UPDATE: Singapore Testing Forum

Update: The Singapore Testing Forum website is now live. Find out more at www.SingaporeTestingForum.org

I’m always reading about the numerous Tester Meet-ups and testing forums/ conferences that are happening around the world, and was disappointed there was nothing available for us testers in Singapore. So I decided to stop complaining and set one up myself.

My first foray was kindly sponsored by the AST (http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/) in December 2012. You can read the write up here. It was a great event and the turn out confirmed my view that the Singapore Testing Community wanted a regular opportunity to meet with others in the industry on a regular basis. So I set about seeking some sponsors to help me set up a regular meet up. 

Step up The Testing Consultancy and Tricentis, people who share my passion that Testing is an intelligent activity to be done by skilled individuals. Together we set up the Singapore Testing Forum.

Our first event was held on June 18th. Once again we had an encouraging turn out of more than 80 testers from various companies and industries. We started with a few words from our sponsors whilst everyone tucked into the coffee and snacks they had provided! I then presented my introduction to Context Driven Testing : The rise of the thinking tester. My thoughts on how I have seen the testing industry change for the worse in the last 5-10 years and how I’m happy to be involved in a community who believes very strongly that we need to return to the days of common sense, intelligent testing.

As you’ll see if you watched the video, we had a late change to the program as our planned speaker Rajesh Mathur had last minute flight issues and was unable to get to Singapore. Thankfully, Nicky Watson, a Senior Testing Manager who also shares a passion for promoting the cause of intelligent testing, stepped in at very short notice and delivered a great presentation giving tips on how to talk to stakeholders (non-testers) about Testing.

The feedback from the night was very positive. So much so, STF 2 has been organised for Sept 9th. To be held again at NTUC building. We’re honoured to be flying in a guest speaker from New Zealand. and I will be continuing my series, diving into more detail to explain how Context Driven Testing looks on real projects. This time I’ll be giving a demo of ‘Dynamic Test Analysis’, showing how testers can use Heuristics to quickly break down a system and produce a Visual Test Model to clearly communicate the understanding, or knowledge gaps, to the project team. 
I hope to see all you Singapore based testers at the next event. Please see the flyer below, or join our LinkedIn group for more details of how to register. 
Dates & speakers are already being set for the final 2013 STF in November and we’ll be sure to continue the series every 2 months throughout 2014.