One year’s gone and Stanz 2009 has just finished. I like Stanz it gives us Test Analysts/Managers a regular wake-up call. It is the time we get reminded that the job we do can be more. It can be a calling, a field of interest and an engineering practice.
Matt Mansell’s (DIA) talk about Growing Great Test Analysts contained one comment that really struck a chord (not that the rest of the talk wasn’t excellent). He said (my own interpretation) that calling us testers is really putting down our capabilities and our profession. Instead we should make a point of calling ourselves Test Analysts. We ARE analysts and good testing is learned the hard and painful way. We are not monkeys or Business Analysts in sheep’s clothing. I am as guilty as are most. I will in future make a real effort in using the proper term of Test Analyst. It is a small but vital step in the right direction.
Stanz 2009 fltr: Julian Harty, Karen Johnson, Lee Copeland, James Bach
And the above really highlights what Stanz is all about. We go there to get reminded that we are in a testing profession. The speakers entice us to learn more, to read more and to get off our complacent derrierès. The 2009 Stanz definitely had the right set of speakers for this. I again enjoyed the quasi familiarity of the event. I doubt there are many places in the world where the attendees and speakers can get so up-close and personal to exchange ideas.
The effects of the recession were visible but that was to be expected. Even so I’d say the attendance was good and it was nice to see all those familiar faces again and meet some new ones.
Who knows, 2010 might be the year I switch sides from listening to talking. We’ll see…..
That stood out for me as well. I always thought it was unnecessary to add “analyst” to the name thinking it was just a way of inflating your title, but he definitely gave me something to think about in regards to adding “analyst” to my title.
And I agree, this year’s conference was very inspiring.