The POST Workshop 2010 on the topic "Perspectives on Your Most Powerful Testing Skill" was held on March 20 - 21, 2010 in Airdrie, Alberta. The workshop was a great success with many insightful presentations and engaging discussions.

The following abstract topics were submit to the POST Workshop 2010:

• Gaining Trust as a Tester, by Camelia Balan, Calgary, Alberta
• But I only do manual testing! Gaining Comfort with Test Automation, by David Cranstone, Calgary, Alberta
• Speak Up, by Zi Mee Dryer, Calgary, Alberta
• Dialled-Up Bug Advocacy, by Adam Geras, Calgary, Alberta
• Rethinking How to Learn, by Janet Gregory, Calgary, Alberta
• Leveraging Usability Testing to Achieve Higher Value Solutions, by Jennifer Gornik, Calgary, Alberta
• Facing the Value Proposition Head-on, by Mike Heinrich, Calgary, Alberta
• Looking Past the Details, by Sherry Heinze, Calgary, Alberta
• Curiosity Feeds a Life of Continuous Learning, by Ken Horovatin, Calgary, Alberta
• Using the TDD Approach Towards Defect Free Development, by Bala Kanagaraj, Calgary, Alberta
• Being Different Makes a Difference, by Nancy Kelln, Calgary, Alberta
• Do you explore?, by Joel LaFollette, Vancouver, British Columbia
• Problem Solving, by Tommas Marchese, Toronto, Ontario
• Believing in Yourself, by Lynn McKee, Calgary, Alberta
• Diplomacy in the World of Testing, by Daya Narendran, Calgary, Alberta
• Setting Communication Standards for the Project, by Adnan Sami, Calgary, Alberta

The following are the ideas captured on the white board aka the "Idea Board".

Explore, Create, Play, Invent Collective Intelligence Unconscious Limitations Independent "Thinkers" vs "Teams" Mind Mapping Cognitive Test Planning Personas (Jeff Patton)

ET - Exploratory Testing Testing vs Checking SBT - Session Based Testing James Bach, Jon Bach, Michael Bolton, Jonathon Kohl Session Tester Tool Time Boxed Testing Set Touring (James Whitaker)

Modelling 100% Test Coverage = ? Automation Tools AA - FIT TDD - Test Driven Development BHD - Behaviour Driven Development ATDD - Acceptance Test Driven Development New Idea - Test Influenced Development

The POST Workshop 2010 Workshop included the submission of a feature article "Six Thinking Hats to Differentiate Your Testing Skills", by Malini Mohan Kumar. The following is an excerpt from the article:

"In today's world, testing a complex business application requires a variety of skills and the ability to think differently. A talented tester will wear many hats. A few hats will be specialized while many hats will be multi dimensional.

How can testers increase the effectiveness of their thinking process? How can we ensure our thinking is diversified? Edward de Bono's brainchild on thinking performance, "Six Thinking Hats", is one possible solution. Tremendous results can be achieved by optimizing one's thinking...".

Read the full Six Thinking Hats to Differentiate Your Testing Skills feature article.

Read more from Malini on her blog at http://malinimohankumar.blogspot.com.

"A big thanks to Nancy and Lynn for organizing the first POST workshop in Calgary. I consider it a success first and foremost because I was able to meet some great people that share a similar passion for QA. Plus I learned some alternative perspectives of software testing that are making me think about QA testing in different ways. Thanks again and I look forward to the next workshop."
David Cranstone, POST Workshop 2010 Attendee "POST Workshop 2010 was a big success. Thanks to Lynn and Nancy for organizing it. And thanks also to Sherry for being such a great facilitator. Lucky to be able to attend such a workshop and to meet passionate QA folks near to home. Looking forward to the next one."
Daya Narendran, POST Workshop 2010 Attendee "Thanks Nancy and Lynn for putting together such a great workshop. It’s incumbent on us all to ensure we continually improve and engage in a dialogue with our professional community. The POST Workshop 2010 workshop was a great forum for that and was a tremendous success! Great work!"
Mike Heinrich, POST Workshop 2010 Attendee "Thanks to Lynn & Nancy for organizing the first POST workshop and it was fabulous one. It was a greater opportunity for me to learn and improve my testing skills from everyone’s contribution and sharing their real testing experience. I was so glad to get together with you all in the workshop and, you all are very passion on your QA skills. Thanks to everyone and I am looking forward for next workshop."
Bala Kanagaraj, POST Workshop 2010 Attendee "Thank you ladies for organizing this great event, thank you for inviting me to participate and thank you for encouraging and supporting me along the way. Weekend well spent amongst testing passionate people!"
Camelia Balan, POST Workshop 2010 Attendee

The POST Workshop 2010 hosts, Nancy Kelln and Lynn McKee, would like to thank all of the attendees for their time, energy, and sharing their valuable perspectives. Attendees travelled from as far west as Vancouver and as far east as Toronto to attend the workshop. Very cool!

A special thank you to Sherry Heinze for facilitating the workshop. Facilitated discussion is core to the workshop format and Sherry's excellent facilitation contributed greatly to the workshop's success.

Check out photos from the POST Workshop 2010. Enjoy!