As I said on the day, we would love to hear feedback from you wonderful people
This was our first event in Belfast, for myself, Hugh and Neill it was our first event of this scale to organise. We’d like to hear what we did well on, what we didn’t do so well on and anything else you feel we may have forgotten.
I’m going to start with the WiFi Duly noted for the next time. To expand on it a little bit: there was WiFi in some areas of the building but it was not password protected. We’ll do our best with this for the next time.
For me the conference went very smooth. I added some points that could be nice or useful to hear:
Inviting me for the slack channel greatly improved my abilities to connect with other testbashers
The dual-line for lunch worked better than the single-line we used for muffins
No WiFI was not a big deal, let’s communicate together and tweet about it later (assuming you have twitter)
The meetups were as interesting as the conference
I can’t believe how many people Heather can stay in touch with at once this was really great for someone like me who traveled alone to the conference
I was lucky to find out there was food at the pre-meetup and we could order food at laverys. It might be an idea to announce some joint dinner-options even though this is not officially part of the conference.
Testers are awesome people
There was a lot of information to digest in one day. I’m really glad the talks were recorded. I would not have mind one less talk and some extra breaks (maybe including some practice, showcase or short game or something).
I had a blast
Don’t order a large beer if they announce the final round: You’ll end up chugging down your beer under pressure of the bouncer in a backalley.
Personally I really enjoyed the whole experience. As it was my first time attending a Test Bash event I was a little nervous (as I can be painfully shy sometimes), but everybody’s welcoming and friendly attitude made it so worthwhile.
The pre bash meet up was good, great location, lovely office. Arrived at almost the same time the Pizza did (though I can’t eat the stuff, damn evil cheese allergy!) Met some interesting people at it.
The Bash itself I thought was very well done. Everything on the day from my point of view seemed to run very smoothly (might be different from your prospective). Speakers were great, personal favourite was Gus and his perpetual motion style of presenting. Venue was a good choice though, had a good size stage, and also an area away to mingle during breaks.
Downsides, as you mentioned the Wifi, but unless you went around the whole building beforehand testing with 100’s of connections it there was no way of knowing that would have happened. And even for a tester that might be excessive Disappointed that I had to leave early to catch a train, as I missed the 99 second talks and the post Bash meet up. Won’t make that mistake again.
So basically, thank you all for an amazing experience, you did an amazing job. Dublin will have a lot to live up to.
I’m so happy, that I met you all! It was a fantastic TestBash and I learned so many things about different point of views of testing and the talks were a good mix of topics:
What was good/Should be kept on:
Pre and Post - Meetups are very good to connect to all the people
Good seating during the talks. You can see everything
Central location nearby pubs and the city centre so you can go from and to everywhere easily
Cool people! I’m so happy, that it is such a good community
Close to perfect organization of the event
What can be better:
As I’m from Germany we are the people living in IT-outback. So it is very important, that we have access to Wifi while we are abroad. Perhaps a location with good Wifi next time.
Please test your videoprojector first. The left and the right side of the presentations were cut out.
Better illumination. Sometimes I’ve had difficulties to see colors and small text (YES, I’m wearing glasses! )
After all I have to say THANK YOU for that awesome event! I hope I see you soon!
As a speaker I had a ball
As an attendee I had a blast
As a member of the MoT community I had a great time
Highlight for me was the openness and the enthusiasm of the people I met
Wireless can happen, I have data
I was a bit hungry after lunch but it served me well because i was the first speaker after lunch
I really liked the diversity factor, boys and girls on stage, CDT and others allowed to speak, Testers and Developers on stage, young and old (me mainly)
Great organisers even though I am extremely disappointed that neill’s cat couldn’t make it
Great communication from the team leading up to the event
The swag
The fika
The pre and post bash events - I liked being able to socialise more with everyone,and I really liked meeting everyone beforehand, made me a bit less nervous about my talk
The set-up for speakers, I didn’t have problems with the microphone or projector thingy
The people - so many awesome people
The diversity in speakers in experience, gender and job (I was seriously impressed by the other speakers!)
Things to improve on
Wifi
Lunch - there wasn’t enough meat in it, I got about a tablespoon of beef in mine
Duly noted for the next time. To expand on it a little bit: there was WiFi in some areas of the building but it was not password protected. We’ll do our best with this for the next time.
this was really great for someone like me who traveled alone to the conference
(though I can’t eat the stuff, damn evil cheese allergy!) Met some interesting people at it.
Perhaps a location with good Wifi next time.
