AST Hoodie
The Association for Software Testing is dedicated to improving the practice of software testing by furthering the education (knowledge, skills, and testing-relevant self-awareness) of software testers. We expect to achieve this mission through advocacy for better testing education in universities and by providing high-quality materials, instructor training, live and online training designed for those currently testing software, and direct courseware for professional development and self-study.

Announcing CAST 2010

"Skills in Testing"

August 2 - 4, 2010

The fifth annual Conference of the Association for Software Testing (CAST) will be three days of interactive learning and discussion on the theme of "Skills in Testing", at the Prince Conference Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Day One (August 2, 2010): Tutorials
Day Two (August 3, 2010): Keynotes, Session Tracks, Exhibits
Day Three (August 4, 2010): Keynotes, Session Tracks

CAST 2010 is about testing skills. Learning, observing, problem solving, understanding, decision making, and applying knowledge and experience to new challenges. Do technical or domain skills impact testing?  What about other skill sets? CAST 2010 provides a venue to explore these questions and help us understand what makes a great tester.

The primary mission of CAST 2010 is to help build an active community of software testing scholars, practitioners, and learners who positively influence the practice of software testing.

See http://conferences.associationforsorftwaretesting.org for more information.

BBST Pricing Policy Starting 2010

Advanced Courses to Cost $200 ($300 for Non-Members)

Starting in 2010, we will charge $200 per student ($300 for non-members, which will establish you as a member for a year) for each advanced BBST course (Bug Advocacy and beyond).  Foundations will remain free to AST members. Students who completed Foundations prior to the close of 2009 will be able to take Bug Advocacy for free through the end of June 2010. We expect to introduce Domain Testing and Scenario Testing (and hope to introduce additional advanced courses) during 2010.

AST Online Courses on Software Testing

The AST courses are based on videos from The Center for Software Testing Education & Research (CSTER) with additional study aids and support from live instructors. The videos are available online at www.testingeducation.org/BBST. Information about the month-long coached courses is available on training.associationforsoftwaretesting.org.

Up to now, we’ve been offering all of these courses for free. While we will continue to offer BBST Foundations for free to AST Members, we unfortunately cannot continue to offer the advanced courses (such as Bug Advocacy) for free. We have significant administrative costs and have had to hire a system administrator. We have to pay for hosting and we have expenses associated with instructor training. Revenue from CAST has provided enough profit to support the courses through 2009, but CAST attendance was low last year (though our attendance was down far less than many technical conferences) and we are scheduling a much smaller CAST for next year in response to current economic conditions.

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