A Time and a Season to all Things

Today I sent the following message to the members of the Education Special Interest Group of the Association for Software Testing:


Hello everyone!

Three years ago at this time, I took on a challenge that no one else wanted to take on. I realized that there was a lot at stake if someone didn't [added: the AST BBST classes might cease], and thus a practitioner, with little academic experience, took over a role that Cem Kaner had managed for several years. I stepped into the role of being the Education SIG Chair, and through that process, I learned a lot, we as a SIG have done a lot, and some interesting projects have come our way to be part of (expansion of AST BBST classes and offerings, SummerQAmp materials, PerScholas mentoring program, etc.). It's been a pleasure to be part of these opportunities and represent the members of AST in this capacity.

However, there is a time and a season for all things, and I feel that my time as an effective Chair has reached its end. As of July 15, 2014, I have officially resigned as the Chair of the Education Special Interest Group. This does not mean that I will stop being involved, or stop teaching BBST courses, or stop working on the SummerQAmp materials. In fact, it's [my] desire to work on those things that has prompted me to take this step. Even I and my hyper-involved self has to know his limitations.

I have asked Justin Rohrman to be the new Chair of the Education Special Interest Group, and he has graciously accepted. Justin is more than capable to do the job. In many ways, I suspect he will do a better job than I have. I intend to work with him over the next few weeks to provide an orderly transition of roles and authority so that he can do what I do, and ultimately, so I can stop doing some of it :).

Justin, congratulations, and thank you. EdSIG, I believe wholeheartedly you shall be in good hands.

Regards,
Michael Larsen
Outgoing EdSIG Chair


To everyone I've had the chance to work with in this capacity over the past three years, thank you. thank you for your patience as I learned how to make everything work, for some definition of "work". Thank you for helping me learn and dare to try things I wasn't aware I could even do. Most of all, thanks for teaching me more than I am sure I have ever taught any of you over these past three years.

As I said above, I am not going away. I am not going to stop teaching the BBST courses, but this will give me more of an opportunity to be able to teach them, or assist others in doing so, which is a more likely outcome, I think. It also frees me up so I can give more attention to participating in programs that matter a great deal to me, such as SummerQAmp and PerScholas. As I said above, I believe Justin will be fantastic, and I'll be just a phone call or email message away from help if he should need it ;).

AST Re-Election: Do I Deserve Your Vote?

This is going to be very much a niche post. For many, this won't make a lot of sense. For others, it will make a great deal of sense, and it's all of you that it will make sense to that I am hoping will read and consider this post.

Members of the Association for Software Testing, CAST 2013 will be starting just under two weeks from today. I will be there. I will be speaking, helping out where I can, and, I hope, acting as a positive representative of this organization.

This year also marks the end of my inaugural term as a member of the Board of Directors. I am up for re-election. I have considered why I should run for the Board again, and why I should ask each and every one of you to give me your support and your vote.

Short version:

I am running once again, and I am asking for your vote of support for a second term.

Longer Version:

I have enjoyed interacting with all of you over the past two years. I've served in the role of being the "BBST Headmaster",  keeping track of the books for the organization as the Association's Treasurer, and working as the Chair of the Education Special Interest Group, most notably with the group of dedicated individuals who have helped compile and curate the materials that are developing to be the basis of educational modules for SummerQAmp.

I'll be blunt. I'm not an academic. I'm not a consultant. I'm a software tester. A practitioner. I'm an everyday, regular person who works for a regular company. I'm also one who wants to see our profession, craft, discipline, "call it what you will" grow, develop and flourish.

I enjoy being actively involved in those efforts, and being part of the Board of Directors allows me the opportunity to try and see these initiatives, and others, be pushed forward. There are long time projects that need updating, and delivery options that we may want to consider, as an organization, to enhance or replace what we currently use. Frankly, I think I'm just crazy enough to take a number of these on and make them happen.

As a practitioner, I'm also a bit of a cynic (it comes with the territory of being a software tester). I know some of you are thinking... "OK, so what's in it for you?" That's a totally fair question. The fact is, I get opportunities to learn about software testing education in avenues I would not were I not part of this Board. I get the chance to help see grant opportunities develop for international testing conferences, and help see them get funded. I get a lot of satisfaction out of knowing that we as an organization are making a difference around the world, spreading a message of "sapient testing" that breaks free of old methods and default "factory paradigms" that, frankly, don't make sense in an ever adapting digital world.

Yes, I want to see those opportunities continue. I want to champion excellent software testing. I want to get involved with more initiatives that will help make software testing education more available, better performing, more engaging, and yes, dare I say it... FUN! There are many avenues where that could happen,  but I like the mission and purpose of the Association for Software Testing, and everyone involved in it as members. I could approach these opportunities in a number of places, but I'd rather approach it here, with all of you.

Really, that's all I have to say. The final vote is yours. I have enjoyed very much these past two years working with you, and on your behalf. I'd like to ask you for two more years... membership willing :).

Take the Association for Software Testing "Black Box Software Testing" Course(s): 99 Ways Workshop #22

The Software Testing Club recently put out an eBook called "99 Things You Can Do to Become a Better Tester". Some of them are really general and vague. Some of them are remarkably specific.

My goal for the next few weeks is to take the "99 Things" book and see if I can put my own personal spin on each of them, and make a personal workshop out of each of the suggestions.

Suggestion #22: Take the Association for Software Testing "Black Box Software Testing" course(s) - Stephan Kämper

Standard Disclaimer time... I have very much a self serving interest to have people take the Black Box Software Testing (BBST) classes. For starters, I am (at the time of this writing) the Chair for the Education Special Interest Group with the Association for Software Testing. Long story short, I'm the Administrative head of this initiative. Would I love to have everyone who reads this become members of AST and pay to take the classes? Absolutely! Is that going to happen? Highly unlikely! 

I really do think they are incredibly valuable, and I also think they are well worth the money charged for them. However, for some, money and time are genuine issues, and for many, they want to know exactly what they are getting involved in before they plunk down a chunk of change to take a class.

Having said all that, I'll also make something else clear… every concept, every lecture, every study note, and every exercise and reading that is part of the BBST series of classes can be accessed for free, on your own time, at your own pace, as much or as little as you want. If that sounds interesting, then please see the workshop details below:

Workshop #22: Read through and practice all of the materials available at http://testingeducation.org/BBST/

I will make no bones about it. The BBST courses are tough. They ask a lot of participants. They cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time. Were I to make any one suggestion to anyone looking to participate in taking an actual BBST class as we offer it, I would likewise say "spend some time reviewing all of the material as the BBST site. Watch all of the lectures. Read all of the readings. Consider all of the projects and labs. Practice all of them." Why? Because you will understand the level of thinking and involvement that goes into the courses.

What will you not get with the BBST site? You do not get instructors who will coach and guide you. You will not get the quizzes or final exam questions to consider. Most important, you will not get a group of participants that you can interact with and share your experiences with, and receive feedback from. In truth, that is what you are paying for when you sign on to take a BBST course through AST (or through anyone else). 

For those who just want to peruse the materials and see what this "context-driven testing" stuff is all about, and the idea of taking a formal class doesn't appeal to you, that's fine. Read through the materials and learn that way. If the idea of interaction and sharing is high on your priority list, then having read through these materials first will give you a huge boost when the time come to actually take the class. It's very likely that the individual experiences from each of the participants will add considerably to what you've learned, but having the baseline understanding first will, undoubtedly, make the experience easier to follow and meet in the time allotted for each class.

Bottom Line:

I think the BBST classes have great value, and I am happy to have been a participant and an Instructor for all of them, and look forward to doing so for a long time. Other instructors feel the same way, and we are here an ready to teach if you want to join us. Even if you don't want a live class, please take the time to check out the materials and read what has been compiled over the years. 

If all you do is go through the materials on your own, and thoughtfully consider each of the lectures, lessons, labs, and readings, and take the time to work through each of the sections, I promise you will walk away with some great skills and a sense of better understanding where the context-driven approach of testing comes from. If you do choose to join us for the actual classes, then interactions with the other participants and their experiences (and yeah, a little boost from some live instructors) will help you learn a great deal more.

Becoming a "Certified" BBST Instructor

Disclaimer: this message is mainly being posted for the benefit of members of the Association for Software Testing. So why am I posting it on my blog, and not on AST's site? Well, because I want to do a double appeal, and this has to work on two levels.

First, I want to encourage those out there with a passion to teach about software testing to join AST.

Second, I want to encourage those people out there to become instructors in their own right and help us teach what I personally consider the "colossus of all software testing classes", the Black Box Software Testing courses, aka BBST.

I'm going to come right out and say it. BBST is huge. It's demanding. It's a massive time commitment. It has a high attrition rate of those who take it, mainly because the work load is tremendous. There's a lot to learn, and a lot to do. I also think it's one of the most powerful groups of software testing education classes currently available. Hearing the responses of participants that complete these courses solidifies my belief in that statement after every run.

Can anyone teach these classes? Truthfully, I'll have to say "no". Instructors have to be patient, they have to be willing to take a back seat and let other participants learn from each other as well as instruct. They need to be coaches and mentors. In fact, I think that is the primary role that they really perform. The participants tend to do best when they teach themselves. A BBST Instructor needs to know when to help, and when not to help. When to give a hand, and when to get out of the way. When to give someone encouragement, and sometimes, to break the news to someone that they have been caught cheating, and cannot continue in the courses. Yes, I've had to do that. No, I won't mention names.

So, if I haven't scared you off yet, you may just be wondering "so, Michael, how can I create an exciting, thrilling and lucrative career as a BBST Instructor?" Well, first, if you think that third adjective applies, you're probably not a good candidate. All kidding aside, though it can be fun, and it can be extremely educational, it's a lot of work and as of now, we do not pay our instructors. They are all volunteers.

"Um, yeah, OK, so why would I want to do this again ?"

You can be rewarded for your efforts in a variety of ways. First, you can be rewarded in the fact that, even as instructors, you learn something new every time you teach. Seriously, every single time I teach a class I learn something new based on the insights of the participants and what they bring to the table. Second, it's really cool to be in a position to see people let go of antiquated, so called "best practices" and see them embrace "good practices for the appropriate context". For some, just that is huge!

All right, so now that I've mentioned all of this, what does it take? Glad you asked.

If you want to become a full fledged Lead Instructor (as defined by AST for teaching BBST classes):

1. Each Instructor has to have successfully completed the class they are interested in being an Instructor for (Foundations, Bug Advocacy, Test Design).  If you've completed a course, and feel you would like to be an Instructor for that course, let us know. We will do what we can to have you assist in an upcoming course. We have many spots for Assistant Instructors, and we often have classes with two to four Assistant Instructors participating.

2. Take the online Instructor's Course, so that we can show you the avenues that we use and the methods to help instruct and coach participants. This class is currently only offered once a year, but if we were to get enough interested Instructors, we would be happy to double that amount to help more Instructors get the training they need and not have to wait. Also, while it is strongly encouraged to have Assistant Instructors take the Instructor's Course before teaching, it's not mandatory to do so. If you want  to assist but haven't taken the Instructor's Course, it's left up to each individual Lead Instructor to decide if they want to take you on for that particular class and mentor you. Successfully completing the Instructor's Course clears that hurdle somewhat. If you want to be a Lead Instructor, the Instructors Course is mandatory.

3. Assist in at least two courses for the class that you would like to be a Lead Instructor for, and have good evaluations from your Lead and other Assistant Instructors who follow and "shadow" the courses. If the reviews are good, and we feel you have the temperament to be a Lead Instructor, then we will set up the opportunity for you to lead a course (note: you can only lead courses that you have already participated as an Assistant Instructor at least twice).

4. Each Lead Instructor gets a "shadow" lead for the first time they lead a course. That shadow lead evaluates their performance, and makes recommendations if they should lead future courses. If the reviews are favorable, then they get a chance to "fly solo" with a class. If they need a little more practice, we can offer to shadow them a second time. For most, two shadow runs is usually sufficient.

5. After an Instructor has been the Lead for two classes, then they can be "certified" for that course. This certification is a collection of reviews, both from fellow instructors as well as participants. The certification process is where AST states that we feel this person has the skills and the temperament to deliver a quality instruction experience. Also, the BBST certification allows that instructor to take the BBST materials and teach them anywhere they want to, with AST's approval. While that prospect may only appeal to a handful of people, the abilities that are reflected in being able to teach and mentor participants through such a dense and multi-layered class series shows a solid commitment to being a good mentor and instructor, and should impress just about anyone who takes training seriously.

For those who have been keeping track, that means every "certified" Lead Instructor for any of the courses offered have, at bare minimum, been through the material a minimum of five times (once as a participant, at least twice as an Assistant Instructor, and at least twice as a Lead Instructor).

So, if I haven''t scared you off yet, there it is. In a nutshell, that's the BBST approach to developing and "certifying" Lead Instructors. My goal is to see a way to teach solid software testing skills to as many people as possible, without diluting or dumbing down the material. That's going to require a dedicated group of instructors, and those instructors are, quite frankly, those of you that care enough to want to see that level of instruction grow and thrive.

In other words, those of you actually reading this right now :).

Same As It Ever Was?

According to the Internet, and Mayan prophecy, December 21, 2012 is supposed to be the end of the world. I figure, if this proves to not be true, this will be something to allow me to celebrate a wonderful year of testing. If it does prove to be true, well, no one will be here to read this, so I suggest reading this quickly ;).

2012 was a pivotal year for me, in that I had a chance to do many things I'd never done, I had a chance to participate in a number of unique opportunities, and I made some decisions that have really made me question if it made sense to do things the same way I've done them for so long. Also, for those astute musical nerds out there, I'm referencing Talking Heads "Once in A Lifetime" once again with the title. It's proven to be quite a versatile song for these posts over the past few years.

When I wrote the first of these recaps in 2010, I was preparing to leave a job I had worked at for almost six years, and very much looking forward to a new adventure in a new capacity. In 2011, I shared many of the lessons I'd learned from making that step, and how being involved in the broader community had become very important to me. Thus I find it interesting that, here at the end of 2012, I am writing this message at yet another company, at the start of yet another "excellent adventure". "Same as it ever was?" seemed rather fitting, as this was not a year of business as usual. Not by a long shot!

2012 was a year of travel and outreach, and the opportunity to learn about and work with a number of interesting initiatives. I concluded my dive into Ruby and learning as much of the language as "Learn Ruby the Hard Way" would inspire me to do. This was a project started in 2011, and it ran for three months. I learned a lot along the way, and grew to appreciate many of the nuances of Ruby and how it works. My personal library of Ruby titles is huge now, which is a little ironic since, in my new role at Socialtext, I am looking at code that written mostly in... Perl :). Some might comment that I've wasted my time with all this Ruby focus, but I don't think so at all. What I've been able to do is approach a language at a deeper level than I ever have in the past, and do so with the eye of sharing my experience with others. That helped me internalize a lot more of it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not what I would consider a great programmer, nor even a moderately good one. Still, there's a level of appreciation and achievement I'm quite proud of, and I feel it will help me look at other languages and be a little less intimidated.

My friends Lynn McKee and Nancy Kelln invited me to participate in the POST 2012 workshop up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, back in March. I was the facilitator for this event, and help the participants present their topics, discuss their ideas and critiques, and I also had a chance to present the idea of Weekend Testing as a service that any company could incorporate and associate with its test teams. An aded bonus, Lynn took me to Sunshine Village, one of the ski resorts in Banff National Park. Yep, I got to tick off a bucket list event... I snowboarded in Canada!

I had the pleasure of going to New Orleans to help plan out many of the events that would be part of the CAST conference for 2012, and visit some of the areas of the city (Bourbon Street, Royal Street, etc.) that I'd only heard stories about. It also gave me a chance to participate in the first Workshop day of STP-CON Spring 2012, likewise in New Orleans. I had the experience of being able to go and participate in and live blog five different workshops, and participate alongside many other intelligent and engaged testers.

I presented my first full paper and presentation at a conference this year. It was originally to be at PNSQC 2011, but a broken leg sidelined me and I was unable to present it. A friend who felt bad that I couldn't give my talk contacted Lee Copleland and suggested my talk would be a good fit for their conference. Lee read the paper and decided "yes, we'd like to see this presented" and offered me a spot on the program at STAR EAST 2012 in Orlando, Florida. I acepted and presented my talk. Additionally, I won Best Paper for "Delivering Quality, One Weekend at a Time". For the record, that was a seriously cool experience!

Weekend Testing in the Americas had a more regular schedule at one session per month. As we held our sessions throughout the year, we noticed an interesting pattern. There is a group of regular attendees that often participate. We have a number of brand new testers that come on and try it out a few times, then disappear. We have a number of one-offs, those who try it and never come back. Because of this, I determined it would be a good idea to get some additional brains into the mix to help develop sessions, content ideas, and other areas of focus. Albert Gareev has continued to be a great help to me in this regard, and we welcomed JeanAnn Harrison and Dan Gold into the mix of regularly contributing facilitators. Seriously, thank you to all of you, it made this year's sessions more enjoyable, and it gave me peace of mind to know that, if I couldn't be there for a session, that it would happen and all would be well. Additionally, I appreciate the influx of fresh ideas and different approaches.

Early in 2012, I had a chance to answer an article written about the SummerQAmp program, and what it hoped to accomplish. That proved to be a fateful message, in that I started a collaboration with the organizers of SummerQAmp and, along with members of the Association for Software Testing and other interested test professionals, we started writing what we hope will become a complete and practical introduction to the world of software testing. We delivered several modules and ran a beta test of the materials with a number of interns, and the response was "This is great! Can we have more of this?!" The answer, I hope, will be "Yes", and make no mistake, that will be a primary focus for me and for the AST EdSig in the new year. If you'd like to participate, please drop me a line!

I was invited to participate in Test Coach Camp, which happened the weekend prior to CAST 2012. This was an open-space conference event, where a number of testers participated and presented a variety of topics. I had the chance to present three different sessions (mentoring interns, teaching leadership skills, and a systematic deconstruction of Weekend Testing and the question "if we rebuilt it, what would you like to see us do?"). CAST 2012 also was the first chance to present the idea that has been my focus for much of the year, looking for that elusive balance between Test Driven Development, GUI Automation and Exploratory Testing. This topic showed up in a number of formats this year, and each time I approached it, I learned something new. First, it was a paper submission for PNSQC, then an emerging topics talk at CAST, then a full presentation at Agilistry Studios, and finally as a poster paper presentation that I gave (dozens of times) at PNSQC.

2012 saw me branch out and start contributing articles to a number of different outlets. Thanks to  ST&QA, Testing Planet, Atlassian and Zephyr for allowing me the opportunity to write for a broader audience, and for their giving me a chance to open this blog up to more testers and people interested in my writing. This year I also set a record for traffic with a post that is now number 1 with a bullet on TESTHEAD. Which post? Learning to Tell Different Stories, where I compared the storytelling tradition in Japan to what us "westerners" are used to, and how the differences and nuances open us up to asking different questions once we see and understand that there are different ways of seing things beyond our own world view. I also enjoyed participating in ST&QA's "Ask  the Tester", where I had the chance to answer a number of questions from the broader testing community. Also, I was a presenter in the Agile Transitions Online Conference for Software Test Professionals, where I presented my talk on "Being a Lone Tester on an Agile Team".

TWiST had another year of great conversations, great participation, and crossing the 100 episode mark (as of this week, we're up to episode #127). I always think of the old television maxim that, for a show to live on forever, it needs to pass 100 episodes to be eligible for life in syndication. I'm not sure if that's applicable for a podcast, but it's great to see that there is an appreciative audience, and that we can bring these discussions and ideas to you each week. I also enjoyed the various panels I participated in, and the shows I could contribute my ideas and thoughts to various discussions. Finally, I would be remiss were I not to say thank you to Justin Rohrman and Mark Tomlinson, who stepped in this year to help me edit episodes and do some of the "grunt work" that goes into getting these shows ready to be packaged and released. Seriously, your help is greatly appreciated!

During 2012, I continued my active involvement with the Miagi-do School of Software Testing, where Matt and Markus decided that I had earned the right to be advanced to a Black Belt Level Instructor. It's both gratifying and humbling to be associated with so many great testers, and while I now have the title of Instructor, sometimes I wonder who the real teacher is. I feel like I learn more from those I interact with than they likely learn from me.

As I have taken on the role as Chair of the Education Special Interest Group within the Association for Software Testing, I made the decision to step out of an active teaching role for the time being. While I will still be teaching some classes, I wanted to focus this year on giving others the opportunity to step up and learn how to lead the BBST classes and encourage those who haven't had the chance to assist and get a chance to teach as well. My goal for 2012 was to broaden our instructor pool, and that will continue to be a primary goal for 2013.

Hanging up my Lone Tester status was definitely not something I could have foreseen earlier this year, but looking at the interactions with others in so many other mediums, perhaps I should have seen it as inevitable. I decided that through all of the interactions I have had with my fellow testers, and with some feelings of frustration with my role as a lone tester, that I would put out some feelers and see if there were some test teams that would be interested in having a "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" join them. I have to admit I was surprised that so many responded, and so quickly. Thus, with the chance to "practice what I preach" regarding interaction, engagement and peer involvement, I made the decision to make the move from Sidereel, where I was a Lone Gun, to Socialtext, where I now work with a small but focused team of four testers... and by the way, we're looking for another tester to join us after the new year, so if you're interested (and local ;) ), let me know.

So many people have made this an amazing year for me, and to mention everyone by name will likely mean I'll leave someone out, so if I do, please don't feel slighted (and hey, if you do, email me and I'll put you in... blogs are cool like that :) ). Cheers and much appreciation to Aaron Scott, Albert Gareev, Anne-Marie Charrett, Becky Fiedler, Ben Simo, Benjamin Yaroch, Bill Baker, Catherine Karena, Cem Kaner, Dan Gold, Dee Ann Pizzica, Doug Hoffman, Elisabeth Hendrickson, Francis Adanza, James Bach, Janette Rovansek, JeanAnn Harrison, Jeff "Toxic" Burchell, Jon Bach, Justin Rohrman, Keith Klain, Ken Pier, Kevin Haggard, Lee Copeland, Lynn McKee, Mark Tomlinson, Markus Gaertner, Marlena Compton, Matt Barcomb, Matt Heusser, Mimi Mendenhall, Nancy Kelln, Patti Swift, Pete Walen, Peter "Pantera" Arzhintar, Rich Szeto, Rick Baucom, Scott Barber, Shampa Bannerjee, Thomas Ponnet, Timothy Coulter, and Zach Larson. Thank you for challenging me, for making me question my ideas, my motives, and my goals. Thank you for helping me make it possible to make changes, take burdens off of my shoulders and help me so that initiatives I started are being shepherded and able to keep going. Thank you for what has honestly been, at least as far as software testing is concerned, my greatest year (and remember, I said the same thing last year, and the year before that).

Oh, and should the world not end on December 21, 2012, then let me suggest that we follow the wise advice of Abraham Lincoln, who said:

"Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES!"

From Master To Student Again

AST's BBST Test Design class is now underway, with a slightly unexpected modification. When we ran the pilot curse, I assisted Cem in teaching it, which meant I had about one week's more involvement with the material than the participants did, and the old maxim "you can teach someone anything if you are two chapters ahead" certainly held, but it was also challenging to do it in that manner.

As we set up for the first run of the official class, and we accepted the participants, Cem made a suggestion to me. He said "Michael, how would you like to be a student this time around? You didn't get that opportunity for the Pilot, and if you are going to be leading these classes, it's important that you also see the course from the participants perspective". How could I argue with that :)?

So as of Sunday, I am now a participant in Test Design, and I get to be a student again. This is meshing pretty well overall. I did my Foundations class in early 2010, my Bug Advocacy class in early 2011, and now Test Design in early 2012. This will also give me a chance to see how well I understand the material I helped teach the first time around, and if this experience and a different perspective will help open up answers that I wasn't aware of before. In any event, this will be a cool experience, and I expect to learn a great deal from doing it.

It does, however, mean I will have to ask some indulgence from my Foundations class participants to give me a little bit more time to give them additional feedback. Much as I want to, I cannot stuff more than 24 hours into a day, and contrary to popular belief I really do need to sleep sometimes :).

Foundations Flying Solo, Sort Of

It's almost Saturday, and it's the end of week three of the current BBST Foundations class being offered by AST. Yeah, I know, I've done this lots of times, but this class is a bit different. First, I think this is the first time a class has run without any input from Cem Kaner, Becky Fiedler or Doug Hoffman, at least that I am aware of. Second, this is the first stint where I'll be taking the reins of the entire monster that is BBST via AST, and from March 31st, 2012, it'll be all mine. That though is both exhilarating, and at the same time, absolutely terrifying.

Let me back up a bit here. For those who are familiar, the Black Box Software Testing classes were a joint effort developed by Cem Kaner and James Bach. The material that is presented was initially written by them and compiled over several years. It's been well researched, field tested, and run regularly for the past several years, always under Cem's watchful eye. Cem recorded all of the videos for the course, a huge undertaking and tremendously time consuming. In short, BBST has been shepherded by Cem and Becky for years. Both Cem and Becky have solid academic credentials, doctorates in different disciplines, and lots of background in academic circles. Still, after so many years, they decided it was time for someone else to handle the AST commitment to the BBST courses. That's where I come in, a guy who took twenty years to cobble together a bachelors degree, who has no higher credentials beyond that, and who, frankly, is much more comfortable speaking "dude" than he ever will be discussing or interacting with academia. Yet AST seems to believe that I'm a good bet for running this initiative, so I'm giving it my all.

Before anyone considers throwing a pity party for me (and really, I ain't asking ;) ), I have to say I've had a great staff this time around. Adriano Comai, Mohamed Lahrech and Ray Oei have been my partners in crime for this go around, and they have done a fantastic job keeping on top of everything, and sometimes that includes telling me when I'm forgetting something. Yeah, I'm their Lead Instructor, but they hardly need me there, to be frank. The group of participants this time around has been great. Sometimes there are challenges and clashes of personality (testers being difficult and nit picky?! Perish the thought (LOL!) ). Seriously, it's been a great group, and they've really been great.

Tomorrow at midnight, our final exam will be posted, and then we'll see if I and my band of brothers have pulled this off. It's scary to know you are taking over something that has been run by a man that's considered a legend in the testing community. For those about to head into the final exam, I wish you good vibes and I look forward to seeing your answers and commenting on them. For everyone else considering if they want to take any of the BBST classes, I of course hope you will. While I can't promise to be your instructor (though there's about four times this year that will be a good bet ;) ), I believe the volunteers who teach these classes are great, and I think your being involved with them will make for a very worthwhile month of your time. We may not be perfect, but we give it our all, and I think you'll see that. 

Into the Blue Again...

It's amazing to think that 2011 is almost over, and yes, while last year I lamented writing the obligatory "year that was" letters and somewhat lampooned them with my post last year titled "Well, How Did I Get Here?", that post resonated with many people. It is to date my most read and my most commented on article here on TESTHEAD, depending on which metrics you believe.  Based on the response to that post, I decided this year to just let it be known, this is a recap of the World of TESTHEAD, and the world of "Michael Larsen, Tester" for the year of 2011. The title this year is indeed, again, in homage to the seminal 1980 Talking Heads classic "Once in a Lifetime".

2011 was a year of transition for me personally. I took many leaps of faith this year, and as the title says, I willingly jumped into new areas and new responsibilities. Early in the year, I ended my employment with Tracker Corp, bringing to an end six years of learning, camaraderie and a focus on the .NET world of software development and testing. In exchange, I came to Sidereel, and a world of learning, camaraderie and Rails software development. This is telling, because I'd never worked with Rails before, and my involvement with Ruby prior had been from recommendations from co-workers that it would be fun to learn. Well, now it was more than "fun to learn", it was an occupational hazard (and necessity :) ).

With that, I started mapping out and learning a new site, a new programming language, a new model, a new way of storing data, and very different approach to developing software. I was no longer just a tester, I was to integrate with a fully Agile development team and work with and alongside of them. Oh, and I traded in a daily diet of Windows and PC's for a daily diet of Mac OS X and Darwin UNIX all sleekly wrapped in a Macbook Pro. Oh UNIX, how I have missed you!!! There  was just something comforting about leaving behind the world of MSI and EXE files and embracing tools such as ruby gems, homebrew and other options for installing software. Scriptable, customizable, and where Test Driven Development and Continuous Integration were not obscure buzzwords but actual practices that were, well, practiced! It's also been telling, humbling, and intriguing to learn about and use tools like Ruby, RSpec, Cucumber, Capybara, Selenium Web Driver and other areas of automating testing. I can safely say I have written more code this year than I have in the past 17 years prior!

2011 also saw the process of Weekend Testers Americas come into its own. What could have been a few experimental and jerky first few sessions got smoother, cleaner, and better understood, and we had some great successes during the year. While I'm not sure how much others have learned, I know that I learned a great deal from this process. What was great to see was that this initiative was embraced by people all over the world, and our participants reflected this fact, including testers who would come into our sessions at 12:30 AM (yes, after midnight) from India to participate. First off, that's dedication, and my hats off to everyone who did that, but more to the point, it spoke volumes about the service we were offering and the fact that people wanted to come in and participate, even at those insane hours. We had some help from some heavy hitters, too. Michael Bolton and James Bach both came in to guest host some of our sessions ("Domain Testing" and "Creating Testing Charters"), and Jonathan Bach helped me craft one of my breakaway favorite test ideas of this year, that of "Testing Vacations". In all, it was a banner year for Weekend Testing Americas, and I am so thankful for all of the participants that helped make it possible. I'm especially thankful for Albert Gareev, who in addition to being a regular participant, stepped up to become my partner in crime for this enterprise, and frequently helping me develop new ideas or take the process in different directions than I probably would have had I been left to my own devices.

2011 was a year of meeting and developing relationships with other testers. In January, I met Matt Heusser in person for the first time. As many of you know, one of my most involved and enduring professional relationships was with (and continues to be with) Matt. I produce the "This Week in Software Testing" podcast with him. I helped write a chapter for a book he was the principal editor for (more on that in a bit). I also was a sounding board for other ideas and offered several of my own in return. I had a chance to meet my fellow Weekend Testing Compatriots Marlena Compton, Markus Gaertner, and Ajay Balamurugadas in various places. Marlena and I had the pleasure of live blogging the entirety of the Selenium Conference from San Francisco, with our comments getting us branded as the "Table of Trouble" from the other participants. That was a fun memory, and it helped to set the stage for liveblogging other events throughout the year. Geting the chance to meet so many testers during this year in various capacities was a real highlight and much enjoyed aspect.

2011 also saw my commitment to being published. I made a decision that I wanted to write beyond the scope of TESTHEAD. As will probably come as no surprise, my first few articles were Weekend Testing based. However, I had the opportunity to venture into other topics as well, including two cover stories for ST& QA magazine; one being my article about "Being the Lone Tester" and another an excerpt of my chapter from "How to Reduce the Cost of Software Testing".  Speaking of that, 2011 saw me and 20 other authors get our names in print and become book authors. It was a pleasure to have the chance to write a chapter for "how to Reduce the Cost of Software Testing". A later development, one in which I, literally, just got word about and accepted, was a potential new book that discusses "The Best Writing in Software Testing". I have agreed to be a junior editor for this project, and we are aiming for a 2012 release of this title. In addition, I also published articles with sites like Techwell, the Testing Planet and Tea Time With Testers. As of now, I have eleven articles that have been published external to TESTHEAD, and it is my hope that I'll be able to write more in the coming years.

2010 was a first in that I attended my first testing conference. I made the commitment then that 2011 would be the year I would present at a testing conference. I received my opportunity to do exactly that. My first ever conference presentation was just 20 minutes, and it was at CAST 2011. I presented in the "Emerging Topics" track and discussed Stages of Team Development lessons I had learned from Scouting, and how they could apply to Testers. All in all, it went well, and even today, I still hear from people who said they appreciated the topic and liked my presentation. In addition, I also gave another full track session at CAST called Weekend Testing 3-D, where not only did i discuss how to facilitate Weekend Testing style sessions, we actually held a live session with participants from all over the world, and processed it in real time (this was the earlier mentioned "Testing Vacations" session that Jonathan Bach helped me develop. In addition, I proposed a track talk and paper for the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference titled "Delivering Quality One Weekend at a Time: Lessons Learned in Weekend Testing" and after writing the paper and  having it reviewed several times, received the nod to present it. However, fate struck, and I broke both bones in my lower leg (tibia and fibula), thus preventing me from delivering the talk (the organizers of PNSQC, however, still included my paper with the proceedings). Additionally, a friend who felt bad that I couldn't present at PNSQC forwarded my paper to Lee Copeland, the organizer of the STAR conferences. Lee liked the paper and asked if I'd be willing to present it at STAREast in April, 2012. I of course said YES! So I will get my chance to present this paper yet :)!

There is  no question that I learned a great deal from the TWiST podcast, both as a producer and as an active listener, but 2011 will be even more memorable in that I graduated from editing the show and as an occasional guest to being one of a handful of rotating regular contributors on the mic. It's been interesting to have people email me and say "hey, I heard your interview last week, that was a great show and a great topic, thanks for your comments and explanations". I thought it was especially cool when I had someone say that they felt that I'd make a great game show host (LOL!).

2011 saw my continued focus on working with the Miagi-do School of Software Testing. At CAST 2011, a number of us Miagi-do Ka, including Markus Gaertner, Ajay Balamurugadas, and Elena Hauser worked along with Matt Heusser at the CAST testing challenge. During that competition, I had the chance to show Matt and the other testers there what I was able to do, and due to that experience, Ajay, Elena and I were awarded our Black Belts. While the experience itself was great, it also came with the expectation that I be willing to mentor and teach other testers, an opportunity that I have gladly taken on and look forward to doing more of in 2012.

One of my most active projects for the year of 2011 was helping to teach the Black Box Software Testing courses for the Association for Software Testing. I had the opportunity this year to instruct, as either an Assistant or as a Lead Instructor, all three courses offered in the BBST series (Foundation, Bug Advocacy and we just completed the pilot program for Test Design on December 10th). I was in this capacity that I was also nominated to run for the Board of Directors for the Association For Software Testing. I never envisioned myself being a Director of anything, much less an international software testing organization! Still, someone in the organization felt I deserved a shot, and nominated me. What's more, someone else seconded it. Even more amazingly, a lot of people (perhaps many of you readers) thought I'd be a good fit for the position as well, since I was indeed elected to serve on the board. My two year term began in October. While daunting, it is also exciting to think that I may actually help shape the future of this organization in the coming years, and to help represent my fellow testers. Believe me, it's not something I take lightly.

Quite possibly the biggest "Into the Blue Again" moment of the year, though, happened at our first AST board meeting in October. It was at that meeting that Cem Kaner and Becky Fiedler announced their desire to have someone take over as the Chairman of Education Special Interest Group. While a part of me felt I was wholly inadequate for the task, another part of me felt that this was something essential and that it needed someone to spearhead it so that the education opportunities within the organization could be championed and further developed, while allowing Cem and Becky the opportunity to do what they really wanted to do, which was develop more and better testing courses. With that, I offered to chair the Education Special Interest Group. I'm not sure what was more surprising, the fact that I offered, or that the rest of the board took me up on it! Two years ago, Cem Kaner was a man whose books I had read and whose presence loomed large as a "testing guru" on high. The thought I would ever meet him seemed remote. The thought I'd actually take over for him and spearhead an initiative he championed never even crossed my mind!!! Still, that's what has happened, and I guess 2012 and beyond will tell us what I actually did with it. I'm hoping, and working towards doing, all I can to prove worthy and up to the task.

2011 was, really, a year where I took leaps of faith, lots of them, and discovered that I could do even more than I ever imagined I could. I've shared may of those journeys in TESTHEAD posts, and I thank each and every one of you who are actively reading this blog for your help in motivating me to take these leaps of faith. It's been another banner year for me, both in learning and opportunities. Overall, the experiences of the past year have given me confirmation that, if I were to jump "Into the Bue Again", that it would be a great chance to learn and grow, regardless of whether or not the outcome were necessarily successful, lucrative or advantageous. Granted, most of them have been, and those that haven't been, well, I'd like to think I failed quickly and early enough to learn from those experiences and correct my trajectory. Time will tell if that's true, of course. As in all things, there were many people that helped make 2011 a banner year for me.


Thanking a bunch of people is always fraught with danger, because invariably someone gets left out, and there have been hundreds of people who have been instrumental in making this a banner year for me. Still, there are many that stand out, so to that, my heartfelt thanks to Adam Yuret, Ajay Balamurugadas, Albert Gareev, Alex Forbes, Anne-Marie Charrett, Ashley Wilson, Becky Fiedler, Benjamin Yaroch, Bill Gilmore, Cem Kaner, James Bach, Janette Rovansek, Jason Huggins, Jon Bach, Lalitkumar Bhamare, Lee Copeland, Lynn McKee, Markus Gaertner, Marlena Compton,  Matt Heusser, Orian Auld, Rick Baucom, Selena Delesie, Shmuel Gershon,  Terri Moore,  Thomas Ponnet, Timothy Coulter, Will Usher and Zach Larson. Thank you all for helping me make those leaps of faith. More to the point, thank you for having the faith in me that I'd be able to actually do what you believed I could do! Thank you for what has honestly been, at least as far as software testing is concerned, my greatest year (and remember, last year was pretty awesome, too. I didn't think I'd be able to top that!).

Here's to an every bit as exciting and fun-filled 2012. I'm looking forward to seeing where I might leap next :).

Test Design Pilot Comes to an End

It's been an adventurous six weeks, to say the least.

While Saturday marked the official end of AST's latest Black Box Software Testing class, Test Design, I've been frantically reading, comparing, rereading, and grading exams. As the class has now wound down, and the last details related to announcing completion of the course to the participants, it's time to reflect on what I've been through for the past six weeks (that includes setting up the Moodle environment, populating the quizzes, the forums, and a lot of administrivia type stuff that I have dealt with here and there, but never quite to this scale. It was indeed enlightening.

So what is Test Design? Well, it's the third and final of the original sequence of classes that makes up the core Black Box Software Testing curriculum. If you were to combine all three courses together (Foundations, Bug Advocacy and Test Design) you would have a full university semester course worth of material on Software Testing. That was the point from the outset, and now it's all here, under one roof, and able to be taken by those who sign up and commit to participate. Of course, you can always watch the materials and do the coursework on your own time for free, but some amazing interactions happen within the structured, facilitated course. For that reason alone, I'd suggest coming in and participating.

Test Design is a massive survey course. It deals with a tremendous amount of information at a breakneck speed. "Drinking from a firehouse" is a quaint figurative turn of a phrase, but in this case, I believe it is 100% appropriate. There is just so much information and not a lot of time to digest it all. As Cem states in the lectures in the first couple of minutes, you're not expected to absorb it all, nor are you expected to absorb it all on multiple viewings. Over time, as you practice and consider the techniques, and apply them, you will get better and understand which ones work best where.

If there's one specific gem above any others I would suggest as a reason to get familiar with this material, it would be the Heuristic Testing Strategy Model (HTSM). This is an excellent framework in which to hang testing of any software component, ranging from a single function to an entire system. It's huge, and there's a lot of questions that you can ask of a product, and each question can help guide to to more questions and more exploration. It's not a true "map" to testing, but it's a nice encapsulation of a bunch of different techniques, domains and areas where testing can be applied. Not all pieces will be relevant all the time, but it's amazing how much this one item of the course adds to an overall testing strategy.

The labs for this class range from very basic to significant involvement. Unlike in previous courses, group work is not as emphasized, though the option to pair on most assignments is there. The Exam Cram forum, from which the final exam is drawn, is double the length of Foundations and Bug Advocacy. This means a lot of questions to answer, but also a lot of different parameters to consider, with a lot of tips and techniques to apply immediately to your workplace environments.

Are those dreaded quizzes still there? Well, yes, although interestingly, I think that the quizzes this time, while structured in the longer, less prone to guessing right answers format, I felt the quizzes were more straightforward than in the previous two classes. I think that may be because this was the class I came in with the least preconceived notions of what the answers should be; I hit a lot of "first time material" in this course, at least first time for me, and interestingly, I think that was a help. I didn't have what I felt were "gut answers" that felt right, but were wrong on further reflection. I actually scored beter on these quizzes than I did on Foundations and Bug Advocacy. Your mileage, of course, may vary.

I say a lot of this with a tremendously heavy amount of bias; I help teach these classes of course. Were you to take my recommendations with a hefty grain of salt, I'd totally understand. Having said that, though, I absolutely feel this is a worthwhile class. It's challenging, it will be hard to manage, it will overwhelm you, and I think you'll be really happy that you went through it regardless of all that :). The Pilot is over, but there's still time to get in on the next class. It will be offered again in March, 2012, and Cem and I will be the instructors again (plus others, I'm sure :) ). If you've completed both Foundations and Bug Advocacy, and want to take it to the next level, here's a golden opportunity to participate in a challenge that will make you stretch and grow... in good ways, I promise!

Monday Grab Bag: Guest Post, Weekend Testing and Test Design

I received an invitation to do a guest blog post for my friend Devon Smith-Tooley. Devon writes the terrific blog "Everyday QA" and if you are not familiar with it, well, I recommend you get familiar :). My blog post is titled "Who Do You Want To Be Today?" (yes, it's a play on words of an old Oingo Boingo song, just in case anyone out there might wonder ;) ), and it is specifically about me adapting my role as a Sapient, Exploratory Tester and developing the chops necessary to be more development focused (sort of a Software Development Engineer in Test, but not quite. More of a 50/50 split). In any event, please check it out, and if Devon isn't a regular read for you, I recommend adding her to your blog list.


Second, we had an interesting Weekend Testing Americas session this past Saturday. My thanks to Albert Gareev for stepping up and facilitating (again, his second time :) ) so that:

a. I could actually test
and
b. know that we are developing some depth in thje facilitator department.

By having more facilitators, we can offer more sessions and not be dependent on one person's schedule for sessions to occur. Anyway, this session was dedicated to getting a primer in Penetration Testing, and using a tool that allowed for some interesting manipulation of sites. The tool in question is called Groundspeed, and it allows users to make modifications to form fields and other properties on a web form, including hidden fields. We didn't go into depth as to how to do malicious things, but we did see how we could actively and in an Exploratory fashion find ways to change the behavior of the site. Albert posted a great writeup and discussion on his blog. If you'd like to follow along with the session, the experience report is here.


Finally, the pilot of the AST BBST Test Design course officially started yesterday, and therefore a vast majority of my copious free time (he says sarcastically) will be dominated by atively reviewing the content, checking the questions and seeing how well I actually understand the material, while I am helping teach the course (thankfully, Cem is taking the lead on this one, as I'd be *way* out of my league on this without him). This is a survey course, which means that we are basically drinking from a fire hose. It will provide a lot of material, and something in the order of 500 references. The slides for this course are more than Foundations and Bug Advocacy combined. The information is apread out a bit more, too, so that shouldn't sound as daunting (but it's still a lot of material). I'm also working through the course on the side and a bit ahead of the other participants in the hope of catching any issues or areas that might be problematic or vague (plus this way I can say I took the course along with everyone else :) ). Count on the fact that I'll be blogging about interesting aspects about this new class (and I expect there will be a *lot* of them).

A New Chapter and a New Challenge

Well, now that it's been announced to the students in the current AST Instructor's Course, I guess their's no reason to not mention it here. While I was in Madison a couple of weeks ago for the AST Board Meeting, one of the orders of business was the need for someone to take over as the Chair of the Education Special Interest Group  (EdSIG) within AST. I'd heard of this need for quite some time, but I kept my mouth shut, because, really, what do I now about Education? I'm not a teacher (well, not really), I certainly don't have any academic credentials, or any fancy title to go with my name. I certainly don't have much in the way of academiese in my vocabulary; I'm much more comfortable speaking "dude".

Yes as I kept think about the situation and the needs, I realized that I may actually have more of an understanding of these things than I gave my credit for. I finished my Bachelors degree, my last two years, entirely online via distance learning courses. I went through 22 online courses of varying quality levels and went through a total immersion process to get the most out of them. Were they exactly like university classes held on campus? Nope, but they had their own interesting challenges, and I'll dare say I learned quite a bit from all of them. I realized that this experience dovetailed well into the way that AST delivers the BBST Classes through online facilitation.

What's more, I was one of the few people who has taught Foundations and Bug Advocacy, and was participating in the pilot program of the Test Design class (which starts next week, btw, and yes, I'm excited to be participating in it :) ), plus I'm scheduled to help teach the March session of the Test Design class. Who else could say they've been teaching all three of the classes (well, OK there's a couple others, but I was one of them)?

As I mulled these over in my head, I decided to do something brave or crazy... time will tell on that one :). By the time we reached the end of the discussion, I decided that there needed to be a Chair for the EdSIG... and if no one was going to step up to the plate, well why shouldn't I throw my hat in the ring? So that's exactly what I did, an for better or worse, the board accepted my offer :).

So over the next few months, I will be learning the ropes of what the EdSIG entails, but most specifically how to administer and run the BBST course series for AST's members and participants. That's a big chunk of where my involvement will be, and due to that, it means my direct involvement as a regular instructor will likely diminish (though I'll still be involved with all of the classes). What this does mean is that there will be a need for more instructors to help teach. We have a fresh cadre of newly minted Certified Instructors for courses, and it's my hope that they will step into the role of helping teach the upcoming classes in 2012. It's also my hope that many of you out there will consider taking the classes if you haven't already, and help me to deliver the best software testing training to be found anywhere on the planet (that's a bold boast, I know, but I happen to believe it :) ).

Another Foundations Class is Winding Down

So by Midnight Pacific time tonight, the last official actions of the Association for Software Testing's Black Box Software Testing Foundations class (well, this one in any event) will conclude, and with it, my second voyage as a lead instructor.

In some ways, this was a more challenging class than the last time I was in this position, not the least of which was the fact that I watched and worked with this class from the confines of my bed for the first three weeks. Only this past week have I been up and about enough to be more active and involved. Thus, I have to say up front to my participants, if I was not as involved as you would have liked or expected, I do apologize.

This is now the sixth time I've worked with the Foundations class. Once as a regular participant, three times as an assistant instructor, and two times now as lead instructor. Every class is different, and every class has different challenges and different surprises. The fun part is to see which participants just go along with the class and the flow, and which ones really get involved and just tear it up. The other interesting aspect is that, as I've participated in the courses over time, and in the broader testing community, I am having more participants come in that I have either a correspondent relationship through sites like Twitter or Facebook, or those that actually work with me on endeavors like Weekend Testing. Usually it goes the other way around, where participants come and take part in Weekend Testing. This time the tables were turned, and I got to have my cohort and fellow WTA facilitator Albert Gareev in my class. I think this is the closest I've yet come to someone I regularly interact with on a peer level actually being a "student" of mine, and in a way... it's odd (LOL!). I've been told by other instructors that as times goes, this actually becomes more and more common, so I guess I better get used to it :).

This was a lively group, and there have been some great participants. I've learned a lot from them and their enthusiasm and energy, as well as their areas and places where they struggled or had questions. I know, I say the same thing at the end of every class, so I know I run the risk of sounding trite, but really, each class gives me a new lens to view the course material. I come out with another insight on subjects that some might consider to be "rote".  At least for me, it doesn't become rote because I get different perspectives and different impassioned comments from participants, and that helps to keep it all fresh.

I've been taking notes, and I see a number of people in the course that I think might well be good instructors later (I'll not name names, but it's no secret that we often find instructors from the ranks of the participants... heck, that's how I got involved :) ).

So what's next for me? Well, the Instructor's Course is next...wait, what?! Yep, it's true. Because of varying factors, each time the Instructor's Course has been offered, I've either been unavailable or it had to be canceled. Normally, to be a Lead Instructor, you have to have gone through the class, so I'm an outlier, but I committed to get that resolved as soon as possible. For others who are interested, there may well still be room, so if you want to join me in the class, head over the the main site and sign up :). This will also be the last Foundations class for this calendar year. The next one will be held in February of 2012, and as of right now, I'm scheduled to teach it!

I've had a great time being the Lead Instructor for this Foundations class, even with my challenges this time around, and I'm hoping my participants have likewise enjoyed the experience. Thanks for teaching me a lot more than I probably taught you :). Also, my thanks to my co-instructors Selena Delesie and Brian Osman, and as always, much thanks to Cem Kaner and Becky Fiedler for their support, encouragement and guidance when I needed it. It's been a fun ride!

So, Why Should You Vote For Me?!

Well, actually, if you are not a member of the Association for Software Testing, I'm going to say the answer is "you don't have to". Actually, even if you are a member of the Association for Software Testing, you don't HAVE to vote for me… but I'd certainly be happy if you did.

Part of me feels like starting this with the lines of Admiral James Stockdale when he participated in the 1992 Vice Presidential debate… "Who am I? Why am I here?" Unlike Admiral Stockdale, though, I hope to be able to get to that much quicker and provide a reasonable answer (for those of you who are outside of the US and have no idea who James Stockdale is, no worries. For those of you stateside who don't know, you're obviously lots younger than me ;) ).

I am a tester. I am a teacher. I am a believer in the idea that "it's the people, stupid" that make any organization worth being around in the first place.In short, members of AST, I'm one of you, and really no more than that. I don't have any grand qualifications outside of having been a tester for 17 years. I've never managed a company's test team, I've never held an exalted title like "test director". Heck, most of my efforts have been as a lone tester over these 17 years. I have, however, experienced a lot of ups and downs in this industry, and it's helped me see that I'm not alone in facing those challenges.

I'm a strong proponent and a believer in the value of the Black Box Software Testing classes. To date, I'm a veteran of five Foundations classes (one as participant, four as instructor) and two Bug Advocacy classes (one as participant, one as instructor). I look forward to the opportunities to teach these classes because I learn something new every time.It's also as an instructor that I see the value and power of these classes. We are not seeking a "fill in the blank" one size fits all certification. We realize that testing is dynamic, context driven and varies with every test and tester. It's this view I would like to see more testers embrace and understand, as well as the rest of the software development world.

I believe strongly in the value of continuous education and active practice. It is with the eye towards continuous practice that I have led the charge for Weekend Testing in the Americas, and why I have facilitated each session since its inception. Each time we hold a session, I learn something different and help to teach something different to the participants. It's also in this continued growth and practice that Albert Gareev and I are developing "Project Sherwood", with the goal of developing the next level of "active practice" for testing skills.

Having produced nearly 60 podcasts, including some with me as the interviewer and interviewee, I have had the opportunity to become intimately familiar with the challenges and issues that span the testing discipline, and it's my desire to help see that discipline grow and develop.

Overall, my approach to politics can be best summed up as "neo-prudentist", which roughly translated means "I don't much care for politics, but I'm very motivated to find what works and help to promote and encourage it". I believe AST and its model to work and to be effective. I believe that the development and growth of the BBST course series, bot now and in the future, would be a tremendous help to the overall testing industry. There is a Test Design course in the works and almost finished and ready to be presented. There are many more possible courses that can be offered. As a board member, I'd like very much to see AST focus on further development of these courses and being able to present them to the public.

Finally, the reason I am here is "I was nominated", and for that alone, I am touched and honored. To quote Matt Heusser (a good friend and also a candidate), "If I am nominated,I will run. If I am elected, I will serve." Really and truly, it is that simple. I have no great promises to make, and I have no promises that I can use to sway your vote, other than this… AST is an organization I believe in, and am honored to be a member of and to serve. If I'm elected,I will serve to the best of my ability. If I am not elected… I will still serve to the best of my ability in whatever ways it may need me".

The rest, my testing compatriots, I leave up to you :).

BBST Foundations (BBST_101E): Starts This Saturday

This Saturday, in addition to a session of Weekend Testing Americas, another session of the Association for Software Testing's Black Box Software Testing Foundations class will begin. It will be another four weeks of all volunteer effort, with a number of dedicated instructors helping to teach the class. It will be challenging, it will be fun, it will be a chance to learn even more than I already have from this great class, and this time I will probably learn more than all other times combined. Why you might ask? Because I'm going to be the Lead Instructor for this course!

I am excited and anxious about this turn of events. Excited because I want to see how well I can do in this environment, but anxious because I'm going to be the guy in the driver's seat this time. there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes for these classes to run smoothly, and a lot of the details associated with the class running smoothly are because the lead instructor makes sure to take care of many of those pieces. In previous classes, those responsibilities belonged to someone else. This time, they belong to ME!

However, I am not alone in this endeavor. I have two great assistants this time around (Mimi Mendenhall and Doug Hoffman). Mimi will be doing it for the first time, and Doug has been around since the courses were first offered, and could probably teach this class in his sleep (LOL!).

Registration is still open until Wednesday, 3/30/2011, so if you are interested in seeing if you can still get into the class, please follow the link to register and take part. If the class is over-booked, you can of course sign up for the next one. I may not be teaching that go-around, but it will still be a great class with whoever is teaching it. If, however, you can get in, I'll look forward to having you be a part of my class :).