STAREAST 2024 - Career & Personal Development
Monday, April 29
The How and When of Communication
Ever struggled to communicate test progress or persuade a stakeholder on the quality improvement initiative you have? Do you struggle getting developers to appreciate the need to build testing into the lifecycle? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then this session is for you. Julie Gardiner shares key ingredients for getting your message across more effectively. She shares a communication model she has used for nearly 20 years in her career to get her message across and, more recently, how the science of timing can play a major part of how communication is received. Through...
Automation Framework Essentials
Automation is critical in today’s software delivery lifecycle, and yet many organizations struggle to keep their automation running. How can we mitigate difficulties and get consistent automation runs and results we can trust? The secret is implementing a solid automation framework, but that isn’t as easy as it seems. Chris Loder has built several automation frameworks over his career and has learned what works—and, more importantly, what doesn’t. This tutorial will cover what an automation framework is, the benefits of having one, and the keys to a successful framework, including...
Become Your Company's Quality Consultant
Companies of all sizes face difficulties in achieving higher quality standards within their organization. As quality engineering includes various roles and activities, it is also challenging to find the right people to analyze the current state from a wide perspective and provide the recommendations that will allow these organizations to mature their teams, improving their DevOps culture in the process. Join Péter Földházi as he illustrates the knowledge and skills necessary to become your company's quality consultant. Péter's goal is to involve engineers from beginner to advanced levels...
Tuesday, April 30
Quality and Testing Measures and Metrics
To be most effective, leaders—including development and testing managers, ScrumMasters, product owners, and IT managers—need metrics to help direct their efforts and make informed recommendations about the software’s release readiness and associated risks. Because one important evaluation activity is to “measure” the quality of the software, the progress and results of both development and testing must be measured. Collecting, analyzing, and using metrics are complicated because developers and testers often are concerned that the metrics will be used against them. Join Jeff Pierce as he...
Confident Communication Drives Powerful Quality Leadership
PreviewDriving a culture of quality starts with effective communication. Join Stacy Kirk and Erika Chestnut to unlock your communication superpowers! Imagine a cheat code that helps us boost productivity and team vibes by 10x. We will leverage behavior self-assessments to help discover your unique strengths, communication styles, and reactions to challenges. Stacy and Erika will help you learn to communicate effectively with your team, management, and cross-functional teams to build a culture of quality. You will learn to assess how others best receive and process information and how to...
Wednesday, May 1
Bridging Gaps, Building Connections: A Hungarian Testing Story
The beautiful Hungarian city of Budapest seems to be characterized by bridging gaps and building connections. Two diverse parts of the city, Buda and Pest, are separated by the Danube river, which gave them the opportunity to be connected by the iconic Chain Bridge. Budapest is also the birthplace of one of the most brilliant and influential scientists of the 20th century, John von Neumann. Neumann made significant contributions that “bridged” multiple areas including mathematics, physics, economics and computer science. In the software world, you may have already heard the name “Földházi...
Empowering Robust Testing Frameworks: Leveraging AI-Generated Requirements for Unparalleled Quality Assurance
Join Melissa as she explores the fusion of AI and quality assurance in software development. Discover how AI-generated requirements can revolutionize testing strategies, enhancing application quality. She will cover AI's role in requirements generation, and you will learn how AI automates the creation of diverse use case scenarios, ensuring comprehensive coverage, including edge cases. She will discuss traceability and alignment to outline how AI-generated requirements establish a robust traceability matrix, verifying all aspects of software functionality. Additionally, the session will...
Treating Your Test Tools like a Real Product
PreviewHave you ever had a QA tool fail to gain momentum? Ever had a splintered array of test automation frameworks that does the exact same thing across your quality engineering organization? Ever have a hard time getting leadership to sign off for tools that you know could easily boost testing productivity? If you answered yes to any of these, come join Albrecht in this crash course in building your quality engineering roadmap. In this session, Albrecht will go over how to build a product roadmap that aligns with your organization's goals and identify key milestones, to ensure your...
A Crash Course In Getting Started with Cypress
PreviewIn 2024, the amount of new technologies and practical applications to software testing principles can leave any software tester looking to advance their career in test automation feeling overwhelmed. In this interactive session, Anna will share the applied learning models that she has developed over her 10+ years of experience in the field to empower you on your test automation learning journey. You will gain a deeper understanding of Cypress, a user-friendly framework, to help you write your first automated test, as well learn practical tips and tricks on how to further develop...
Modern Test Automation Strategies - A Panel
Love it or hate it, test automation drives a large part of our day-to-day lives as testers. But writing and maintaining software automation doesn't HAVE to be painful! Learn from a panel of automation experts - including Janna Loeffler, Adam Auerbach, and more - about how their teams have built reliable automation tooling and infrastructure that can stand the test of time. Moderated by Melissa Benua, the panel will answer YOUR questions and help you address the challenges that we all face when scaling our test automation to match modern continuous delivery needs. You don't have to...
Lightning Strikes the Keynotes
Throughout the years, Lightning Talks have been a popular part of the STAR conferences. If you’re not familiar with the concept, Lightning Talks consists of a series of five-minute talks by different speakers within one presentation period. Lightning Talks are the opportunity for speakers to deliver their single biggest bang-for-the-buck idea in a rapid-fire presentation. And now, lightning has struck the STAR keynotes. Some of the best-known experts in testing will step up to the podium and give you their best shot of lightning. Get multiple keynote presentations for the price of one—and...
Thursday, May 2
Was I Supposed to Use a Teaspoon or a Tablespoon? Creating Your Leadership Recipe
Wouldn't it be great if leadership was an easy recipe with clear and concise instructions? 1-part hard work, 1-part knowledge, a dash of self-confidence, sprinkle with humility and grace, and bake for the duration of your career. Perfection! Unfortunately, leadership is a complex recipe, and the measurements can be extremely tricky to get right. Even worse, if the ingredients in your recipe are slightly altered, it might seem like the recipe wasn't a success. But cooking is an artistic endeavor; recipes can be adapted and so can your leadership journey. Join Christine as she helps you...
Navigating the Testing Career Labyrinth: From Intern to Director
Navigating a successful career in software testing presents formidable challenges, especially when striving to climb the career ladder. Whether you're aiming to transition from manual testing to becoming an SDET or contemplating roles in people management and organizational leadership, forging your path can feel overwhelming. Join Jeff Sing, as he draws upon his personal journey, starting as a QA Intern and progressing to his current role as a Director of Engineering. Through anecdotes and insights, you will learn the strategies and decisions that can significantly propel your career...
How To Become A QA Influencer—6 Steps Toward Building A Stronger Digital You!
Today IT leadership & QA executives of the world’s top brands all have strong, significant & differentiating personal brands to differentiate them in their industry. Whether you are an associate, executive, sales person, business leader, or human resources professional in an organization, who you are matters as much as how you communicate it. Now more than ever it is important to get your voice heard and establish your reputation on and off line. Learn the tips and tricks for building your personal brand from the expert that taught several IT & C-Suite executives, business...
Supercharge Your Confidence As a Tester in the DevOps and AI Era
In software development, particularly in the DevOps and AI era, the role of a tester is both crucial and challenging. WE need to aim to empower testers with strategies to excel in this environment, ensuring they deliver the highest quality applications. In this keynote, you will learn how to manage expectations and instill confidence in your team along the software delivery process. Join Lisette to explore effective communication techniques with stakeholders, establishing trust and demonstrating value from the project's inception. Discover how to continuously leverage key performance...