After Tuesday afternoon eased us in to the conference, things move into full swing on Wednesday, with two keynote speeches, 24 track sessions, and a host of faciitated events in the Expo Hall, not to mention some bumper evening activities. (Check out my post from yesterday to read some tips about handling the agony of choice!)
Things get started at 8.30am Wednesday with an introduction from the EuroSTAR programme committee, leading into the first keynote session of the day from Isabel Evans. Isabel is going to be talking about her experiences from a failed project, which people are often afraid of discussing; admitting your mistakes is not a sign of weakness, it’s an essential part of coming back stronger. I’m really looking forward to hearing Isabel’s stories, and comparing them to my own experiences, to see whether I could have handled my own situations better.
In terms of track sessions, there are six blocks throughout the day, each containing four choices. The programme looks rather like a music festival, in that my eyes are first drawn to some high-profile clashes; I’m hoping that I’ll get a chance to hear from the speakers that I mention below, though if I don’t then they can expect to get my vote for Thursday’s “Do-Over Session” (where conference attendees can cast their ballot for a second airing of one particular talk).
Among my personal highlights from Wednesday’s programme are:
- Gro Rognstad and Trude Britt Rosendal will be talking about achieving sustainable cultural diversity within teams in their talk “Is Girl Power Enough?”;
- Kristoffer Nordström explores the hot topic of gamification, looking at how you can use game techniques in non-game situations (such as in the maintenance of a test automation framework) to drive engagement among colleagues;
- Alex Rotaru will talk about changing mindsets (ours and others’), building communities and fostering these beliefs when building a team;
- Robert Calangiu will share his story of the tester’s role as part of the London 2012 Olympics media experience.
With so many sessions to choose from, keep an eye on the Twitter hashtag #esconfs to check out what’s happening in the other rooms. If you see some interesting tweets from a session attendee, try to find them in the breaks and chat about what they’ve heard; by exchanging anecdotes with delegates from other sessions, you can massively increase your opportunities for gaining fresh insights.
The second and final keynote presentation for the day is being given at 17:00 by Julian Harty. His topic, “Software Talks – Are You Listening?”, is all about how you can create and utilise logging, reporting and analyics capabilities within your applications, to give you increased understanding of your users, their behaviours and preferences.
With so many great sessions to choose from, it’s easy to forget that there’s an action-packed day in the Expo Hall too. As well as a whole host of exhibitors, there are also events scheduled throughout the day in the Test Lab, including sessions led by conference presenters Rikard Edgren and Anne-Marie Charrett. The Community Hub is also going to be a hive of activity on Wednesday, with informal round-table and soap box sessions scheduled throughout the day, as well as the opportunity to chill out and talk with luminaries including Janet Gregory and Karen Johnson.
After the conference events have concluded for the day, Wednesday evening sees the main event, the Awards Dinner, held at the historic Croke Park sports venue. Coaches are departing from the Convention Centre at 18:45, and will return at approximately 23:00. Although the dinner is sold out, there’s a waiting list in operation – contact Siobhan (siobhan@eurostarconferences.com) to find out if there are any last-minute places available.
Have a great day, and a great evening – it’s going to be long and eventful, I’m sure!
