CALL FOR PARTICIPATION / PAPERS
Ninth Software Test Managers Roundtable (STMR 9)Topic: Working effectively with outsourcing
May 22 - 23, 2004
Melbourne, Florida at the Florida Institute of Technology
Optional dinner, May 21
Co-sponsored by
- The Association for Software Testing, and
- Florida Tech's Center for Software Testing Education & Research
Join us in a discussion of how to manage testing - or deal with the management of testing - as testing and/or programming within the software project is outsourced. This year's workshop is faciliated by Scott Barber, (http://www.perftestplus.com), James Bach (http://www.jamesbach.com), and Cem Kaner (http://www.testingeducation.org).
Meetings of the Software Test Managers roundtable are primarily practitioners' meetings, focusing on the needs of the working test manager. Researchers, educators, consultants, and non-testing development managers are welcome at the meeting, but the goal and the focus of the meeting is development of ideas and solutions to be used by working test managers.
This is a participatory workshop. In the 14 hours of formal sessions, we expect to cover five to seven presentations. The presenter will speak for 10 to 60 minutes. Following this, we discuss the presentation. In past sessions, discussions have run from 1 minute to 3 hours. During the discussion, a participant might ask the presenter simple or detailed questions, describe consistent or contrary experiences or data, present a different approach to the same problem, or (respectfully and collegially) argue with the presenter. The agenda is intentionally flexible. For example, some presentations might inspire the group to break into brainstorming sessions or breakout groups for further discussion.
Materials shared at the workshop will be posted at the website of Florida Tech's Software Testing Education Research Lab, http://www.testingeducation.org, and will be available for reuse in software testing courses.
There is no attendance fee. We will bring in breakfast, lunch, and snacks both days (no charge to participants). Participants (presenting and non-presenting) must pay their own travel expenses (hotel, airfare, dinners, etc.) We have arranged for a discounted room rate at the Marriott Courtyard of Melbourne.
<<<details to follow>>>Participation in the workshop is by invitation based on a proposal. The workshop is limited to 15 participants.
TO ATTEND AS A PRESENTER: Please send a proposal BY MARCH 31, 2004 to Cem Kaner (kaner@cs.fit.edu) that identifies who you are, what your background is, what you would like to present, how long the presentation will take, any special equipment needs, and what written materials you will provide. Along with traditional presentations, we are willing to consider proposed activities and interactive demonstrations.
Proposals should be between two and four pages long. After acceptance, they will be posted to www.testingeducation.org. Thus, a web-based format is preferred. We can publish text, HTML and PDF. We can also generate PDF from MS Word and Open Office files.
We review proposals in terms of their contribution to knowledge of how to manage software testing. Proposals that present a purely theoretical advance in software testing, with little or weak ties to practical test management, will not be accepted.
By submitting your proposal, you agree that, if we accept your proposal, you will submit a paper for discussion at the workshop by May 10, 2004. Workshop papers may be of any length and follow any standard scholarly style. We will post these at http://www.testingeducation.org by May 14, for workshop participants to review before the workshop.
TO ATTEND AS A NON-PRESENTING PARTICIPANT: Please send a message by MARCH 31, 2004 to Cem Kaner that describes your background and your interest in managing software testing.
We will review all proposals and send acceptances by April 7.
Anyone who attends STMR 9 is welcome to write papers or give presentations that summarize and/or extend the work done in STMR 9. As a condition of attending, you grant other attendees the right to use (with appropriate attribution) the work you do or present at STMR 9 in their courses, papers or presentations.
For further information, please contact Cem Kaner <kaner@cs.fit.edu>.
