Testival Meetup #64, Zagreb, Croatia

Introduction

It was a very long time since the last in-person Testival meetup. Just before the COVID pandemic, we had meetup #58, in March 2020. Before that, we’ve been meeting regularly every month for years. We also had a conference every year. It feels really strange that there was no in-person meetup or a conference in over two years.

There were a few online-only meetups in 2020 and 2021. Even online meetups have stopped since Karlo and I have stepped down as organizers.

Niko Mađar has decided to organize the Testival conference this year. In addition to that, he decided to organize the Testival meetup. I wish him all the luck.

Testival Meetup #64

Finally, this month we had Testival Meetup #64. About 30 people came. A nice number considering the meetup was on a break for a couple of years.

The meetup used the usual format that I really like. Nike gave a short introduction. Then everybody shortly introduced themselves. I think this is such a critical part of the meetup. It’s really important to get to know the people. It’s really rare that somebody doesn’t want to introduce themselves. During the introduction Iva Čičin-Šain said she was the one that came up with the name Testival. (I couldn’t remember that when I wrote Stepping down as Testival Organizer.)

Talks

There were two talks. I have a few notes.

• Vesna Bilić - Excel in your QA career!
• Niko Mađar - How programs test programs

From Vesna’s talk:

• You can manage your career proactive or reactive.
• To advance your career you have to step out of your comfort zone.
• Life is long. There is time.
• Besides technical knowledge, life experience is required.
• Book recommendation - Team Topologies: Organizing Business and Technology Teams for Fast Flow by Matthew Skelton and Manuel Pais.

From Niko’s talk:

• Photomath Engineering blog.

There was interesting discussion during and after each talk.

The only complaint I have is that it was hard to hear the speakers. For the first talk I was sitting at the back and I was struggling to hear. I’ve moved to the first row during the break between the talks, so I could hear better. A sound system is required for such a big room.

Niko announced lightning talks at the beginning, but forgot about them at the end. I think it’s perfectly normal to forget something the first time you’re organizing a meetup.

After the Talks

After the talks the majority of the people stayed to chat. The reason I don’t like online meetups is that this social component is missing. Online, you can’t easily form small groups that split and merge chaotically.

Conclusion

It was great to see, after a very long time, Testival organizers and regular attendees. Niko said the plan is to continue with meetups every month. I’m looking forward to more meetups.