full-day event on Friday, October 25 for women to network with other women who work in software testing. It is also a day to learn from and be inspired by each other. The program will cover testing topics and will support women’s personal and career journeys and include content like: reengineering your life, growing your personal brand, setting goals, discovering your career superpowers, and how to problem-solve when you are a female in the tech industry where your gender is out numbered 7:3.

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Women Who Test Session WWT1 How to Experiment Your Way to Self-Worthiness Preview
Jaimee Newberry, Picture This Clothing
9:00 am to 9:45 am

Have you ever struggled with knowing your worth? What ARE you worth? How do you figure it out? Who decides? Does not knowing your worth challenge your happiness at work?

Even though Jaimee had accomplished some of the most high-profile work of her career, she no longer felt valued at her workplace. When she gave notice that she’d be moving on, she was shocked when they asked if there was anything they could do to make her stay. She chose to move on anyway, but this instance caused a lot of internalization about what had gone wrong, and why — was there anything her employers could...Read more

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Women Who Test Session WWT2 Unlearning: The Challenge of Change Preview
Jessie Shternshus, The Improv Effect, LLC.
9:45 am to 10:30 am

The world we live in requires us to acquire new skills and absorb new knowledge in order to stay afloat. We must learn to SHIFT as things around us are changing. We see this on individual, team and organizational levels. However, we are leaving out one crucial piece of the puzzle: we are forgetting to forget, or rather, UNLEARN. Even though old habits are hard to break, the more we can unlearn the more likely we are to experience a sense of growth. In this interactive talk, Jessie will share learnings and unlearnings from her own career, stories from the companies she has worked with, and...Read more

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Women Who Test Session WWT3 The Power of Collective Experience Preview
Alison Wade, TechWell Corp., Jessie Shternshus, The Improv Effect, LLC.
10:45 am to 12:30 pm
Bring your biggest challenges to this session and tap the wisdom of others. In this immersive session, you will tackle some of the most widely mentioned challenges brought to light from the group. We will use experiential techniques to unlearn outdated mental models, uncover assumptions and break through obstacles with new ideas. Whether it’s a software testing conundrum, a project setback, a management blocker, a group or team dysfunction or an interpersonal hurdle, all of these can slow our progress and reduce our effectiveness. When we hunt for options, we all have blind spots and biases...Read more
Lunch 12:30pm–1:15pm
12:30 pm to 1:15 pm
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Women Who Test Session WWT4 Building Your Personal Brand for Success Preview
Jennifer Bonine, PinkLion AI
1:15 pm to 2:00 pm
Building the right personal brand is one of the critical success factors in today’s workplace. Organizations develop a brand and image, but not many individuals think about their personal brand and how it can affect their career. As we interact with people, we want to influence them to support our efforts—approving projects, budgets, and funding; supporting our next career move; or recommending us for that promotion or raise we want. As a professional, it is critical to understand how you are being perceived by your “target audience.” During this interactive session Jennifer shares ideas on...Read more
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Women Who Test Session WWT5 Panel–Career Superpowers Preview
Alison Wade, TechWell Corp.
2:15 pm to 3:15 pm

Let’s discuss and define the most important career superpowers for women. Hear what industry professionals, leaders, and idea disruptors think the important career superpowers are for women in 2019 and going forward.

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