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Agile Testing Days 2018 – Tuesday – Robots – Feminism – WiT – MIATPP Costume Party

After a wonderful few relaxing days meeting and conversing with people at AgileTD, on the Tuesday, the conference programme kicked off truly. Susan Bligh and Janet Gregory delivered a great keynote that emphasized we all have our own role to play in working towards justice. Being silent is not part of the solution: dare to speak up! The importance of role models in our careers and lives, and the strength to make a change.

Morning Keynote – Susan Bligh & Janet Gregory – From Fairy Tales to Serious Stuff: Two Generations in Tech

Elizabeth Zagroba is a wonderful person: she identifies as introvert and speaks on stages around the world on the power of that. As a fellow introvert, it is encouraging to see more knowledge about what it means to be an introvert spread. Elizabeth spoke about how Doubt Builds Trust – especially in interviewing situations.

Elizabeth Zagroba – Doubt Builds Trust

I’d not met Sonja Nesic before AgileTD and she delivered well on her first conference talk. As I did most of my scouting volunteer projects with teams all over Europe all working remotely, it was intriguing to listen to her talk on how they work with remote teams and different cultures in their work situation. Thank you Sonja.

Sonja Nesic – Four Nationalities. Two Countries. One Team. Can It Work?

Rick Tracy and I used to work together. He now works remotely for a company in Germany while living in the Netherlands and he takes remote learning to a next level with his robot that is present in office. As remote working and distance working will continue to develop, it was interesting to see how he tackles some common challenges with the robot.

Rick Tracy – I Bought a Robot: Musings About Remote Working and Telepresence Tech

Trish Khoo is an amazing artist and tester. She designs her own t-shirts, paints large canvasses and is so authentic in what she does. She doesn’t travel to our side of the world often, so it was a pleasure to see her present her keynote. She applies her testing skills in a lot of different organizational contexts, which can help transform organizations and drive innovation and change.

Afternoon Keynote – Trish Khoo – Transparancy: A Holistic Approach to Software Quality

After Trish’s keynote, I got a sneak preview at Ashley’s keynote the next day. It’s been so wonderful to talk with Ashley, talk things over and get a preview at how she crafted her keynote. The Women in Testing group that we are both a part of is the most inspirational and supportive group I’ve found. I love how we uplift each other and help tackle our challenges.

Eeva Pursula published a number of teaser videos for her talk, which, along with her title and presence, made me really want to see her talk. I rushed in a bit late, but still caught most of it. Eeva: thank you for your courage in tackling this topic on a stage.

Eeva Pursula – How Concepts of Feminism Make Me A Better Tester

Fin’s talk about burnout is a particularly interesting one for me having had a rough year (& amazing, but really rough too  – it’s been a journey) this year myself. Fin shared his personal journey.  Thank you Fin.

Fin Kingma – Me and My Burnout

Evening Keynote – Jeff Sussna – Harnessing Change for Competitive Advantage

Alex Schladebeck, Ashley Hunsberger and myself met up in Alex’s room to prep for the party, drink some champagne & chat. Thank you Alex for the hair curling and help! It was fun to prep with you both. The MIATPP costume party is a massive event at Agile Testing Days. During the evening, the MIATPP award is handed out. It’s the Most Influencial Agile Testing Professional Person award and the winner is decided by a community vote. Earlier winners include Lisa Crispin, Janet Gregory, Huib Schoots and Maaret Pyhäjärvi among others.  This year’s winner was Alex Schladebeck. Congratulations, Alex! Your work on exploratory testing, your presence in the community and insights on quality and risk matter.

The MIATPP evening is traditionally a costume party. Everyone is welcome without a costume yet I (and many others) like dressing up. This year, as soon as I conceived of the idea to wear a sketchnote/story dress, I couldn’t let it go – so… I was very proud to wear my shining AgileTD programme sketchnote dress. It was so much fun to see people do a doubletake when they realised that the small lines were actually a sketchnote and the hunt to find speaker’s names on my dress.

MIATPP Hollywood Costume Party

 

 

 

 

 

Cirilo Wortel made fabulous photographs of the MIATPP party. Find them here.

That concluded the first full conference day. An amazingly educational day!

Published by Marianne Duijst

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