Who's planning on coming?

🗄️ Archive
1

This will be my first Testbash, and indeed my first testing conference!

It will be good to meet new faces, so who’s coming??

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I am! Looking forward to putting a face to the name Clair :slight_smile:
Have a hotel booked, holidays from work booked, flight next & buy a ticket then.

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I’m planning to come, although I may be tempted by Philly.
Enjoyed Mancs last year and it was definitely easier in terms of travel from Edinburgh.

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I’ll be sending my team… unfortunately I’ll be in Crete drinking cocktails on the day. We all came last year and found it a really useful experience.

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That raises an interesting question. My employer actively encourages participation in these kind of events, and that support includes time to attend and expenses paid. Do other people have to self-fund or do their employers help out?

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I self funded for Brighton, and if I enjoy it, I’ll likely be the same for Manchester.

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I’ll be there this year, missed out by a couple of days last year because i was still away. It’ll be my first conference too - exciting! Looking forward to it!

I think my employer would consider covering it for me, but it’s just a short trip across the peaks for me so things like accomodation and travel aren’t a big deal - i’ll probably self-fund.

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As I’m in Manchester it would be frankly rude of my not to come. Not sure if I’m self-funding or not - only need to fork out for tickets and work is covering Brighton so we’ll see

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My company started out funding me for my first two which was amazing as at that time I couldn’t have funded it myself. They’ve now decided not to fund me going forward despite the benefits that were visible across the company from attending. I fully plan to fund myself though as I can honestly say I wouldn’t be where I am without attending them.

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I mostly sel-fund my learnings. But my employee paid for ISTQB certificate.

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It’s strange isn’t it? It seems easier to convince employers to pay up for certification rather than seminars / conferences (in my experience at least). These kind of conferences are nearly always positive learning experiences, and TestBash Manchester represented excellent value for money last year. And I think my MoT mug looks nicer than any of my ISTQB certificates. It holds coffee better too. :grinning:

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For company it is always about ROI. You can turn ISTQB certificate into euros (new contracts because of it), TestBash shows ROI in long term and it could be that the people will leave the company before it hits home.

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Hi Clair. Be great to meet you at Manchester testbash. It’s really important everyone feels relaxed, and welcomed, so keep in touch. I’m @villabone on twitter

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For the testbash in Brighton, it was mixed, I paid expenses, they paid train and hotel. For Manchester I’m self funding. Hotel & travel, expenses, all out my own money

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I’ll be there!
My company this year (with some prodding from a new test lead) has said they’ll pay for us to attend a conference or certification annually, of our choice (so this is mine!)

Also my first ever conference / testing event

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17

Wish I could go, but my company can’t afford to send me to another event, and I can’t cover the cost myself due to life basically.

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If life wouldn’t get in the way of you writing you should talk to @melthetester and you might get to go yet :wink: I realise it’s not for everyone but figured it’s worth mentioning :slight_smile:

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19

Thanks @heather_reid, duel noted :smiley: However, I won’t make Manchester at all, as I will be at a wedding those days.

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20

Better late than never! I’ve just signed up for my first Test Bash, staying at the Premier Inn Manchester Salford Quays as it has parking.

Cant wait to meet everyone.

Cheers

Craig

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