AST 2017 is taking a deep look at the practice of software testing. We want to help testers become so good they cannot be ignored. CAST 2017 focuses on the actual tactical work required to perform excellent, effective and influential testing.

Today, testers are challenged to identify important product risks in turbulent contexts. Business focus follows a fickle consumer market, harshly driven by demanding investors. Organizational frameworks are evolving and changing, often within a product’s lifetime. Solution technology frantically advances moving from tiered architectures to micro services among a hyper distributed internet of things.

Emerging practices sometimes shuffle testing activities earlier, or later in the life cycle. Some development approaches may even obscure testing. CAST 2017 will focus on the tactical work testers do in a variety of contexts with different tools and techniques.

Please join us for our 12th annual conference at the Gaylord Opryland hotel in Nashville, TN, August 16 – 18 2017.

Schedule (Subject to Change)

View the Cast 2017 schedule & directory.

CAST 2017 Dates:

August 16-18, 2017 – Conference

Conference Chair: Justin Rohrman

Program Chair: Rob Sabourin

All AST event attendees must abide by the AST code of ethics and anti-discrimination policies.

What makes CAST unique?

For testers, by testers

We strive to advance and improve the science of software testing

We share, discuss, and question

Meet industry leaders (authors, bloggers, and personalities)

Network with peers, and experts

Reasonably priced, high ROI

Who should attend CAST?

Software Testers, Practitioners, and Managers

Scholars and Researchers

Students

Developers

The core mission of The Association for Software Testing (AST) and CAST is to help build an active community of software testing scholars, practitioners, and learners who can in turn positively influence and advance the practice of software testing.

CAST is more than a conference, it’s a unique opportunity to learn and discuss not found anywhere else. Each scheduled session is split into two parts. Half of the session is a presentation by a speaker, however the balance of the time is a facilitated “open season”. This open season allows attendees to question, discuss, and test the presentation.

What makes CAST truly unique is the discussions that take place in the hallways, at receptions, during meals, and after hours. For many the true value of CAST is the ability to discuss topics you are interested in with peers, experts, and academics that are leading change in our profession. At CAST you are among friends…let’s confer!

Mission and Style of CAST

The conference is designed not only to allow but also to encourage a high-level of interaction among presenters and participants. Flexibility is built into the schedule to facilitate productive brainstorming and impromptu debates. The conference organizers are observant and responsive: when this interaction builds the interest and energy for a particular topic, the flow of events and allocation of time to topics will be fine-tuned. Trained, seasoned moderators will help ensure that discussion sessions are productive.

CAST is free from thinly veiled sales pitches and offers up fresh content: CAST sessions are about experience, practice, and ideas — not just products. All sessions are related to the conference theme to enable in-depth exploration of each topic. Most of the presentations and tutorials at CAST are first-run content. We’ve assembled a cast of practitioners and thought-leaders with interesting stories and provoking ideas.

CAST is accompanied with unique tutorials: AST lines up unique interactive full-day tutorials — each led by recognized thought leaders in their areas of expertise.

Our hope is that CAST helps you advance the understanding and practice of testing — at your organization and around the globe. You’ll have opportunities to share your ideas and learn from thought-leaders, trainers, authors, and peers. CAST is a participatory conference where everyone is encouraged to participate and enjoy.

CAST puts CONFER back into Conference: What makes CAST unique is that we focus on the confer part of the word conference over anything else. Each scheduled session consists of a presentation followed by facilitated discussion about that presentation. Unless instructed otherwise, you may only ask clarifying questions while a speaker is presenting. Once a speaker is done, it becomes Open Season – at which point the floor is opened for discussion.