Fiona Nic Dhonnacha

EuroSTAR Conference 2019 – Keynote Speakers And Presentations

May 22, 2019 by Fiona Nic Dhonnacha

The EuroSTAR Conference is home to the best speakers in testing, industry innovators and global change makers. Together with the Programme Committee, we welcome lots of amazing testers and quality assurance professions to the conference each year. In this article, we highlight this year’s four keynote speakers and tell you a little bit about their talks that they will present on the EuroSTAR keynote stage in Prague this November.

Dr. Chris McKillop – CEO/Co-Founder, Turalt

We are very glad to have Chris on board for the 2019 Software Testing Conference. Dr. Chris McKillop is a thought leader on AI, ethics, and empathy. She is CEO/Co-Founder of Turalt. Dr. McKillop has a degree in Artificial Intelligence, an MSc in Human-Centred Computer Systems, and a PhD in Educational Technology which focused on the emotional dimensions of learning. Her research led to over 25 publications and numerous international conference presentations. Her personal mission is to show how AI can help us understand our humanity, and to help make the world a more empathetic place. Chris will be presenting her presentation on Tuesday,

Talk : Developing Your BS Detector: The Hype & Reality of AI
Time & Date: Tuesday, 12th November, 1.45pm

Talk Abstract:

In this talk, we look at popular myths about what AI is, and what AI could be in the future. We look at current examples of AI, how they use deception to appear more ‘intelligent’, and look at lessons we can learn from stories of big AI failures. AI’s unique characteristic is that it accentuates and reflects our humanity. Bias in AI demonstrates this and over-hype and trust in AI’s abilities can have negative implications for individuals, group and society in general. We need to think about the impact of our technology on people, to understand and take responsibility for the social and personal impact it can have. As software testers, developing your BS detector, with an empathetic framework, will enable you to ensure AI systems are valuable, ethical, and successful through your practice.

VIEW TALK

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Fiona Charles – Agile Testing Coach & Software Testing Consultant , Quality Intelligence, Canada

Fiona Charles is an independent consultant, specialising in the human side of software development and projects: teaching organizations to manage their software testing risk, and IT practitioners project skills “beyond process”—hands-on practical skills essential to thrive and excel on any kind of software project. She consults with clients on testing and test management, works as an Agile testing coach, and acts occasionally as a program-level test manager on difficult projects. She speaks and conducts workshops at international conferences and in-house for clients, has recorded many webinars, and published many articles in test-related publications.

Talk Title: Technology’s Feet on Society’s Ground
Time & Date: 09:00 am on Wednesday, 13th November 2019

Talk Abstract:

Technological advances have always trampled and rearranged the ground occupied by society. Each wave of Industrial Revolution has brought massive social disruptions and individual suffering as well as major benefits and social progress. Each has posed ethical challenges too, as people adjusted to new realities. Each had its nay-sayers and prophets of societal doom.

We are now in the midst of change so rapid and profound that the ethical questions have fallen far behind the technological answers. Welcome to the ethical quagmire of the Fourth Industrial Revolution! Which microphones are listening inside your house and uploading your family’s conversations to unknown recipients? Do you know how many cameras are watching you? For whom? Who is profiting? Who should profit? What facial recognition apps are comparing you to which uploaded data and making decisions about you?

Who can access your biometric data and your DNA? Who knows where you are at any given time?

VIEW TALK

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Alexandre Bauduin – Automation Test Engineer, House of Test

Alexandre Bauduin is a 53 year old world traveler. He worked in consulting firms gaining experience in several fields (medical, manufacturing, aerospace, pay TV, data warehouse—to name a few) in different countries (Switzerland, France, Spain, Canada, etc.) His career started in the space industry where he discovered his passion for aerospace, working on both military and civilian projects. He was sometimes steered away from aerospace but his passion pushed him to become an airline pilot, as a way to really understand how those instruments he programmed and integrated were operating in a cockpit.

Talk Title: Flying High – Test Automation in the Boeing 777

Time & Date: Wednesday, 13th Nov at 5pm

Talk Abstract:

Are you confronted with automating tests of large, complex systems? Are there more conditions to test than you can do in a lifetime? Are auditors demanding compliance to a never-ending collection of regulations? Do stakeholders want slick dashboards tracking abstract key process indicators? Join Alexandre Bauduin as he shares his experience leading the complex system testing challenges of a real-time Boeing 777 Flight Simulator.

Alexandre will outline how he overcame the many challenges faced by combining his skills in test design and his expertise as an airline pilot, including the decision-making process used to focus testing and checking of the simulator, constrained by aviation authorities requesting a very detailed simulation with a blend of realistic scenarios and catastrophic failures. You will learn strategies to organize and prioritize automation, develop regression checking suites for very large mission-critical software systems, and report the meaningful information to stakeholders.

VIEW TALK

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Dona Sarkar – Head of the Windows Insider Program, Microsoft

Dona Sarkar wishes she’d been born a cat so she could have had nine lives. Since that didn’t work out, she decided to live nine lives in this one. Dona spends her days running the Windows Insiders program at Microsoft, celebrating diversity in STEM fields as a fashion blogger at Fibonacci Sequins, and launching her first fashion line called Prima Dona Style, this fall. She is the author of six works of fiction and nonfiction, including Scattered Ashes, which was deemed “too controversial” by fifteen publishing imprints! Dona feels very fortunate to have found her life’s calling: to help the next generation of creatives prepare for the technical revolution that’s about to transform everything—again.

Talk Title: Be the Lord of Your OWN Rings: Build Your OWN Insider Testing Program!

Time & Date: Thursday, 14th November at 12:00pm

Talk Abstract:

Once upon a time in a land not too far from here.
Companies used to make products. Test them in-house.

…and throw them over the wall at their users.

It was a dark time.

We all had NSync CDs. AOL dialup was a thing. You used to go home and binge watch Dawson’s Creek (don’t lie, you did too). But those days are GONE. What worked then does not work now.

Today, you can’t just create for your customers. You must co-create with them. But how? Come and hear about how one of the biggest software projects in the world, Windows 10 shifted to this paradigm and attracted a community of 16.5 million global Windows Insiders who we have been co-creating with for 4 years. By the end, you’ll know how to set up your own community and fan club and more important, how to co-create with them. Come learn our 10 step process for how you can do this TOMORROW in your own business.

VIEW TALK

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It’s not too late! Get 15% off tickets to EuroSTAR Software Testing Conference 2019! Offer ends on 14th June.

See What’s Coming – EuroSTAR 2019

April 24, 2019 by Fiona Nic Dhonnacha

Bigger. Stronger. Louder- These are the 3 words that perfectly describe what is coming to Prague this November.

As EuroSTAR is growing since 26 years and successfully helping attendees improve their testing skills, this year we hope to do much more. From November 11th up until November 14th, these 4 days i Prague, Czech Republic, will be packed with amazing presentations and tutorials from top software testers. This article will highlight the programme and what you can expect at the upcoming conference.

Tutorials At EuroSTAR 2019

The tutorials for the upcoming conference are carefully chosen, delegates choose an area they want to explore in great detail or “dive deep” into. There are 12 amazing tutorials to choose from and they are divided between Monday (6 tutorials) and Tuesday (6 tutorials). These tutorials will be around topics such as Python, Risk in Testing, Games & Testing, Performance Testing, Test Designs and much more. EuroSTAR offers 2,5 day tickets if you want to stay and view those tutorials.

Check out Tutorials

Track Talks at EuroSTAR 2019

This year our programme committee has worked hard to deliver the perfect blend of topics for EuroSTAR 2019 – there’s something for every tester. Over 30 new & expert speakers will give a track talk at the EuroSTAR Conference in Prague this November. That’s right, this wide selection of tracks were selected to enlighten and inspire and we give our guarantee that they will! We have invited many great speakers, including Michael Bolton, Rob Lambert, Iris Pinkster-O’Riordain, Jaroslaw Hryszko,Rikard Edgren an many more. Exciting, isn’t it?

Check out Track Talks

Keynote Speakers

We cannot leave without mentioning the keynote speakers of course! We are excited to introduce you the 2019 EuroSTAR keynote speakers. On board this year, we have the amazing Fiona Charles, Canada, Chris McKillop from Turalt, Canada, Dona Sarkar from Microsoft, US and Alexandre Bauduin from House of Test, Switzerland. Discover the reality & hype of AI, we question the ethical impact of our technological advancements, learn about testing a Boeing 777 flight simulator and how one of the largest companies in the world harness the power of community.

Check Keynote Speakers

The EuroSTAR 2019 will be an amazing event and the 4 days of great tutorials will help attendees improve their software testing skills. We hope to see you there. There are differenct offers available, if you want to head to the cofnerence as a group, EuroSTAR has a 5 for 3 offer and individual tickets are 20% off

Beginner’s Guide to Attending EuroSTAR Conference 2019

April 17, 2019 by Fiona Nic Dhonnacha

EuroSTAR Conference is one of the top chosen conferences for software testers around the world. It’s been around for many many years and has been adored by many testers. Attending it can be an excellent way to learn new skills and support your professional development. In one of our previous articles we mentioned the 6 reasons for attending a software testing conference in our previous article. With every conference, there’s preparation and strategy involved in getting the most out of these events. In this article we will provide some useful tips on how to get around our conference, so

Create Your Personalized Timetable

Before attending EuroSTAR, you should plan out all the sessions that you want to see. Our programme is available online and you can also download it on your mobile. Grab a pen and write down the times of the sessions as well as the room names. Creating a personalised timetable means that you won’t be wasting time at the event deciding what talks to go to and making a bad decision. Also you should create a checklist for the event.

Don’t Stick With Your Friends

Yup, you read it correctly. Every conference is a perfect place for you to branch out and meet new people. You are going to this conference because this is an area that you work in or are interested in. And guess what? The same applies for every other attendee. They have the same problems and issues and many questions to ask. Many of the attendees have same experiences and loads of common ground that you have. This is one way to meet others in this unique situation.

Build Valuable Relationships

The EuroSTAR Conference in the Hague can hold 1,000 attendees. This is a perfect chance for you to build valuable relationships. Concentrate on meeting high quality individuals with whom you can build a bright future. From speakers, to conference organizers and companies attending EuroSTAR, there will be plenty of brilliant people! Absorb all the knowledge that you can gain from them.

Attend the Social Events

One of the biggest values of a conference is the after-parties. This is where you’ll get the great information. These after-parties help people relax, share their opinion and network with others. It’s also a good time to ask any questions that you have and gather some valuable feedback. EuroSTAR 2019 in Prague will be the 27th annual EuroSTAR Conference. It promises to be another fantastic celebration of the very best in software testing across Europe and further afield. Our popular networking social events give attendees an opportunity to catch up with other delegates that they met during the day and network with their peers.

Don’t Forget to Follow Up

At this point, the conference is over, right? Well, technically it is, but for you, it isn’t. You have to follow up with EVERY person you met at the event. If you don’t, you’ll never end up building any real relationships. Meeting someone is great, but if you don’t get to know the people you meet, you won’t gain value from the conference. If a portion of the people you email or call don’t respond to you, you can try following up again in a few weeks, but I recommend letting it go. You don’t want to come across as being bothersome.

Ready to Attend the biggest software testing conference in Europe?

Attend EuroSTAR 2019 in Prague This November!

Expo Area – The Benefits of Exhibiting at a Conference

April 9, 2019 by Fiona Nic Dhonnacha

Exhibiting at a conference can bring a number of benefits to your business. You can meet directly with potential customers and generate leads. You can also build a strong network and spy on your competitors. At such events you can have a one-to-one interaction with your customers. Every conference is different and attracts a certain crown based on the theme of the event, so you should carefully select one that is very relative to your business. EuroSTAR Conferences, for example attract many software testers to learn, network and be inspired by other testers and software testing companies. Companies such as Micro Focus, Accenture, Sauce Labs and many more have been successfully exhibiting at our annual conferences (for the full EuroSTAR exhibitor listing, check our expo area).

Today, let’s point out some of the key benefits of exhibiting at a busy conference and why it’s good for your business.

Raise Awareness

Exhibiting at industry events is a good way to raise your profiles and generate brand awareness. As well as taking a stand at an event, there are usually other advertising and sponsorship opportunities.

Meet Clients in Person

Meeting face-to-face with potential customers is a great way to start building relationships. It has always have a good impact on any business, also people who have had a good customer experience will recommend your business by word of mouth.

Build your database

Meeting with potential customers at an exhibition helps you to start building your marketing lists and generate qualified sales leads. If you have great prizes that people at the conference can win, they can fill in a form with their email address – something you will find beneficial for your newsletter!

Networking

Like most conferences, including EuroSTAR, exhibiting at such events are a great way to not only meet, but connect with potential customers, suppliers and to learn more about your competitors. You will see many kinds of businesses at one event which could help you identify how you can improve as a business or whether or not you stand out from the crowd.

Launch New Product

Last but not least, exhibiting at conferences are a good place to introduce a new product or service. Being able to explain your offering in person and answer questions is ideal if your product is innovative.

As you can see, exhibiting at a conference that brings potential clients can be a big benefit for your company. It is a one-to-one place to meet your clients. At EuroSTAR conferences, we still have a few expo spaces available. Call our sales team directly on (091) 514 470. You can also download the expo brochure

Download The Expo Brochure

The Amazing Women at EuroSTAR

March 8, 2019 by Fiona Nic Dhonnacha

The EuroSTAR Community is made up of many amazing people. Over the past 27 years, it is this community of incredible speakers, dedicated programme committee members and fantastic attendees that have helped build EuroSTAR into one of the largest annual gatherings of software testing professionals in the world! We are celebrating International Women’s Day by highlighting some of the women that have been part of EuroSTAR in the last year and together with many others help to make EuroSTAR such a welcoming and unmissable event.

Bojana Lund

Bojana has been working with SW Development for over 10 years and has very broad experience with both SW development, CI, Test and Automation. She has a great passion for test and is currently working hard on establishing a profession group for Technical Testers across several Consultant Houses in Denmark. She strongly believes in continuous learning and creative solutions. She is a hard working mother of two energetic small boys and proud wife of a fellow Technical Tester.

Follow Bojana @BojanaLund

Seretta Gamba

Seretta Gamba has 40 years’ experience in development and fifteen in test automation. After going through all the usual developer roles, in 2001 she was put in charge of test automation for her company. She developed a framework that enabled her company to quickly get excellent results. Having talked about the framework in a couple of conferences she met Dorothy Graham and was invited to write a chapter in the book, Experiences of Test Automation. With Dorothy Graham she has been developing the Test Automation Patterns Wiki and launched a book on Test Automation Patterns with Dot Graham at the 2018 EuroSTAR Conference.

Seretta and Dorothy’s New Wiki is now live at the following location : https://testautomationpatterns.org

Dorothy Graham

Dorothy Graham has been in software testing for over 40 years, and is co-author of 4 books: Software Inspection, Software Test Automation, Foundations of Software Testing and Experiences of Test Automation, and has developed the wiki TestAutomationPatterns.org as well as co-writing Test Automation Patterns book with Seretta Gamba. Dorothy has been on the boards of conferences and publications in software testing, including programme chair for EuroStar (twice). She was a founder member of the ISEB Software Testing Board and helped develop the first ISTQB Foundation Syllabus. She has attended every EuroStar. She was awarded the European Excellence Award in Software Testing in 1999 and the first ISTQB Excellence Award in 2012. You can read more about Dorothy’s session from 2018 here as well as check Dorothy’s website https://www.dorothygraham.co.uk/

Follow Dorothy: @DorothyGraham

Seretta and Dorothy’s New Wiki is now live at the following location : https://testautomationpatterns.org

Franka Buurmeijer

“Throughout my career Franka has been combining science and technology with creative activities such as writing, presenting and creating teaching materials. As an science communicator and astronomer, she started out in the field of astronomy, but I gradually expanded my field of expertise to physics, mathematics and computer science. As a tester, I now combine my knowledge of communication with automated and manual testing to improve the results of software development.” – Read more about Franka’s session from the EuroSTAR Software Testing Conference 2018.

Gitte Oberbossel

She has worked within test management and improvement of test processes for 25 years in different companies. Because of this, she has experience in performing test management for several types of solutions, both application and technical. Her experience with working in test improvement includes all the steps of improvement: Defining and implementing test models, coaching and training, and performing measurements on the quality of running tests. She is now managing a test laboratory, which also includes defining and maintaining ISO27002 requirements for the laboratory house, tests and equipment.

Elena Kolpakova

Elena is a tester and a test coach with >10y of professional experience. Being a daughter of a software developer, you could say she took the path of a software tester as early as her childhood. Currently Elena applies her skills at AKQA GmbH in Berlin. This involves all kinds of testing activities, manual or automated, and helps her stay on track with the latest and pioneering technologies. In addition, she takes part in hiring testers and helps them develop and grow through coaching sessions, tech talks, and workshops.

Follow Elena: @HeleneKolpakova

Elizabeth Zagroba

Elizabeth tests software at Mendix in Rotterdam. She’s tested web apps, mobile apps, APIs, and content management systems. Her article about mind maps became one of the most viewed on Ministry of Testing Dojo in 2017. She’s spoken at conferences in the United States and Europe.

Follow Elizabeth @ezagroba

Sal Freudenberg

Dr. Sallyann Freudenberg is an agile consultant and trainer who assists companies in transitioning to more nimble, customer-centric and human(e) ways of working. She holds a PhD in the Psychology of Collaborative Software Development and since parenting an autistic son has developed an interest in neurodiversity. Through re-assessing her own traits and neurology, and considering the extra-ordinary people with whom she has worked over her 25+ years in tech, Sal is raising awareness of the benefits of having diversity in our organisations, and is helping the industry to begin to understand how to support and nurture every kind of brain.

Follow Sal @SalFreudenberg

Iris Pinkster-O’Riordain

Iris Pinkster-O’Riordain is test advisor at Professional Testing and has experience in testing and test management since 1996. She co-developed Logica’s method for structured testing: TestFrame ®, their test management approach and TestGrip, the method on test policy and test organization. Iris is the co-author of the books published on these topics. She often speaks at (inter) national conferences. In 2007 she won the EuroSTAR award for “Best Tutorial”. In 2017 Iris was Program Chair for the EuroSTAR Conference in Copenhagen.

Follow Iris @PinksterIris

Isa Vilacides

Isa started her career as a developer, but ended up managing Quality Engineering teams which she has continued doing for the last ten years. Since then she has helped different companies to reach continuous delivery by improving their development, testing and release processes through automation and risk analysis: the biggest Spanish social network Tuenti, a Rakuten video-on-demand service, the JIRA Cloud and Infrastructure Services divisions at Atlassian and currently CloudBees. She believes in giving back to the community and is therefore a frequent speaker at testing meet-ups like After Test and Agile Barcelona, and she has also spoken at international conferences such as Jenkins World 2017 (SF), Sevilla Developer Conference 2017, Devops Days Barcelona 2013, itSMF 2014 and expoQA where she has also formed part of the selection

Follow Isa @vilacides

Karen Johnson

Karen N. Johnson is a longtime contributor to the software testing community. She speaks at conferences both in the US and internationally. She is a contributing author to the book, Beautiful Testing by O’Reilly publishers. She has published numerous articles; she blogs and tweets about her experiences. Find her on Twitter as @karennjohnson (note the two n’s) and her website: https://www.karennicolejohnson.com. Karen was previously an independent consultant but is now employed as Director, Jamf Now Development & Delivery at JAMF.

Mais Tawfik Ashkar

Mais Tawfik Ashkar is a Performance Engineering Consultant guiding clients to delivering faster, more scalable and reliable applications. Prior to consulting, Mais was a Performance Engineering Manager and lead with Pearson Learning Technologies representing their Denver and offshore teams and overseeing performance and scale solutions. An organizer of the Workshop on Performance and Reliability [WOPR] and a former SQUAD board member, Mais has over 12 years of experience in the software engineering industry working as a software performance engineer, automation engineer, and consultant. An accomplished speaker, Mais has presented at ExpoQA, QUEST QAI, WOPR and SQuAD conferences. Mais is passionate about the multi-faceted discipline of software quality engineering and data analytics. Mais was also winner of the Best Tutorial at EuroSTAR 2018 as voted by the attendees.

Follow Mais @MaisTawfik

Mia Johansson

Mia worked with test since 2001. I have tested, educated customers in the importance of testing, outlining test strategies and acted as Test Manager in all kinds of areas. The last ten years she has worked in agile projects, adapting processes and ways of working within test and verification for complex systems. Since 2015 Mia is the QA Manager at Data Ductus. Mia is responsible for test and QA strategies both on a project- and company level and work with customer communication to spread the word on QA. I am also a storyteller, engaged in the local storytelling society.

Follow Mia @falamh

Nathalie Rooseboom de Vries van Delft

Nathalie is an energetic, passionate and ambitious software and system test manager, test architect and –adviser. She puts the the question mark behind technological solutions and digital innovations.
Since 2004 she participated in and lead various projects in the financial domain, retail domain and public transport and has gained a solid experience with testing, coordinating and managing test activities within a diverse palette of development and management methods -including Prince2, IAD, SCRUM and SAFe- and types of organization.

Follow Nathalie @FunTESTic

Ioana Chiorean

Ioana is a software engineer that has more than 9 years testing experience with a specialization in mobile apps. Currently located in Romania she is leading a number of teams in a digital innovation leading company, Softvision. These teams are responsible for several mobile apps. Web compatibility and testing IAM and community participation tools. She is the Module Owner for Mozilla Reps – a program that unites volunteers from around the world. As one of Moz Tech Speakers, she takes the stage and talks about different technical topics or community building subjects. In her free time, Ioana contributes to Open Source projects while enjoying a coffee or a good wine.

Follow Ioana @ioana_cis

Gitte Ottosen

Gitte Ottosen is a managing consultant at Capgemini-Sogeti Denmark and has 22 years experience in test engineering and test management, in both traditional and agile contexts. Gitte works with test management, test process improvement and supports projects and companies in their agile transition with her quality perspective. In her current assignment she supports an agile transition within a SAFe framework, ensuring a sufficient and proactive quality perspective. As a self-confessed test evangelist who preaches the need for a structured and committed approach to testing, Gitte is a strong advocate for a context-driven approach, a role requiring profound professional insight, passion, and persistence—qualities that Gitte holds in abundance. Gitte holds a number of certificates within testing as well as agile; ISEB Practitioner, CAT, TMap Test Engineer/Master and Certified SCRUM Master. She is a SAFe Program Consultant and is member of SogetiLabs

Follow Gitte @Godtesen

Isabel Evans

Programme CHair for EuroSTAR 2019, Isabel Evans is an independent quality and testing consultant with more than thirty years of IT experience in the financial, communications, and software sectors. Her work focuses on quality management, software testing and user experience (UX). She encourages IT teams and customers to work together via flexible processes that are designed and tailored by the teams that use them. Isabel authored Achieving Software Quality Through Teamwork and chapters in Agile Testing: How to Succeed in an eXtreme Testing Environment; The Testing Practitioner; and Foundations of Software Testing.

A popular speaker and story-teller at software conferences worldwide, Isabel is a Chartered IT Professional and Fellow of the British Computer Society, Programme Secretary of the BCS SIGiST, and has been a member of software industry improvement working groups for over 20 years. Isabel was also the recipient of the 2017 EuroSTAR Testing Excellence Award.

Follow Isabel @IsabelE_Test

Fiona Charles

Fiona Charles teaches organizations to manage their software testing risk, and IT practitioners project skills “beyond process”—hands-on practical skills essential to thrive and excel on any kind of software project. Fiona’s articles and blog posts appear frequently, and she conducts experiential workshops at international conferences, and in-house for clients. She is the co-founder (with Anne-Marie Charrett), of Speak Easy, a volunteer organization whose goal is to increase gender diversity at tech conferences and help new speakers find their voices. Contact Fiona via her website www.quality-intelligence.com, and follow her on twitter @FionaCCharles.

Anne Mette Hass

Anne Mette Hass has worked in software testing for over 30 years. She is interested in the technical aspect of testing as well as in the human aspect; after all, testers are people, people are different, and differences should be understood and respected. Anne Mette has written the book “Guide to Advanced Software Testing” and taught ISTQB Foundation and Advanced Test Manager and Advanced Analyst numerous times. She has spoken at many conferences over most of the world and is fluent in English even though it is not her mother tongue.

Follow Anne Mette on Twitter: @AnneMetteHass

Fiona Ring Ostensvig & Tone Molyneux

Tone and Fiona from the Norwegian computer society have hosted a special session on women in testing. Tone and Fiona are passionate about teting and see the need to get younger people and especially women into the testing industry. They have been an amazing inspiration to many women, including the female testers at our 2018 EuroSTAR conference in Prague.

Follow Tone on Twitter: @ToneMo

Follow Fiona on Twitter: @Anoifeiram

These amazing women and many, many others help the EuroSTAR Community to grow in unimaginable ways. They inspire other female testers around the world and we will continue to help and encourage female testers to be recognized and given opportunity to develop.

Did You Know… Top 5 Attractions in Prague

February 26, 2019 by Fiona Nic Dhonnacha

Another year, another destination! Back in 2018, our annual software testing conference was held in the Hague, Netherlands. The city was a beautiful place to host the event and they welcomed us with a great vibe. We thought a lot about the location of our next conference. We wanted to choose a beautiful city, somewhere around the centre of Europe too. And as we brainstormed at all of our meetings, one city came in mind. Prague.

So, if you haven’t yet been to Prague, you are in for a treat! This article mentions the top attractions you can squeeze in while heading for our Software Testing Conference in November.

Visit the Largest Castle in the World

We want to mention the biggest attraction first, literally. The Prague Castle seems to be like a city itself, it’s that enormous. It spans an impressive 18 acres and is home to stunning cathedrals, chapels, royal palaces and gorgeous ornamental gardens. Highlights include the Old Royal Palace’s main hall, the Vladislav Hall, so large it could be used for jousting tournaments, and staircases wide enough to allow mounted knights to use them

Distance from the Conference: 9.4 km (25 min Drive)

The Old Town Square and the Astronomical Clock

The most significant square of historical Prague, it was founded in the 12th century and has been witness to many historical events. It is definitely a must see attraction of course. You will notice the Old Town Hall and the Church of Our Lady before Týn, the square is dominated by the Baroque Church of St Nicholas, the Rococo Kinský Palace, the Gothic House at the Stone Bell. Many restaurants are surrounding the Old Town Square as well.

Distance from the Conference: 5.5 km (about 18 mins drive)

The Municipal House

Located next to the Powder Gate, the Municipal House (Obecní dům) is the most impressive Art Nouveau building in Prague. The stunning building became known worldwide in 1918 when the historic proclamation of the Independence of Czechoslovakia took place in one of its halls.

The Dancing House

If you love architecture, then you already now that Prague is the place for it. Look at this picture above. the building is called the Dancing House! It is Prague’s most outstanding modern architectural creation. The 2 building hugging each other look as if they are dancing. They also ave a nickname, “Fred and Ginger” after famous American dancers Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Distance from the conference: 3.5 km (about 10 mins drive)

Visit the Lennon Wall

Prague’s Lennon Wall has stood since the 1980s as a tribute to former Beatles and peace campaigner John Lennon. The wall has been covered in John Lennon and The Beatles graffiti, lyrics and quotations since the 1980s and is very popular among tourists and young fans wishing to pay homage to the group. If you are a big fan, this is a must visit.

Distance from the conference: 5.5km ( about 20mins drive)

Prague is a stunning city, no doubt about that. We haven’t covers even half of the great attractions that the city has to offer. Make sure that, after long hours of learning and networking at the EuroSTAR conference, you will have a chance to visit those mentioned attractions!

6 Benefits of Exhibiting at a Conference

January 29, 2019 by Fiona Nic Dhonnacha

Does your company offer a service or product that is critical to delivering a decision advantage? The opportunity to meet with and showcase your services to prospective clients should be viewed as a distinct marketing advantage. Knowing what your audience and business goals are, exhibitions provide a great platform to build strong relationships. with key people in your industry. Although social media is a booming industry, nothing beats a face-to-face marketing that can help gain quality leads. Exhibitions can also provide the opportunity to meet new faces and open your business to new markets.

By exhibiting at a business expo you also have the opportunity to meet a large target audience under one roof and in one day, that could take your sales team a number of months to reach. This saves time and reduces the period required to close a sales lead.

Here are the top 6 reasons why you should exhibit at a conference Thinking of exhibiting at a Software Testing Conference in 2019? Here are 6 reasons why you should. Let’s use EuroSTAR Expo as an example.

Promote Yourself

In today’s world, people tend to gravitate toward experiences that are authentic and real. And potential customers are more likely to believe a real person standing in front of them over an advertisement about how good a certain product or brand is. This is where exhibitors come in.

Brand Trust

Let’s face it -if you exhibit then you are more likely to be considered a serious business player. According to new marketing trends for 2019, personalized promotion, face-to-face promotion is going to be more crucial than ever. Additionally, if you exhibit regularly your product can be perceived to be popular and indeed successful.

Educate Customers and Prospects

Exhibiting at EuroSTAR, for example, can help you reach out to potential customers and tell them why your business is the right choice for them. You will educate and help them understand what your business is about.

Visibility

In a world of strong competitors that are growing at a rapid pace, you need to be constantly looking for new ways to get out there and be visible. So you may you a fantastic online presence but to strengthen and grow there also needs to be a level of real visibility. Exhibitions can be ideal

Network with Testers

What better way to build strong connections than meeting and networking with software testers? At EuroSTAR, tea and coffee during breaks and lunch time is served at the expo. And this is where the amazing expo has time to shine.

Generating Customers

At the end of the day or conference, you want to gain more customers for your business! At EuroSTAR we have a long list of exhibitors that showcase their business for years now and at a satisfactory rate. You can see some of the 2019 exhibitors that have already signed up here.

These are just some of the many benefits associated with exhibiting your business at an expo. It’s important to spend some time doing the research needed for potential expos to find opportunities that will reap the greatest benefit for your business.