Why?

Phil Kirkham confirmed his birthright as a tester by asking the epitomical tester question regarding my last post.

Why?

To be fair, he actually asked:

quite a schedule – so what do you get out of it ? Or conversely, if you didn’t go to these events what do you think you would be missing ?

This is something I think about myself (and occasionally need to explain to my management chain, as time at these events is time away from my day job), and I thought there may be enough here to discuss to merit another post (you may, of course, disagree).

The first event I mentioned, the UCIF event, is pretty much part of my job, So I suppose what I get out of it is that I get paid. I think it will also make my overall ucif work easier, so it’s definitely a good thing for everyone involved (except, perhaps, my family).

The other gigs (PNSQC, German Testing Day, Intel, and the Webinar) are where the answer is (possibly) more interesting. If I didn’t go (and present) at these events, I could still get my day job done (and in fact, you could argue that I’d be more effective at my day job because I wouldn’t be missing work). If I were a consultant, I would be using the events to drum up business, but that’s not the case here.

I think the best explanation has two parts. The first is that I sort of like engaging in the test community. PNSQC is a no-brainer since it’s close by and I love Portland (thus it’s the only conference where I’ve asked to present (via abstract submission) in the last several years). But PNSQC – and all of the other gigs on my list are great opportunities to meet testers and discuss hard problems in testing (and some solutions for these problems). I like talking about testing, and talking with non-MS testers gives me (I think) a better perspective on what’s happening in the world. I certainly don’t agree to every speaking offer, but I do try to accept a few opportunities every year. It just so happens that my opportunities this year are all consolidated into a five week period. I may do something in the spring, but as of now, I think the fall flurry will be it for me for a while.

I also like to think there’s value to Microsoft as well (at least my manager and I do). As I thought when writing HWTSAM, I think there’s value in sharing what happens at MS with the worldwide testing community. I often say, “in the absence of information, people will make stuff up”. I try to reduce the amount of stuff people make up  by sharing what I can about how teams at MS approach the practice of making quality software at a large scale. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not – but I feel the effort is worth it.

So, what do I get out of it? I’d like to think I get better software testing – either through ideas I share with others, or by refining my ideas based on feedback, or brand new ideas I can bring back to MS. I think it’s worth it.