Past Activities

Here's a fairly complete list of courses and public presentations.

May 2008

May 27 Six Short Talks about Software Testing, for the Toronto Association of System and Software Quality.
May 19-21 A three-day public session of Rapid Software Testing, sponsored by ENEA in Stockholm, Sweden.
May 18 While in transit to Sweden, I had the good luck to be able to attend LEWT, the London Exploratory Workshop on Testing, a peer conference organized by James Lyndsay (and many thanks to him).
May 7 - 8 Two talks at STAR East: Angels and Devils of Software Testing (with Jonathan Kohl) and Understanding Test Coverage.

April 2008

April 23 I appeared at the inaugural Conference for the Kitchener Waterloo Software Quality Association, where I presented Why I Am Not (Yet) Certified, followed by a half-day Testing Clinic.
April 15-17 The Software Test and Performance Conference (STPCon) in San Mateo, CA. I presented a one-day Rapid Software Testing workshop, and then three track sessions: The Metrics Minefield; User Acceptance Testing; and Exploratory Testing: The State of the Art.

March 2008

March 31-April 3 A three-day Rapid Software Testing workshop for a corporate client in Ronneby, Sweden, followed by a day of hands-on testing work and two presentations; one to managers and the other to developers.
March 18-20 A three-day Rapid Software Testing workshop for a corporate client in Ottawa, Ontario.

February 2008

February 25-29 A three-day Rapid Software Testing workshop, followed by a day of work with small groups of testers, for a corporate client in Istanbul, Turkey.
February 13-15 Rapid Software Testing for a couple of corporate clients in Lund, Sweden.
February 12 In the morning, a presentation on exploratory testing and on heuristics for a group of testers, developers, and managers at a corporate client in Lund, Sweden. In the afternoon, a workshop on exploratory testing, featuring mostly a set of exercises, for some of the testers from the morning group.
February 11 A one-day presentation of Rapid Software Testing for the Norwegian Computer Society in Oslo, Norway.

January 2008

January 18-20 Participated in the Workshop on Teaching Software Testing. Presented a couple of exercises from the Rapid Software Testing course. These exercises engage testers' emotions, curiosity, and inventiveness, which seemed of particular interest to the many of the academics.
January 7-9 Rapid Software Testing—a three-day course, sponsored by the Toronto Association of System and Software Testing.

December 2007

December 19 One day of consulting as follow-up to the Rapid Software Testing course for a corporate client in Mississauga, ON.
December 11-14 Rapid Software Testing—a three-day course, followed by a day of consulting, at a corporate client in Omaha, NE.
December 6 "An Exploratory Tester's Notebook", a track session at EuroSTAR 2007.
December 4 "Why I Am Not (Yet) Certified", a keynote presentation at EuroSTAR 2007.
December 3 A Rapid Introduction to Rapid Software Testing—a one-day workshop at EuroSTAR 2007, Stockholm, Sweden.

November 2007

November 28-30 A Rapid Introduction to Rapid Software Testing—a one-day workshop at expo:QA 2007, Madrid, Spain, followed by a track session, "When Two Plus Two Doesn't Equal Four".
November 20-22 Rapid Software Testing at a corporate client in Mississauga, Ontario.
November 7-8 Great Lakes Software Excellence Conference, Grand Rapids, MI. I gave a half-day Rapid Software Testing tutorial, a lightning talk on Emotions and Oracles, and appeared on a panel discussion software testing certification schemes (I'm not in favour of the current ones).

October 2007

October 31 Gave a presentation called "Boundaries Abound, Boundlessly"—a talk on boundary testing, co-authored with James Bach—for the Kitchener-Waterloo Software Quality Association (KWSQA), Waterloo, ON.
October 30 Live host for a emote presentation by David Platt on Why Software Sucks.
October 29 Gave an Ignite Presentation (a lightning talk) on Emotions and Test Oracles at DemoCamp 15, Toronto, ON.
October 25 Presented "Emotions and Test Oracles", a track presentation at the STAR West conference, Anaheim, CA.
October 22-24 Three-day Rapid Software Testing course for a corporate client in Tempe, AZ.
October 15-18 Presented a three-day Rapid Software Testing course, with an extra day of followup consulting with the test leads, for a corporate client in Waterloo, ON.
October 11 A one-day Rapid Introduction to Rapid Software Testing for a modestly-sized corporate client in Redmond, WA.
October 9-10 Presented three papers for the 25th annual Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference in Portland, OR: Two Futures of Software Testing and User Acceptance Testing in Context (two older talks promoted to papers) and An Exploratory Tester's Notebook (a new talk and paper). The papers should be available in the proceedings which, as of this writing, are not yet on the PNSQC site but will be.
October 2-4 At the Software Test and Performance Conference in Boston, MA, I presented a one-day Rapid Introduction to Rapid Software Testing, and three talks--When Two Plus Two Doesn't Equal Four; The Metrics Minefield, and User Acceptance Testing in Context. In addition, James Bach and I practiced rapid software testing on a pair of Web kiosks in the hotel. We found many bugs, including a couple of reasonably serious security holes--and in an effort to be good guys, we informed the provider of those kiosks. Also played mandolin at two Irish sessions in town!

September 2007

September 10-13 Presented a three-day Rapid Software Testing course, and provided a day of coaching and consulting to a corporate client, Halifax, NS.

August 2007

August 28-30 Presented Rapid Software Testing to a corporate client, Cupertino, CA.

July 2007

July 17-19 Presented Rapid Software Testing to a corporate client, Caribou, ME.
July 9-11 Attended the Conference of the Association for Software Testing, Bellevue, WA.
July 7-8 Participant in the Workshop on Heuristic and Exploratory Techniques, Seattle, WA.
July 4-5 Consulting and coaching in rapid and exploratory testing, corporate client, Waterloo, ON.

June 2007

June 24-29 Participated in Jerry Weinberg's Problem Solving Leadership workshop (co-hosted by Johanna Rothman and Esther Derby), Albuquerque, NM.
June 22 Presented four one-hour talks (Two Plus Two: Recognizing Oracles and Setting Context; First to Market or First to Fail; The Metrics Minefield; and Numbers vs. Narratives) at Bank of Montreal's Professional Excellence Symposium, Toronto, ON.
June 18-20 Presented "First to Market or First to Fail", a presentation on innovation, at the Better Software Conference and Expo, Las Vegas, NV.
June 14-15 On-site consulting with a corporate client, Montréal, QC.
June 9-10 Content owner with Fiona Charles for the third Toronto Workshop on Software Testing (TWST III), this time on the subject of risk-based testing, Toronto, ON.
June 4-6 Presented Rapid Software Testing to a corporate client in Rome, GA.

May 2007

May 17-18 Presented two Lightning Talks--one on Rapid Test Estimation, and the other on the role of emotion in software testing--at the STAR East conference in Orlando, Florida. Colloborated with James Bach in the early-morning test tutorials--not an official conference offering!
May 14-16 Presented Rapid Software Testing to a corporate client in Fort Pierce, Florida.

April 2007

April 30-May 3 Work onsite with a corporate client in Eden Prairie, MN, presenting Rapid Software Testing, and a day of hands-on and one-on-few consulting before and after the course.
April 17-19 A one-day tutorial on Rapid Software Testing, plus User Acceptance Testing, When Two Plus Two Equals Four is Wrong, and The Metrics Minefield at Software Test and Performance Conference 2007, San Mateo, California, USA.
April 10-13 Onsite consulting with a corporate client, teaching Rapid Software Testing and testing exercises, at home in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
April 4-5 The Metrics Minefield, a talk about the dangers of numbers without stories, at Statistics Canada's IT Conference 2007, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

March 2007

March 20-21 A half-day tutorial on Rapid Software Testing; a class on Testing Skills That (Almost) No One Talks About; and another class on An Exploratory Tester's Notebook at the SD West Conference and Expo in Santa Clara, California.

February 2007

February 26-28 Rapid Software Testing three-day course with corporate client in Cupertino, California.

January 2007

January 31-February 2 Rapid Software Testing three-day course with corporate client in Bengalooru, India.
January 31 Presentation on building a software testing community, with a followup presentation on Learning About Oracles, hosted by NDS Software in Koramangala, Bengalooru, India.
January 23-23 Consulting work with corporate client in Waterloo, Ontario, on Rapid and exploratory testing.
January 19 Exploratory Testing - The State of the Art--a plenary address for the STeP-IN Forum 2007, Bengalooru, India.
January 18 A Rapid Introduction to Rapid Software Testing--a half-day tutorial for the STeP-IN Forum 2007, Bengalooru, India.
January 16 Rapid Software Testing Explained -- a three-hour presentation, with questions and answers, for a group of senior testers at a major services firm in Bengalooru, India.
January 9-11 Rapid Software Testing three-day course for TASSQ, the Toronto Association of System and Software Quality.

December 2006

December 12-14 Rapid Software Testing three-day course for a corporate client in Waterloo, ON.
December 8-9 A presentation of "Testing Skills That (Almost) Nobody Talks About" and "Testers as Their Own Worst Enemies", plus a half-day tutorial on Rapid Software Testing at Testing World 2006, a presentation of Thatavarti Technologies and other sponsors in Hyderabad, India.

November 2006

November 30 A presentation of "Two Futures of Software Testing" for expo:QA in Madrid, Spain.
November 27-29 A three-day tutorial on Rapid Software Testing for inQA:labs in Madrid, Spain.
November 13-17 A tutorial on Rapid Software Testing and participation at the 27th Annual QAI Testing Conference, in Orlando, Florida. The conference featured terrific keynotes by Cem Kaner and Jonathan Bach.
November 6-9 Three conference sessions at the annual AYE Conference: a workshop called "Testing: Setting Context and Identifying Oracles"; a presentation on "Geeks and Adders", a board game co-developed by me Fiona Charles, Mary Alton, and Jill Shefrin that models software development projects; and "How Am I Supposed to Act", a beginners' workshop on improv acting.

October 2006

October 30-November 1 Rapid Software Testing for a corporate client, Montréal, Québec.
October 16-18 Rapid Software Testing for the Kitchener-Waterloo Software Quality Association.
October 9-11 Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference, Portland, Oregon: Rapid Software Testing One-Day Introduction and an invited talk, First to Market or First to Fail: A General Systems Perspective.
October 2-5 QAI International Software Quality Conference, Toronto: Rapid Software Testing One-Day Introduction and a keynote address, Testing Skills That (Almost) Nobody Talks About.

September 2006

September 27 The Kitchener-Waterloo Software Quality Association, Kitchener, ON: The Metrics Minefield
September 26 The Toronto Association of System and Software Quality, Toronto: The Metrics Minefield
September 24-29 Rapid Software Testing and consulting at a local client here in Toronto.
September 11-14 SD Best Practices, Boston, Massachusetts: Testing Skills That (Almost) Nobody Talks About; Exploring Exploratory Testing; A Rapid Introduction to Rapid Software Testing; When Two Plus Two Equals Four is Wrong: What Is The Problem And How Do We Know?
September 2-8 Consultants' Camp, Mt. Crested Butte, Colorado

August 2006

August 12-19 Teaching Rapid Software Testing to a corporate client, Recife, Brazil

July 2006

July 23-28 Two presentations on Rapid Software Testing and Exploratory Testing at the Agile2006 International Conference, Minneapolis, Minnesota

June 2006

June 28-30 Rapid Software Testing, Public Course offered through inQA.labs, Barcelona, Spain
June 24-25 The Toronto Workshop on Software Testing II (Peer Conference), Toronto, Ontario
June 21-23 Rapid Software Testing, Public Course, Toronto, Ontario
June 16 Four one-hour presentations for an in-house conference, BMO Financial Group, Toronto, Ontario

May 2006

May 29-31 Rapid Software Testing, Corporate Client, Singapore
May 19-21 Workshop on Heuristic and Exploratory Testing (Peer Conference), Palm Bay, Florida
May 18

"User Acceptance Testing: What It Is, And How To Do It Better -- In Context", STAR East, Orlando, Florida

  • Finally, a presentation that recognizes how important it is that everything must be put into context before its value can be understood or judged. Best presentation so far, by far!
  • Loved the humor--very entertaining and good info. Explained ways to look at UAT. I'll be able to use the info to open discussions at work. Thanks!
  • Reminded me again about all the questions I should ask about everyday tasks.
  • Best speaker I've heard here this STAR--more please!
May 9 - 11 Rapid Software Testing, Corporate Client, Toronto, Ontario
May 3 - 5 Rapid Software Testing, Corporate Client, Altoona, Pennsylvania

April 2006

April 27 A (Rapid) Introduction to Rapid Software Testing, QAI Conference, Orlando, Florida
April 25 Exploratory Testing, half-day tutorial, QAI Conference, Orlando, Florida
April 3-5 Rapid Software Testing, South Western Ontario Software Quality Group, Kitchener, Ontario

March 2006

March 27-31 Participant in Jerry Weinberg's Consultants' Workshop, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
March 21-23 Rapid Software Testing Course, Corporate Client, Stuttgart, Germany
March 18 Chaired presentations for plenary sessions, and invited panel member for "Testing: How Do We Stop the Madness?", at STC2006, QAI India, Delhi, India
March 17 Presentations of "Two Futures of Software Testing" and "Testing Skills That (Almost) Nobody Talks About, at STC2006, QAI India, Delhi, India
March 16 One-Day Tutorial on Rapid Software Testing, for QAI India, Bangalore, India
March 14 One-Day Tutorial on Rapid Software Testing, for QAI India, Mumbai, India
March 13 One-Day Tutorial on Rapid Software Testing, for QAI India, Delhi, India

February 2006

February 23 Experience Report on the Exploratory Testing Research Summit to the Kitchener-Waterloo Software Quality Association, Waterloo, Ontario
February 16 Introduction to Rapid Software Testing + consulting, Corporate Client, Mississauga, Ontario
February 3 - 5 Workshop on Teaching Software Testing, hosted by Cem Kaner and James Bach, in Melbourne, Florida

January 2006

January 31 - February 1 Exploratory Testing Research Summit, hosted by Cem Kaner and James Bach, in Palm Bay, Florida
January 4 - 6 Rapid Software Testing Course, Board Members of the Toronto Association of System and Software Quality

December 2005

Entire Month Private consulting and testing work with a Canadian financial services company

November 2005

Entire Month Private consulting and testing work with a Canadian financial services company
November 29 Rapid Software Testing One-Day Workshop, with James Bach, Toronto, Ontario
November 28 Rapid Software Testing One-Day Workshop, with James Bach, Kitchener, Ontario
November 7 - 10 AYE Conference; assisting Jerry Weinberg with "Using Your Yes/No Medallion" workshop, Phoenix, Arizona

October 2005

Entire Month Private consulting and testing work with a Canadian financial services company
October 17 A Rapid Introduction to Rapid Software Testing; presentation to the Canadian Information Processing Society, Toronto, Ontario
October 5 - 7 QAI International Software Quality Conference; including presentation of Rapid Software Testing overview

September 2005

Entire Month Private consulting and testing work with a Canadian financial services company
September 27 Software Development Best Practices conference; one-hour presentation of A Rapid Introduction to Rapid Software Testing, Boston, MA
September 27 Software Development Best Practices conference; one-hour presentation on User Acceptance Testing, Massachussets, USA
September 26 Software Development Best Practices conference; half-day tutorial on Exploratory Testing, Boston, Massachussets, USA
September 7-9 Rapid Software Testing Three-Day workshop; corporate training in Sophia-Antipolis, France

August 2005

 
Entire Month Private consulting and testing work with a Canadian financial services company
August 22-August 26 Presentations of Introduction to Rapid Software Testing for the Software Testing Australia / New Zealand (STANZ) Conference, Wellington New Zealand and Canberra, Australia

July 2005

 
Entire Month Private consulting and testing work with a Canadian financial services company
July 18-20 Rapid Software Testing Three-Day workshop; corporate training in South Utica, Michigan, USA

June 2005

 
Entire Month Private consulting and testing work with a Canadian financial services company
June 18-19 The Toronto Workshop on Software Testing, Toronto, Ontario

May 2005

 
Entire Month Private consulting and testing work with a Canadian financial services company
May 11 Presentation to South Western Ontario Software Quality Group, London, Ontario
May 3-5 Rapid Software Testing Three-Day workshop; corporate training in Chennai, India

April 2005

 
Entire Month Private consulting and testing work with a Canadian financial services company
April 20-21 Workshop on Exploratory Testing for the Jornada sobre el Testeo de Software (JTS2005) in Valencia, Spain
April 5-7 Rapid Software Testing Three-Day workshop; corporate training in Mount Laurel, NJ, USA

March 2005

 
Entire Month Private consulting and testing work with a Canadian financial services company
March 22 Presentation of "Two Futures of Software Testing" for XPwm, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
March 16-18 Rapid Software Testing Three-Day workshop; corporate training in Sunnyvale, California, USA