Trisha Chetani

Trisha is standing for election to the AST board 2022-23. Find her on Twitter at @TrishaChetani

1. Please share your vision for the future of the AST, and how would you help to accomplish this vision in case you were part of the AST Board of Directors?

I will understand what AST is already doing, and have plans to do by involving myself in the board meeting, 1×1 with other board members. I will try to help them with the same, and simultaneously I will share my ideas how I think we can achieve the mission.

Additionally, I have shared my ideas for how I might add the value in the question below. Please read further!

To the point, I give it my best shot with what I have.

2.Is there an area where you feel AST is lacking in its role as a professional organization? If so, what would you suggest doing to begin to change that and increase the value to AST members and the testing community at large?

I am motivated how AST manages conferences and has an educational platform through BBST, although AST is a nonprofit organization.

I note ‌AST is only currently engaged in these two medium of professional testing. I believe ‌AST could engage software testing professionals in more varied ways. At the moment, this was a one area I could think of expanding AST.

Another area of improvement is about constant promotion and marketing either via

  • what AST is doing?
  • What AST is planning to do/ What is upcoming (not just newsletter, maybe video/audio)?
  • Creating excitement about upcoming conferences to the audience so that there is engagement.
  • Recent webinar, recent talk (I reckon, AST is promoting past talk from conferences)
  • As AST has a strong emphasis on education, something on that aspects.

3. Many people come to be AST Board of Directors candidates through a long history of community involvement. This community involvement usually involves teaching, creating and running peer conferences, creating and running regular conferences, and working with commercial entities. Please describe any current initiatives you participate in that might affect your ability to serve on the AST board, and serve the AST membership.

I’ve been a part of the software testing community for decades, and when I was just starting out with my very first job in software industry as a software tester, I used the weekend testing platform to meet other experienced software testers and test by pairing with them. Since then, I have always engaged with the professional community via Twitter, Slack, Twitter groups, or Skype groups, Discord(as per evolution) of different testing communities.

I actively co-volunteered to host conferences and meetups. I have tried helping software tester to gain broader experience in their work by mentoring.

Recently, I just took a one-month break from breaks and put in the extra effort that led to my recognition as Postman Supernova and BrowserStack Champion. Besides these, I have written blog posts, recorded podcasts, took part in panels, and spoken at conferences, and took part in live challenges. I feel that this contribution of mine recently should clearly show how much I would appreciate your support to achieve this!

If given the chance and trusted, I can declare with confidence that my excitement and attitude toward lifelong learning will help. I could help AST in various ways as I will explain below with the question of mission of AST. Please have a read.

 4. In what ways have you supported the mission of AST?

The Association for Software Testing is dedicated to advancing the understanding of the science and practice of software testing according to Context-Driven principles.

  • Aligning to AST mission
  • Increase diversity by including people who are not just experts but also various age groups (college students, fresher, experienced)
  • By easing the burden on devoted individuals and enabling the community to host more sessions, for instance, I can strive to attract additional funding via collaboration. I can also drive the sessions and workshops, write a blog for AST, and encourage people to listen to an AST podcast.
  • Generating more ideas through community testing collaboration. (In tandem with other communities in the software testing field,)
  • Giving someone a chance will help them feel appreciated and recognized.
  • Support AST as a brand to reach out across globe so that they can leverage.
  • We can have AST chapters which is more based on context driven testing.
  • If possible, we can have scholarships for new comers to encourage and motivate them!

5. (Optional) Would you like to provide a short (250-400 word) introduction to go on your candidate page?

I am a software tester, and automation enthusiast. I have been helping the teams to follow testing processes and support, that enable teams to deliver high-quality software in DevOps Environment. I’m always enthusiastic to attend Conferences, and meet-ups for professional development, as well as, I am an active community member. I love the work, but I have thought more about the big picture, so I am looking for opportunities to thrive in a management role.