It’s all about the conversation

BZ Media’s Software Test & Performance Conference is our largest and most popular technical conference. In case you didn’t know, it’s coming up next week, at the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, Mass., just across the Charles River from Boston.

At each year’s STPCon, we assemble a tremendous faculty with experts on everything from test design to test automation, team-building to requirements management. They teach excellent tutorials and in-depth technical classes. Every year, testers and developers who attend STPCon report that they get a huge amount of value from the technical sessions, and we’re very proud of that.

However, that’s not what I like best about STPCon. What makes a great technical conference, for me, is the opportunity to engage in conversations with people at different companies, and to gain insight from their different perspectives. We don’t get those kind of mind-expanding insights sitting at our desks, or hanging around our company lunchroom. We don’t engage in meaningful conversations by Googling specific problems, or even by reading timely articles in SD Times or Software Test & Performance magazine. Of course, we get tons of useful information from publications, and from our favorite blogs, wikis and online forums. But even at its most interactive, the Internet doesn’t replace a real conversation.

If you’re attending STPCon next week, pay close attention to our faculty. They’re tops. But also pay close attention to your fellow attendees. When you get a break between classes, or during lunch, don’t run back to your room to check e-mail. Compare notes with someone who just came out of the same classroom—you’ll both gain a new perspective. Share observations over coffee, and your daily triumphs and challenges over lunch. Open up. Talk. Listen. That’s how I gain the most value from a professional technology conference like STPCon, and I suspect you will too.

If you haven’t signed up for STPCon, by the way, there’s still time. Although the official conference hotels are all sold out, we still have seats in some of the classes.

Are you based in the greater Boston area? Stop by and check out the Demonstration Hall. There’s no charge to hang out there, you’ll get some free food, and the conversation and camaraderie are priceless.