2019 testing conferences part 1

New year, new conferences! That amazing feeling when your company asks you which conference you would like to go to this year! Following Adrian’s podcast blog post, I decided to write one on conferences! Although there are many conferences to choose from, one must take note of the different formats. Companies usually have a specific checklist of requirements, which they want their employees to abide by when choosing a conference. For example, your company might request that the conference has multiple streams at the same time, so they can send a number of employees to get the maximum out of the conference. Another requirement may be that the conference must include hands-on workshops, so once the employee returns s/he will be able to show the rest of the team what was done during the workshop.

There are many sites which list down all the software testing conferences of 2019, my favourite being: https://testingconferences.org & https://techbeacon.com/app-dev-testing/best-software-testing-conferences-2019

In this post, I will shortlist conferences which meet different criteria, and hopefully help you choose an awesome conference in 2019! (N.B. I will split this post into two parts, the first part containing conferences running from January — June, and second Part: July — December 2019)

Automation Guild Online Conference 2019

Location: Your sofa, or wherever you want for that matter 🙂
Dates: Feb 4–6 2019
Price: $197
Website: https://testguild.com/

Yes, you read that right! A totally online conference and this might be just what you need! If your company does not have the budget to send you to an offsite conference, or maybe due to your routine leaving home for a few days is just not possible, this is the solution for you! Joe Colantonio managed to successfully create this guild, using a ‘virtual attendance’ format. Pre-recorded keynotes, Live Q&A and Live Panel discussions. Once you apply for the conference you will also be invited to a slack channel for that sense of “community”. Sounds great right? What you can also do is listen in on the live Q&As or even watch a pre-recorded session with your colleagues, leading to discussions from the comfort of your own office, at whatever time you please.

European Testing Conference 2019

Location: Valencia, Spain
Dates: 14–15th February
Price: €1,049
Website: https://europeantestingconference.eu/2019/

Advertised as a conference which is “tired of conferences that feel more like sales pitches than practitioners sharing the craft.” Which makes a lot of sense, especially if you are more interested in testing practices and methodologies other than new testing tools on the market. What’s interesting about this conference is that workshops are not only included in the price but are part of the schedule i.e. integrated within the 2-day normal schedule. And the workshops are repeated, that means if you really like 2 out of the 4 available workshops then you can go to one on the first day and the 2nd on the second day. Easy 🙂 Another plus about this conference is that Angie Jones will be a keynote speaker!
BTW Dwane and I will be attending this conference this year, so don’t feel shy to say hi!

Test Bash Brighton 2019

Location: Brighton, UK
Dates: 3rd — 6th April 2019
Price: £1,246 (Early Bird)
Website: https://ti.to/mot/testbash-brighton-2019?source=testingconferences

My conference of choice last year, and I did not regret it one bit! What an awesome community feeling, great speakers and great workshops. Brighton is also one of my favourite places in England. Test bash Brighton offers flexibility when it comes to what you want to take away from the conference. For example, you might only want to attend the workshop day, which will cost you £449 (Early Bird), or you can just attend one or both of their single track conferences on the 3rd and 5th April. They also have childcare, how cool is that!

Nordic Testing Days 2019

Location: Tallinn, Estonia
Dates: MAY 29–31 2019
Price: 630 EUR + VAT (20%)
Website: https://nordictestingdays.eu/

Oh, what memories! Nordic testing days was actually my first ever software Testing conference, which I attended with Adrian. What I loved about the conference is that every stream had a level indication: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced. I would highly suggest taking notice of these indicators as these may help you get the best out of the conference. The workshops before the conferences were also great, hands-on with amazing teachers. I was lucky enough to have Richard Bradshaw.

Agile Testing Days 2019

Location: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Dates: 23–27th June 2019
Website: https://agiletestingdays.us/
Price: $2,295 (Super Early Bird)

The first non-European based conference on the list. Agile Testing days is held twice a year, once in the US and one later on the year in Germany. ATD is one of the most popular conferences out there. They even have a dedicated page of how you can convince your boss, that this is the conference for you: https://agiletestingdays.com/blog/how-to-get-your-boss-to-send-you-to-the-agile-testing-days/
As the name suggests, this conference tries to market companies having an agile mindset with the main talks evolving around testers in a QA environment. The conference promises workshops, talks, keynotes, social events, and for some reason unicorns …

Conclusion

These are only a few of the amazing conferences in store for 2019. The above have been chosen because they all bring something different to the table, and also have a great reputation. What do you guys think? Will you be attending any of these conferences this year? Any conferences which you love and did not make the list? Leave us a comment below!

Originally published at http://testautonation.com.