The mission of the Association for Software Testing is to advance the understanding of the science and practice of software testing according to Context-Driven principles.
While that mission might appear to be heavily focused on software, we think of it more in terms of people and the interactions they have around software, in the software testers we help educate, support, and grow, and particularly in our members.
As a membership organisation our members are our life blood; without them we are nothing.
Reflecting on this over the last year or so, we decided that we wanted to give something back to those who have helped us to promote our craft over the years. So today we’re making two major changes:
- Life membership becomes automatic after the second annual membership renewal.
- A new membership type, AST Champions, has been created.
AST Champions are people who have contributed to AST in some significant way including volunteering as instructors on our AST-BBST software testing courses, making financial contributions, or by promoting context-driven testing in the wider world. They champion AST and we think they’re champions for doing it.
We will immediately make all previous Life Members into Champions. Their dedication to the testing craft over the last 20 years has been humbling. The people in this cohort have changed software testing forever, and their steadfast support of AST is its strongest endorsement.
New Champions can be created by award from the AST or by donating $1000 USD to our cause.
Any current regular member who has renewed twice or more will be upgraded to Life Member status. Lapsed members need simply rejoin and any renewals since 2016 will be credited. It’s also possible to buy Life Membership directly for $225.
What do Life Members get?
- All of the benefits of AST membership.
- Their membership never requires a third renewal.
- A good feeling about supporting good testing.
What do AST Champions get?
- All the benefits of Life membership.
- At least 25% discount on all AST activities.
- Optionally, to have their name listed on our website as a Champion of AST.
We did not take this decision lightly. We considered several models, studied our membership trends, and pressure-tested our ideas.
We asked all previous Lifetime members (now our Champions) for their feedback, and we reviewed all of it. Most of the feedback we received was positive. Some of it was quite insightful, and reminded us what a treasure we have both in our organization and in our Champions. People we admire built an organization we want to see thrive for decades to come, and we think we’re positioning AST to do that. We also need to ask for our Champions’ consultation more often.
We’ll have more to say on this soon, but we’re excited to announce this next phase of membership for AST!
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