Tap|talk

Spring QA Conference is here and we are joined by Alison Wade of Techwell (https://www.techwell.com/) to discuss their three upcoming conferences: - Epic Experience in San Diego (brand new in 2020!) - STAREAST in Orlando - Agile + DevOps West in Las Vegas Alison shares why conferences are so important for QA Leaders and professionals to attend and particular highlights of the three conferences.  Tune in for a discount code to get a huge break on registration for any of the three conferences!

Our first 2020 tap|TALK QA Podcast will focus on the upcoming Spring STP Conference in San Diego (www.stpcon.com), one of the best software conferences of the year. We'll talk with Rick Baucom, organizer of the conference along with Melissa Tondi of E*TRADE, one of the top thought leaders in Quality Engineering and one of the originators of the upcoming STP Mile High Testing conference in Denver.  We discuss why conferences are so important for both QA leaders and practitioners and many of the reasons to convince your boss why you should attend.  Stay until the end and you'll receive a discount code for savings on attending STP Con! Around the 23-minute mark, we chat with Melissa about best practices in a Modernized Testing Approach - a great topic for anyone in QA!

For our final 2019 tap|TALK, we're joined by the inimitable Angie Jones! Angie shares with us her views of Test Automation as we head into 2020, along with her history in the industry, and more about her work with Test Automation University and with Applitools. Finally, Angie shares with us her boldest prediction for the 2020's. Angie is one of the best and brightest in our industry - which you know if you've seen her speak - and her work at TAU is amazing. You'll enjoy learning more from Angie in this podcast!

In this episode tap|QA's Kirk Walton and Jared Hoernemann, Senior SDET, speak with Christine Fisher about how her team instituted Behavioral Driven Development at NAIC, a project that tap|QA played a large part in! Christine shares a bit more about BDD, why it made sense for her team, and the experiences they had in getting started with it, while Jared shares some of the technical pieces in making it happen. If you have given BDD a thought for your organization, this is a great podcast to check out!

tap|TALK's "2020 Vision" series continues with Kevin Pyles, Director of QA at Domo. Kevin recently won "Best Presentation" at the HUSTEF testing conference for his "From Zero to AI Hero" presentation. As a leading advocate of AI / ML in testing, Kevin discusses the near-term future of AI and its advantages, and how "the machines will not take our jobs, but make them better"... as long as QA professionals continue to "Level Up" with their skills. Great podcast for all those who are AI-curious!

Our "2020 Vision" series continues with Kevin Surace, Chairman and CTO of Appvance and Keynote Speaker at this fall's STPCon.  Kevin gives us a deeper dive into AI and Machine Learning, why what you see in the movies is not reality, and makes the case for code-free automation via AI as we head into the 2020s.  Kevin also explains what Level-5 Autonomy is, why it's a game changer, and why Appvance is ahead of the game when it comes to achieving it. Those interested in AI for automation will love this podcast!

Our "2020 Vision" series continues with Melissa Benua, Engineering Manager of mParticle and one of our industry's top speakers.  Melissa dives into Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery (or Deployment) and discusses some industry best practices and why Quality is going to become EVERYONE'S responsibility.  Melissa also defines a Combined Engineering team, and discusses her favorite practices for building a great team including some tips on the interview to make sure you are identifying top notch talent.

Our "2020 Vision" series kicks off with the "Performance Sherpa" Mark Tomlinson who joins tap|TALK to discuss trends in Performance Testing.  Mark takes us on a deep dive into his history with Performance and Load Testing, why tools can be good (but reminds us why not to shut our human brains off) and other tricks of the trade.  We'll also hear Mark's bold predictions for our industry in the 2020s.

After a long break, tap|TALK is back! We're excited to introduce our "2020 Vision" series as we get ready for a new decade. Over the next few weeks we'll be talking with some of the best and brightest in our industry as we look at the trends QA Leaders and Professionals need to know as we head into the 2020's. Today, join Kirk Walton from tap|QA for an in-depth talk around how to build Great QA teams, even in an incredibly hot market. We'll focus on the interview process and the 7 Killer Questions you need to identify a great fit for your organization, and then how to sell the candidate on your role being the ideal fit for them.  This is a GREAT podcast for any QA and Technology leader that is struggling to attract talent - a problem so many organizations are faced with today!

Tariq King, Head of Quality for Ultimate Software and a global thought leader around AI / Machine Learning for Testing, joins tap|TALK to demystify testing bots.  Learn about Tariq's passion for AI in the QA field, how he developed his first bot, and exactly how testing bots work "under the hood."  It's not magic! We'll also discuss how all QA professionals can learn more about how to get involved with AI for testing!

Janna Loeffler, Sr Manager of Experience Quality Standards, joins Jennifer Bonine of tap|QA for the podcast version of their standing-room only Keynote at STARWEST 2018. Janna and Jennifer take us on a magical journey of the past, present and future of the QA Career, and the reasons why QA professionals can expect a Happily Ever After. Janna also shares her #1 tip for hiring managers. This is a great podcast for QA practitioners and managers alike - there's so much positivity in the profession as we start 2019! 

The market for QA professionals has NEVER been better - and that's making it even harder for companies to find great QA talent.  Join Jennifer Bonine, Rick Faulise, and Kirk Walton from tap|QA for a discussion around the current market.  Why is the QA profession so hot right now? Why are strong QA pros so hard to find? What can companies better do to attract QA talent and build their teams?  The team also discusses trends that QA professionals need to follow to keep fresh in 2019, and beyond.  This is a GREAT podcast for ANYONE in the QA field!

Jason Arbon, Founder and CEO of Test.ai, joins tap|TALK to add to our discussions of Artificial Intelligence and what it means for software testers in the future.  We learn about Jason's goal "to test all the world's apps" and more about his company, Test.ai, and a peak at their platform.  Jason also shares his thoughts on how AI will change the game for testing, and gives us a sneak peak at some of the announcements Test.ai will be making at the fall conferences.

If you are an IT professional in any function, becoming a Consultant might be the single best thing you can do for your career.  Join Kirk, Jennifer, Matt, Mike and "The Ricks" from tap|QA as we discuss 12 reasons why becoming an IT Consultant is a Career Game-Changer.  We'll talk about higher compensation, work-life balance, much more variety, building an amazing resume, expanding your career network, the chance to work with amazing tech companies and more! No matter what part of IT you are in, this is a podcast you definitely want to check out!

Leo Laskin, Senior Solutions Architect for Sauce Labs, joins tap|TALK to discuss Test Automation! Listen to Leo discuss his progression from manual tester to automation architect, and advice he has for others to get into automation from manual testing. Leo also goes into detail about why test automation is so critical for development teams looking to gain a competitive edge by releasing better software faster.  Finally, Leo gives us an overview of Sauce Labs and some new features the product will have soon. This is a great podcast for QA Leaders and practitioners looking to learn more about test automation!

One of Quality Assurance's top thought leaders, Michael Bolton of DevelopSense, joins tap|TALK! Join us as Michael discusses his history with QA, and the evolution of the role (and some of the pros and cons of the split between Development and QA).  Michael also discusses why some QA norms and metrics should be examined closer.  At the 41-minute mark, Michael introduces us to Rapid Software Testing, the fastest, least-expensive testing we can do.  Learn more about RST and why so much of software testing can't be automated, the most important metric in testing (1:05 mark) and how to best organize sprints (1:19).  And at the 1:22 mark, Michael has a special announcement about RST! This is an OUTSTANDING podcast for anyone in the QA and Development fields!

Join tap|TALK for our latest dive into how Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning is impacting the testing and QA world.  Today, we chat with Izzy Azeri, co-founder of Mabl, and learn more about the benefits of AI in testing.  We also learn more about Mabl - why it was developed, and where companies can benefit from using it as part of their testing and CI/CD environments.  We also spend a few minutes "geeking out" on the tech behind Mabl!

Geoff Meyer, Test Architect and QA Thought Leader from Dell EMC joins tap|TALK to discuss Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, and how it is impacting QA and Test Automation, as well as Software Development as a whole.  Geoff spoke on these topics as the Keynote Address at STAREAST 2018, and shares some great info on this edition of tap|TALK.  This is a great episode for QA Practitioners and Technology Leaders alike!

Our third 2018 "Conference Season" preview features Tom Ticknor of QAI.  Learn more about the history of one of the nation's longest-serving QA-focused organizations, and preview the 2018 Quest Conference which is held in San Antonio May 21-25.  Tom previews some of the speakers and tracks and discusses why San Antonio is a great location for a QA conference!  

Our 2018 "Conference Season" previews continue! Today Alison Wade, President of Techwell, joins tap|TALK to discuss the 6 Techwell Conferences around QA, Agile, and DevOps (STAREAST, STARWEST, STARCANADA, etc.) Hear Alison and tap|QA's Jennifer Bonine preview the conferences, explore the history of Techwell, and specifically focus on this year's new conference, Agile Testing Days, held in June in Boston.  Also learn more about the specific Women Who Test workshop held after the STAR testing conferences.  Listen and you will also receive a discount code for 20% off your Techwell conference registrations!