STAREAST 2019 - General Management | TechWell

Conference archive

STAREAST 2019 - General Management

Customize your STAREAST 2019 experience with sessions covering general project management.

Monday, April 29

Chris_Loder
InGenius Software
ME

System-Level Test Automation: Ensuring a Good Start

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Monday, April 29, 2019 - 8:30am to 12:00pm

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...

MO

Testing Leadership IQ

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Monday, April 29, 2019 - 1:00pm to 4:30pm

Have you ever needed a way to measure your testing leadership IQ? Or been in a performance review where the majority of time was spent discussing your need to improve as a leader? If you have ever wondered what your core leadership competencies are and how to build on and improve them, Jennifer Bonine shares a toolkit to help you do just that. This toolkit includes a personal assessment of your leadership competencies and the evolution of testing and testing leadership. Join Jennifer as she explores a set of eight dimensions of successful leaders, provides suggestions on how you can...

Tuesday, April 30

Graeme_Harvey
PlanGrid
Hilary Weaver-Robb
Quicken Loans
TA

Being Technical Enough: Learn Technical, Testing and Leadership Skills that Let You Soar

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Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - 8:30am to 4:30pm

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed as a tester today, no matter how experienced you are, especially on agile teams and teams embracing a DevOps culture. Perhaps you’ve heard about the Modern Testing principles and those have you on the defensive? Test automation is daunting enough, especially if you lack coding experience. Today we have test automation tools that use machine learning. Perhaps your company’s product is starting to incorporate AI. Or you have to figure out how testing can keep...

Mike_Sowers
Coveros
TJ

Quality and Testing Measures and Metrics

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Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - 8:30am to 12:00pm

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...

TM

Testing Transformation: The Art and Science for Success

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Tuesday, April 30, 2019 - 1:00pm to 4:30pm

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...

Wednesday, May 1

Tania_Katan
Creative Trespassing
K1

Creative Trespassing: Sneak More Imagination into Your Work and Get More Done

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Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 8:30am to 9:45am

After years of smuggling creativity into the corporate sector without getting busted, Tania Katan has learned that we don’t need to be in a job that is distinctly creative in order to be distinctly creative in our job. In fact, no matter how tedious the task or how buttoned-up the office environment, we can all learn to conjure imagination anywhere, anytime, by choosing to stand out rather than fit in. Join Tania for some hilarious stories, wacky exercises for flexing your creative muscles, and engaging ideas like “Fire Hierarchy” and “Transform the Norm.” You will leave with tools and...

Jeff Payne
Coveros
K2

Cutting through the Hype around Continuous Testing

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Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 10:00am to 11:00am

There is a lot of hype around continuous testing these days. It seems like every product vendor has a continuous testing product and every consulting company has a continuous testing practice. But what exactly is continuous testing? And how is it different from what we've been doing in testing for the past several decades? Join Jeffrey Payne as he discusses what continuous testing is all about and how today's organizations are leveraging it to improve their quality. Learn what tools and techniques enable continuous testing, and examine the pros and cons of moving toward a more continuous...

Nikki_Henry
Ladies Leading Ladies
W1

How Do I Work with These Millennials? Attracting and Retaining the Next Generation

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Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 11:30am to 12:30pm

Leaders and managers are facing many struggles attracting, retaining, and working effectively with the millennial workforce. Millenials have shorter tenures in positions, expectations of work-life balance, and a need for purpose-driven work. No longer are the days of employees who just come in and get the work done because of a deeply ingrained work ethic. Join Nikki Henry as she breaks down the values of this generation. You'll leave with tools and templates to better engage and retain your millennial workforce for the long term. This includes a shift in leadership practices, but...

Dorothy Graham
Software Test Consultant
W2

Testing through the Ages

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Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 11:30am to 12:30pm

How long have you been in software testing? What was testing like when you first started? How did the discipline of software testing get to where it is today, and where is it headed in the future? Dot Graham takes a look back at software testing, from a personal perspective as well as a general view. She shares what she has learned from her experiences over the years and gives lessons for today. Dot started her working life by being put into a test group, where she wrote test execution and comparison programs (they weren’t called “tools” back then). In her more than forty years as a...

Kat_Rocha
ACT/NRCCUA
W5

Agile Testing in a Waterfall World

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Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 11:30am to 12:30pm

What can a tester do when they join an organization that isn’t really agile—or maybe is (gasp) still waterfall? In these situations, it is important to focus on the values and principles that make up agile. Even in a development environment that does not strictly follow an agile-related methodology like Scrum or kanban, the tester can still bring agile principles to their testing. Kat Rocha will share real-world experiences relating to how test engineering can act agile within a waterfall development team, as well as what is important for testing in a team that is undergoing an agile...

Gerie_Owen
Technology Strategy Research
Peter_Varhol
Technology Strategy Research
W8

Timeless Testing Skills for Modern Testers

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Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 1:30pm to 2:30pm

As testers in today’s world of agile and DevOps, we are challenged to champion quality in new ways and to develop innovative test approaches that focus on customer value. It's important to bring creativity as well as technical expertise to our test techniques so that we can make our most valuable contributions. We determine both what to test and how to test, and we test jointly with developers. We assess risk and communicate it to our teams and stakeholders through our stories. Our ability to innovate comes from not only our technical skills, but also from our skills in...

Eran_Kinsbruner
perfecto
W15

Future-Proofing Test Engineers in the Era of ML and AI

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Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 2:45pm to 3:45pm

We're all hearing the buzzwords of AI, machine learning, chatbots, and next-generation testing. Does this mean that the days of traditional testing as we know and practice it are over? Eran Kinsbruner doesn't think so. Join Eran to learn about the clear transformation happening toward smarter testing techniques and tools. These approaches drive better pipeline efficiency and release velocity with high quality, and Eran thinks this means good things for the testing practice and practitioners. Discover the key trends that are happening around AI, machine learning, and bots in the web...

Adam_Auerbach
EPAM Systems
W17

Fishbowl Discussion: Continuous Testing

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Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 2:45pm to 3:45pm
Many people confuse continuous testing with test automation. That makes sense, because you cannot do continuous testing without automated tests. But it is much more.  It requires that all of the tests to certify a feature are automated, part of the continuous integration pipeline and the results of those tests determine automatically when the next step should be run.  In this fishbowl session we will discuss how participants have enabled this process at their companies.  We will discuss common pitfalls and how to avoid them.   We will discuss how to move from automation to continuous testing...
W18

The Next-Generation Skills Needed for the Future of Testing

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Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 2:45pm to 3:45pm

That AI is the future of testing seems to be a well-established fact. But assuming that AI will simply replace current manual testers is merely naive. Just like a tractor is no replacement for a farmer, there are many tasks in testing that by their very nature cannot be automated by current AI. As AI improves, many boring testing tasks will be automated, including creating test automation. But at some point, AI is much better suited to replace developers than testers. Think about a behavior-driven development test: It’s easier to generate code that makes the tests pass than it is to...

Lightning_Keynotes
Lightning Keynotes
K3

Lightning Strikes the Keynotes

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Wednesday, May 1, 2019 - 4:15pm to 5:15pm

Throughout the years, Lightning Talks have been a popular part of the STAR conferences. If you’re not familiar with the concept, Lightning Talks consists of a series of five-minute talks by different speakers within one presentation period. Lightning Talks are the opportunity for speakers to deliver their single biggest bang-for-the-buck idea in a rapid-fire presentation. And now, lightning has struck the STAR keynotes. Some of the best-known experts in testing will step up to the podium and give you their best shot of lightning. Get multiple keynote presentations for the price of one—and...

Thursday, May 2

Amy_Jo_Esser
ProAssurance
T1

Are You the Best Leader You Can Be?

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Thursday, May 2, 2019 - 9:45am to 10:45am

We are all leaders. At a minimum, we must lead ourselves every single day, but many of us also have teams that we lead and serve. Have you ever stopped to analyze yourself to determine if you are the best leader you can be? Amy Jo Esser has had the joy of learning from many great leaders outside the testing arena, including John C. Maxwell, Tony Robbins, Mel Robbins, Brendon Burchard, Michael and Megan Hyatt, and Rachel Hollis. Amy Jo continues to learn from leaders in our testing community, including the inspiring leaders and speakers who have been a part of the Women Who Test community....

Melissa Tondi
Rainforest QA
T4

Disrupt Your Career and Discover True Quality Engineering

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Thursday, May 2, 2019 - 9:45am to 10:45am

One of the best things Melissa Tondi did for her career was disrupt it. She'll talk about what disruption means, how it can take form, and how it can help build out a team model that is more adaptable to change than ever while still focusing on the traits quality engineering brings to the table within project teams. Even if physically disrupting your career is not an option, in this session you will discuss how you can develop the mindset of a quality engineer and how a career disruption—whether planned or unplanned—can enhance your quality engineering career development. Melissa...

Lloyd_Roden
Lloyd Roden Consultancy
T7

The Reality Distortion Field of Testing

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Thursday, May 2, 2019 - 11:15am to 12:15pm

The reality distortion field (RDF) is a term coined by Bud Tribble at Apple Computers in 1981 to describe Steve Job's charisma and its effect on the developers working on the Macintosh project. The RDF was said to be Steve Job's ability to convince himself and others to believe almost anything with a mix of charm, bravado, marketing, appeasement, and persistence. The RDF warps an audience's sense of proportion for difficulties and makes them believe that any task is possible. When it comes to testing, we have this RDF all around us, with managers saying things like, "We can and should...

Adam_Auerbach
EPAM Systems
T11

Building a Modern DevOps Enterprise Testing Organization

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Thursday, May 2, 2019 - 11:15am to 12:15pm

The DevOps movement is front and center across enterprises. Companies with mature systems are breaking down siloed IT departments and federating them into product development teams and departments. Testing and its practices are at the heart of these changes. Traditionally, development organizations have been filled with mostly manual testers and a limited number of automation and performance engineers. Adam Auerbach says this has to change. To keep pace with development in the new “you build it, you own it” environment, testing teams and individuals must develop new technical skills and...

Janna_Loeffler
Carnival Corp & plc
Yesenia_Yser
Ultimate Software
T12

Security Partners or Security Police?

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Thursday, May 2, 2019 - 11:15am to 12:15pm

It’s often said that with great power comes great responsibility. As technology becomes more powerful, security becomes a great responsibility. You’ve read all the books, followed the latest updates on all the blogs and forums, or maybe you just have a gut feeling that there’s a potential for disaster. As software testers, is it our job to be the security police? If you don’t protect the public, who will? Then there is the business—who is going to protect them from themselves? You go into meetings ready to save the day only to be shot down or, even worse, ignored. What went wrong? Why were...

Jason Wick
MakeMusic
T13

8 Ways to Ruin Your One-on-Ones

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Thursday, May 2, 2019 - 1:30pm to 2:30pm

As managers, it's easy to fall into the trap of focusing on what we need out of our employees' one-on-one meetings, all the while forgetting that one-on-ones are for them! This talk is a list of eight behaviors that are guaranteed to make one-on-ones with employees less effective. For each of the eight unproductive behaviors, Jason Wick will provide examples of where he personally has failed, and share how this experience has become his guiding light of best practices for managing a dozen employees. The juxtaposition of the humorous tips to ruin your one-on-ones with a positive...

Katrina_Clokie
Bank of New Zealand
T17

A Practical Guide to Testing in DevOps

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Thursday, May 2, 2019 - 1:30pm to 2:30pm

Where does testing fit in a DevOps world? DevOps encourages the development and operations teams to work together. This broadens the network of people who collaborate to deliver a product, which creates opportunities for the boundaries of testing to expand and for the nature of testing to evolve. Testing pushes right, toward production, once the development team understands the skills, practices, and tools available in operations. Examples include on-demand infrastructure that enables testing in a production-like environment, feedback from A/B test experiments provided by customer metrics...

Adam_Auerbach
EPAM Systems
T18

AI in Testing: A Moderated Panel Discussion

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Thursday, May 2, 2019 - 1:30pm to 2:30pm

Artificial intelligence is the newest trend in software testing. But what is it, and how will it impact the tester's role, both today and in the future? What do you need to do to embrace this emerging technology? Adam Auerbach and Jennifer Bonine will moderate this panel discussion—which will include Jason Arbon, Dan Belcher, Tariq King, Jeff Nyman, and Jeremias Rößler—to give you an opportunity to hear the opinions of industry leaders about AI in testing. You will have a chance to drive the debate, so come prepared with all your AI questions.

Noha_Gomaa
Aldo Group
T21

Testing as a Service: Forming a Service-Oriented Testing Team

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Thursday, May 2, 2019 - 3:00pm to 4:00pm

Companies today must respond to the ever-increasing demand for delivering products in a fast-paced digital environment. As a result, many traditional 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 thinks there must be a better way to handle the transition. Noha champions "testing as a service" to many project teams. She helps...

Friday, May 3

Isabel Evans
Independent Consultant
WWT1

Failing and Recovering

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Friday, May 3, 2019 - 8:30am to 9:45am

Do you ever feel you have lost confidence in your own abilities? Why does this happen? Isabel Evans spends a lot of time painting. Someone once commented, “Why are you doing this, when you are not very good at it?” And gradually she stopped drawing and painting, after being intimidated by a conventional vision of what good art should look like. At the same time, she experienced a parallel loss of confidence in her professional abilities. Attempting creative pursuits like drawing and painting is essential to cognitive, emotional, creative abilities and she began to understand the...