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Testing & Quality Leadership Summit

Leadership on the Edge

Thursday, October 16 (evening) and Friday, October 17 (all day)

 

Testing & Quality Leadership Summit



Jeff Payne

Coveros, Inc.
Summit Chair

         

The role of a software tester continues to change as new software processes and new technologies drive the need for better, more effective testing approaches.  Join in the conversation with your peers as experienced testing and quality leaders share ways to lead an organization living on the technical edge.  Discover how seasoned leaders deal with changes in platform technology, development/testing tools, and agile development methods.

At the 2014 Testing & Quality Leadership Summit, summit chair Jeffery Payne brings together senior industry leaders—Jon Bach, Rob Sabourin, Julie Gardiner, and others—for an interactive exchange of ideas and experiences. You also won’t want to miss the Test Leader Rumble—a high energy panel discussion and debate between these cutting-edge test leaders.

Also, bring your biggest issues and challenges to the Testing & Quality Leadership Summit, where you can draw on the knowledge and experiences of these leaders and your fellow managers who may have already faced and solved some of your issues. You’ll hear what’s working—and not working—and have the opportunity to share your experiences and successes. The Testing & Quality Leadership Summit is a perfect opportunity for you to:

  • Participate in insightful and informative sessions focusing on leadership issues
  • Meet and network with your peers in the industry
  • Join in the “think tank” discussion with industry veterans
  • Develop new ideas and action plans for innovation within your organization


5:30 PM Reception—Think Tank Issues Identification: As a Leader, What Is Keeping You Up at Night?

Jeff Payne, Coveros, Inc.
 

8:00 AM • Registration and Breakfast

8:30 AM • Finding Your Edge on the Edge
                Jon Bach, eBay, Inc.

   
A good tester can find problems or risks under any condition—compressed time, no cooperation, or sparse information. The best ones seem to thrive despite uncertainty and pressure. Why is that? What is their secret? In this interactive talk, Jon Bach will point out the attributes he’s seen in testers for 20 years (and that are likely within you, too). What skills can you cultivate to be a more effective leader despite being under stress? His premise is: “We’re all tested” and even though testing is about revealing weaknesses—the good news is that it also reveals strengths. How can you be an effective leader in the face of changing technology, organizations, and process? Share your advice for how you have coped and even thrived in a constantly changing technological and company landscape.
With more than eighteen years of software testing experience, Jon Bach has held technical and managerial positions in companies including Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft. As director of Live Site Quality for eBay, Jon is dedicated to building “end-to-end” tests (activity flows) in eBay’s core sites to discover important bugs that threaten its core business. He and his brother James created Session-Based Test Management, a method to manage and report exploratory testing. Jon frequently speaks at the STAR conferences and usually can be found wearing a ball cap, hanging out in the conference hallways, encouraging others, and sharing best testing ideas and patterns.

9:30 AM  Networking Break

9:45 AM • Tester Leader Rumble—A Panel Discussion/Debate
                Jon Bach, Rob Sabourin, and Julie Gardiner

   

Every leader attacks a problem in a different way. Join three distinguished test leaders as they discuss and debate how to tackle today’s stickiest test leadership issues:

  • How to motivate testers
  • How to get what you need from upper level management
  • Dealing effectively with the software development organization
  • Addressing morale and performance issues
  • And more!

Learn how these problems can be attacked in different ways. Take home pragmatic, proven techniques for addressing test leadership challenges.

 

Rob Sabourin, P. Eng., has more than thirty years of management experience leading teams of software development professionals. A well-respected member of the software engineering community, Rob has managed, trained, mentored, and coached hundreds of top professionals in the field. He frequently speaks at conferences and writes on software engineering, SQA, testing, management, and internationalization. Rob wrote I am a Bug!, the popular software testing children's book; works as an adjunct professor of software engineering at McGill University; and serves as the principle consultant (and president/janitor) of AmiBug.Com, Inc. Contact Rob at [email protected].

With more than eighteen years of software testing experience, Jon Bach has held technical and managerial positions in companies including Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft. As director of Live Site Quality for eBay, Jon is dedicated to building “end-to-end” tests (activity flows) in eBay’s core sites to discover important bugs that threaten its core business. He and his brother James created Session-Based Test Management, a method to manage and report exploratory testing. Jon frequently speaks at the STAR conferences and usually can be found wearing a ball cap, hanging out in the conference hallways, encouraging others, and sharing best testing ideas and patterns.
A principal consultant and head of QA and agile for Redmind, Julie Gardiner provides consultancy and training in all aspects of testing, management, and agile, specializing in risk, agile, test management, and usability. Julie has more than twenty years of experience as developer, DBA, project manager, head of operations management, and head of R&D. She has held positions of test analyst, test team leader, test consultant, and test manager in industries including financial, broadcasting, insurance, utilities, retail, web, telecoms and the public sector using approaches from traditional to agile methodologies. Julie is a certified ScrumMaster and agile coach.

10:45 AM  Networking Break
 

11:00 AM  Think Tank Discussion: Leadership Solution Brainstorm (Part 1)
                   Jeff Payne, Coveros, Inc.

   

Join with your peers in an engaging and highly interactive session to discuss the issues that affect you most. Using answers to the question—"As a leader, what is keeping you up at night?"—posed at Thursday’s evening reception, participants will form small groups to work on finding solutions to pressing test management issues. Discussions will review identified issues, barriers to change, and focus on innovative strategies and practical next steps.

 

Jeff Payne is CEO and founder of Coveros, Inc., a software company that builds secure software applications using agile methods. Since its inception in 2008, Coveros has become a market leader in secure agile principles while being recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in the country. Prior to founding Coveros, Jeff was chairman of the board, CEO, and cofounder of Cigital, Inc., a market leader in software security consulting. Jeff has published more than thirty papers on software development and testing, and testified before Congress on issues of national importance, including intellectual property rights, cyber terrorism, and software quality.

12:30 PM • Networking Lunch Buffet 
 

1:30 PM • Think Tank Discussion: Presentation of Results (Part 2)
                  Jeff Payne, Coveros, Inc.

   

In the morning think tank discussion you discovered solutions to some of your most challenging issues. Now each group will present their findings, share their solutions, and learn from each other. At the end of the think tank, all feedback will be collected and posted online to encourage further collaboration.

 

2:30 PM  Wrap-up and Ongoing Informal Discussion with Speakers and Attendees