there seem to be so many exciting testing conferences happening in 2025 ā itās hard to keep track!
So far, Iāve only locked in one event for myself: the Software Quality Days in Munich this May. But Iām currently exploring where else it might be worth going ā and more importantly, where I might run into fellow testers and have meaningful exchanges.
Some of the events that have caught my eye include:
German Testing Day (May 13ā14, Frankfurt, Germany)
While I might not be going, I have favorites that stay: TestBash (I watch a lot of these online when they are posted, great content and even greater people in general), and Nordic Testing Days. I have also liked being at HUSTEF a lot.
I currently go where I speak, and I speak only where I am invited - helps keep more of my focus on the work I was hired for. I sample a lot of talks online from developer conferences.
I will speak at BCS SIGiST Summer Conference 2025 | BCS on June 19th and was planning on listening for the online parts. The price of that one is very inviting.
Ones I know of, but havenāt been to, though Iāve applied to some:
expo:QA (May 21-22, Madrid, Spain)
Greatest Quality (May 23, Zurich, Switzerland)
HUSTEF (HUngarian Software TEsting Forum, Oct 14-16, Budapest, Hungary)
TAPOST (Theory & Practice of Software Testing, Apr 10-12, Riga, Latvia)
TestCon Europe (Oct 22-24, Vilnius, Lithuania)
TestJS Summit (website down, last I saw was Dec 7-8 2023, Berlin, Germany)
Tokyo Test Fest (Nov 14, Tokyo, Japan)
Imho, it feels better to get personal suggestions instead of rushing through pages with a bunch of listed events. Most of the conferences have good marketing agencies behind them. But the content of the presentations is much more important. But I like the overview of https://testingconferences.org/ though.
For how long are you attending conferences as a visitor or speaker?
Oh, I forgot to mention, say hi for me to Software Quality Days. My talk on Mutation Testing was voted the third best talk there last year, in Vienna. I couldnāt come this year and take advantage of the resulting free admission due to a schedule conflict (plus Iād still have to pay significant travel expenses).
Mutation testing would probably be my first choice if I would be a DEV. It“s a kind of whitebox approach, isn“t it? But now, as I think of it: would it also work - at least in a limited context - when editing the html via browser inspector before running UI based test automation on that dedicated page? Could at least make such automated tests more reliable.
Any my second choice would be āBug Magnetsā! Please give a ping, if this one is accepted.
Yes, mutation testing is definitely whitebox, or as some call it, clearbox. Itās about the actual nitty-gritty details of the code, not checking functionality. It assumes (despite what Benny Hill taught me happens then) that the code passes its test suite; otherwise itās not very useful. Some tools run your tests on the unmutated code first, to make sure.
Iām pretty sure itās been said already, but TestBash ā and now the addition of Leading with Quality ā are definitely on my list. The speakers and topics are next level, and the atmosphere is unlike anything Iāve experienced elsewhere. Iām already missing it a lot.
It may seem biased, but TestBash is definitely my favourite testing event, hands-down. Iāve lost count of how many Iāve been to, and theyāre honestly excellent. If youāre more interested in personal recommendations than curated lists, TestBash is definitely it.
Hereās what some folks had to say about TestBash in 2024:
āGreat day at testbash definitely some very nice speakers, for first time attendance definitely recommend it. Wish I attended some of the workshops though thatās the plan for next year, keep up the good work!ā
āTestBash remains one of my favourite conferences to attend and speak at - there is something about the community around Ministry of Testing and TestBash that many other conferences just donāt have. I think itās the focus on community-first rather than conference-first that is the key.ā
āAnother amazing thing about conferences like TestBash - You get to meet people in person who youāve long admired.ā
āI attended my first professional conference this week and it was a blast. TestBash was awesome! There were a ton of great presentations and content, I participated in some group activities and met a few new people in the same profession I can reach out to.ā
āGreat to connect with industry leaders and testing experts at testbash organised by the Ministry of Testing. Great event and we were proud to have been sponsors of the evening social event.ā
āWhat a TestBash that was! So good to be back in Brighton & volunteered for the first time Thank you all you lovely people ā