Attention Vendors and Service Providers
Submitted by sbarber on Fri, 24/04/2009 - 08:35.
The 4th Annual Conference of the Association of Software Testing (CAST) 2009
Colorado Springs, Colorado, July 13-16, 2009
Serving Our Stakeholders
If your company sells tools, training, or services related to software testing, CAST is the one conference you won't want to cut out of your budget. For a small fraction of the cost of many other conferences you can network with influencers and decision makers, you can become known as a company that really cares about testing and testers (as opposed to a company that simply found a way to make money off of software testing), and you can get a glimpse into where testing is headed in the future.
Of course, this is my admittedly biased opinion, but I invite you to form your own opinion. To that end, below I've provided links and information about CAST 2009, July 13-16 in Colorado Springs, CO -- in particular, sponsoring CAST '09 (www.cast2009.org). In case you are not familiar with CAST, it is the annual conference of the Association for Software Testing (www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org), a non-profit organization who's mission is to advance the understanding and practice of software testing.
Why CAST Needs Sponsors
As a non-profit organization, we depend on our sponsors even more than most conferences. In fact, the money we raise from sponsors goes directly to supporting our members. Without CAST sponsors, AST will not be able to keep it's membership fees or conference prices affordable, nor will AST be able to continue working on programs designed to make high quality training and training materials available for free (or very nearly so) to testers, or to provide voluntary and politically unbiased feedback on the proposed software testing standards for electronic voting equipment to appropriate government agencies before they are adopted, and even to work with with academic institutions to develop on-line degree programs in software testing.
Promoting CAST
If your organization truly can't afford to sponsor CAST financially this year, please at least consider helping us promote the conference. Unlike many other conferences, AST does not invest in expensive marketing campaigns. We rely on our members and friends like you to help us get the word out about our activities. We believe that if we demonstrate real value to our members, the testing community, and the sofware industry as a whole then our reputation will speak for itself. We believe that our actions are our most important marketing campaign.
About CAST 2009
This is the 4th year for CAST, with each year being larger and more successful than year before. This year we are planning for 400 participants, we've secured yet another super-star lineup, including Keynote Speaker Jonathan Koomey, PhD (author of Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving), Invited Speakers Mike Dwyer & Kevin Brennan, and returning favorites Jerry Weinberg, Cem Kaner, James Bach, Rob Sabourin, Fiona Charles, Michael Bolton, Scott Barber and Dawn Haynes.
Who Attends CAST?
Historically at CAST, we've had ~ 50% of our attendees report having a position of team lead or higher (to include managers and executives). Over 80% of our attendees report having more than 5 years testing experience, and an average of over 12 years experience in software. Among the companies represented at CAST, there are many names you are familiar with like Boeing, Accenture, Intuit, John Hancock, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Reuters, and McGraw-Hill. Of course CAST attracts technology companies as well, such as: Texas Instruments, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, Adobe, IBM, HP, Oracle, RIM, Symantec, T-Mobile, VMC, and Yahoo -- and this is just a sample. We attract people from finance, technology, government, medical, academic, and manufacturing sectors alike.
What Sponsors Get From CAST
Sponsorship options are what you'd expect (but at a price far less than I suspect you are used to paying). You can review all the options on the website or contact me to create a custom package. At CAST, sponsors get direct contact with the most senior members of test teams -- those who influence purchase decisions. Sponsors also have the opportunity to network with many of the most influential bloggers, consultants, authors, and teachers of testers in the software testing world.
Building Goodwill
As you know, testers are a critical, questioning breed and that to gain a recommendation or referral from them requires that you not only have a quality product or service, but frequently that your company demonstrate true caring for testing, the testing community, and value. CAST works hard to create an environment where you can build or enhance your relationship with the testing community. Basically, we've tried to enhance all of the positive things that sponsors get out of conferences, coupled them with the most senior audience one is likely to find and a testing conference, and charge much less than most. If you could calculate the ROI of goodwill and a good reputation, I doubt you'd find more "bang for your buck" than sponsoring CAST.
Vendor Track Sessions
One item I would like to point out is the return of the "Vendors & Service Providers" track at the conference this year. This is where you get to discuss, demonstrate, answer questions about, or introduce your products and/or services to interested CAST participants. We do require vendors to follow the same 2/3, 1/3 rule that CAST mandates for all sessions, that is: You present for up to 2/3 of the total time slot, you leave at least 1/3 of the time for facilitated questions and answers. Last year participants reported *loving* that the vendors were sharing valuable information and sticking around to field hard questions. All reports indicate that vendors gain respect in the eyes of software testers when they voluntarily open themselves up for, well, testing. :)
Contact Information
I hope you find all the information you need to decide what level of sponsorship is right for you in the attached materials, but if you do not find what you need, or if you are interested in a custom package, please do not hesitate to contact me at executive.director@associationforsoftwaretesting.org.
I'm looking forward to seeing you at CAST 2009!
- --
- Scott Barber
- President & Chief Technologist, PerfTestPlus, Inc.
- Executive Director, Association for Software Testing
- Co-Author, Performance Testing Guidance for Web Applications
- "If you can see it in your mind...
- you will find it in your life."