Following on from Monday’s full-day tutorials, and a series of half-day tutorials on Tuesday morning, the conference portion of EuroSTAR 2014 will begin in earnest at the Dublin Convention Centre on Tuesday afternoon and it seems that attendees are going to be spoiled for choice!
It’s normally a wise idea to pick a first and second-choice session at multi-track events such as EuroSTAR. That way, if your first-choice talk is full, or you’re with a party of people who’d rather attend a different session, you’re keeping your options open. However, with four tracks ongoing at any one time, there’s still a certain amount of agony in selecting which one’s for you.
A particularly good piece of advice from Nathalie van Delft’s recent EuroSTAR preview webinar is that you shouldn’t be afraid to change sessions if you realise after five minutes that it’s not the right one for you. If you think this might be the case, it’s best to choose a rear or aisle seat when you enter, so that you can make your exit with minimal disturbance.
Of course, you can minimise the chance of picking an unsuitable session by viewing the session information on the programme page (which frequently also contains a video introduction from the speaker) or by previewing the slides in advance by visiting the Dashboard section of the EuroSTAR website.
The conference will kick-off in the main auditorium at 13:30 with opening remarks from programme chair Paul Gerrard. This is immediately followed by the opening keynote from Professor Andy Stanford-Clark, about The Internet of Things. As testers, the rapid escalation of IoT (which will see even the unlikeliest of household objects becoming internet-enabled) is going to present us with a number of challenges, not least surrounding security and connectivity. Andy’s role as Chief Technologist in IBM’s Energy and Utilities divisions makes him ideally placed to discuss the innovations which – like it or not! – are heading our way.
Tuesday’s track sessions are grouped into four key areas: Skills, Team Building, Leadership and Automation. I haven’t settled on a particular session yet – not least because my fellow EuroSTAR blogger Kim Knup has selected the same first and second choice sessions as I have! – though I think that Anna Hoff‘s talk is going to be closest to my heart. I’ve spent much of the year expanding my testing horizons and discovering exciting new opportunities, but I’m also terrible at saying no, meaning that I often find myself drowning in work. Anna’s session, “Taking Back Your Own Reins”, sounds as if it will offer some useful advice on focusing techniques and achieving your personal goals.
We conclude on Tuesday afternoon with a keynote speech from Rob Lambert. He gave a particularly engaging talk at EuroSTAR 2013 in Gothenburg on the subject of moving from yearly to weekly releases, and this year will be focusing more about the challenges that this presents to testers who may not be familiar with a continuous delivery or DevOps culture.
Rob’s talk will conclude the conference activities for the day, but there are plenty more opportunities to discuss testing topics with your peers throughout the evening. At 6pm, HP are hosting a drinks reception in the Expo Hall, and the Test Lab will remain open during this time, where (among other things) you’ll be able to pit your wits against Michael Bolton in a series of challenges (start time 17:45).
For those of you who’ve reserved a place for the Community Dinner, buses are departing the convention centre at 7pm. The dinner is being held at Trinity College, with coaches returning to the convention centre after the meal. Alternatively, if you want to extend your night a bit longer, Trinity College is ideally-placed for exploring the city centre on foot.
If you’re not attending the dinner, I’m sure there will be plenty of other impromptu evening events being arranged. Follow the Twitter discussion with the #esconfs hashtag, or ask around in the Test Lab or Community Hub, and I’m sure you’ll find a like-minded group who are setting out for an expedition into Dublin!
Whatever you choose to experience on Tuesday, I hope you have an enjoyable and enlightening time, and don’t forget to set your alarms for an 8.30 start on Wednesday morning!
