Community of Software Testing Professionals
Interview With Nancy Kastl, TesTrek Program Committee
Test Republic: QAI Global Institute’s TesTrek is a new symposium. What does TesTrek offer to the testing community?
Nancy Kastl: Yes, TesTrek is new and will be held in Toronto for the first time the week of October 26-29. As the name implies, it is an educational journey exclusively focused on testing. TesTrek addresses the needs of software testers in today's fast paced environment with limited time and budget. It is the best and quickest path to learn testing practices, to solve current testing challenges, and to keep up-to-date with software testing trends. To fit your busy schedule, you can attend one day, two days, three days, or all four days.
TesTrek's 'Two-for-Two' format consists of a two-day Manager's Solutions Workshop and a two-day Software Testing Symposium.
Test Republic: What is the two-day Manager’s Solutions Workshop? Can only managers attend?
Nancy Kastl: QAI’s Manager’s Solutions Workshop is designed exclusively for software quality and testing managers. It’s held on Monday and Tuesday of TesTrek week.
The workshop gives managers the opportunity to select and prioritize for discussion their top challenges in building, testing, and delivering quality software applications and products. It is a highly interactive workshop that leverages group problem solving skills among peers in the industry. Additionally, there will be guest appearance by industry experts Shawn Bradshaw, Questcon Technologies, Michael Bolton, DevelopSense, and Fiona Charles, Quality Intelligence to share their solutions. Managers attending past workshops have enjoyed comparing what they are doing with other companies and have been delighted with the line-up of industry experts.
Test Republic: Can you tell me about the Symposium’s program?
Nancy Kastl: The TesTrek Symposium has three concurrent tracks that uniquely address the needs of testing professionals. One track focuses on the challenges that testing professionals face today and provides pragmatic solutions. The second track keeps testing professionals informed of the emerging trends in software testing so they can be tuned into what will be happening to their profession in the future. And the third track focuses on specific testing practices that they can learn and apply on the job. So TesTrek really provides ‘one-stop shopping’ for the testing community.
Test Republic: What is unique about the TesTrek Symposium?
Nancy Kastl: Besides the way that the three tracks are designed, TesTrek is unique because 50% of the sessions within these tracks are workshops with facilitated discussion. Today’s conferences are putting ‘confer’ back into conferences. TesTrek also recognizes the need for people to learn through lecture, discussion, and exercises. So each track has two sessions that are one-hour lecture and two sessions that are one-and-half hour workshops. Also during lunch there are roundtable discussions so that the attendees who are interested in a specific topic can get together and exchange information over lunch.
Test Republic: Who are the keynote speakers?
Nancy Kastl: We are delighted to have two great keynote speakers on topics that provide unique insight. James Campbell from Accenture Canada is speaking on “Testing in Today’s Enterprise: What to Expect”. It’s a very relevant topic in today’s rapidly changing world. He will describe the new role of the QA professional and present methods of adapting to achieve success in today’s marketplace. Our second keynote speaker is Gil Broza from 3P Vantage. Gil is speaking on “The Subconscious Tester” and how the subconscious mind impacts the way that testers find defects. So our keynotes will be giving us some insights about ourselves and our companies.
Test Republic: What companies are participating in TesTrek?
Nancy Kastl: TesTrek is being held in Toronto. The majority of the speakers are from Canadian or Global companies such as CGI, TD Bank Financial, Deloitte Canada, Accenture Canada, Aviva Canada, BMO Financial Group, and Cognizant to name a few. Microsoft Canada and Accenture Canada are TesTrek sponsors.
Test Republic: What would you say is the number one reason to attend TesTrek?
Nancy Kastl: It’s a great opportunity to connect with fellow professionals from the testing community, to share knowledge with each other, and to learn from the great line up of industry expert speakers. Everyone has a great time and return to their offices energized with new ideas and skills.
Nancy Kastl: Yes, TesTrek is new and will be held in Toronto for the first time the week of October 26-29. As the name implies, it is an educational journey exclusively focused on testing. TesTrek addresses the needs of software testers in today's fast paced environment with limited time and budget. It is the best and quickest path to learn testing practices, to solve current testing challenges, and to keep up-to-date with software testing trends. To fit your busy schedule, you can attend one day, two days, three days, or all four days.
TesTrek's 'Two-for-Two' format consists of a two-day Manager's Solutions Workshop and a two-day Software Testing Symposium.
Test Republic: What is the two-day Manager’s Solutions Workshop? Can only managers attend?
Nancy Kastl: QAI’s Manager’s Solutions Workshop is designed exclusively for software quality and testing managers. It’s held on Monday and Tuesday of TesTrek week.
The workshop gives managers the opportunity to select and prioritize for discussion their top challenges in building, testing, and delivering quality software applications and products. It is a highly interactive workshop that leverages group problem solving skills among peers in the industry. Additionally, there will be guest appearance by industry experts Shawn Bradshaw, Questcon Technologies, Michael Bolton, DevelopSense, and Fiona Charles, Quality Intelligence to share their solutions. Managers attending past workshops have enjoyed comparing what they are doing with other companies and have been delighted with the line-up of industry experts.
Test Republic: Can you tell me about the Symposium’s program?
Nancy Kastl: The TesTrek Symposium has three concurrent tracks that uniquely address the needs of testing professionals. One track focuses on the challenges that testing professionals face today and provides pragmatic solutions. The second track keeps testing professionals informed of the emerging trends in software testing so they can be tuned into what will be happening to their profession in the future. And the third track focuses on specific testing practices that they can learn and apply on the job. So TesTrek really provides ‘one-stop shopping’ for the testing community.
Test Republic: What is unique about the TesTrek Symposium?
Nancy Kastl: Besides the way that the three tracks are designed, TesTrek is unique because 50% of the sessions within these tracks are workshops with facilitated discussion. Today’s conferences are putting ‘confer’ back into conferences. TesTrek also recognizes the need for people to learn through lecture, discussion, and exercises. So each track has two sessions that are one-hour lecture and two sessions that are one-and-half hour workshops. Also during lunch there are roundtable discussions so that the attendees who are interested in a specific topic can get together and exchange information over lunch.
Test Republic: Who are the keynote speakers?
Nancy Kastl: We are delighted to have two great keynote speakers on topics that provide unique insight. James Campbell from Accenture Canada is speaking on “Testing in Today’s Enterprise: What to Expect”. It’s a very relevant topic in today’s rapidly changing world. He will describe the new role of the QA professional and present methods of adapting to achieve success in today’s marketplace. Our second keynote speaker is Gil Broza from 3P Vantage. Gil is speaking on “The Subconscious Tester” and how the subconscious mind impacts the way that testers find defects. So our keynotes will be giving us some insights about ourselves and our companies.
Test Republic: What companies are participating in TesTrek?
Nancy Kastl: TesTrek is being held in Toronto. The majority of the speakers are from Canadian or Global companies such as CGI, TD Bank Financial, Deloitte Canada, Accenture Canada, Aviva Canada, BMO Financial Group, and Cognizant to name a few. Microsoft Canada and Accenture Canada are TesTrek sponsors.
Test Republic: What would you say is the number one reason to attend TesTrek?
Nancy Kastl: It’s a great opportunity to connect with fellow professionals from the testing community, to share knowledge with each other, and to learn from the great line up of industry expert speakers. Everyone has a great time and return to their offices energized with new ideas and skills.
Tags: conference, interview, tes, trek
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