My abstract was selected for pcsqc 2008 which happens in Portland from October 13th-October 15th! The theme is collaboration.

I am just over the moon with excitement to be speaking on my favorite topic at a testing convention for the first time. I have lots of work to do before the conference, but I hope that some of you will come out to the conference and attend. Come talk testing with me.

It could have been the Grand Canyon, the training I've been going to, or all of the wonderful people I work with who have been supporting me all year in trying new things, but I'm so delighted to have this opportunity. I feel like I did the day I got my first job in tech support. I have the feeling that the hardest part is getting that once chance, and now I've been given one chance. That's all I really need is the opportunity, and where it goes from there depends on my hard work, dedication, passion, and talent. The part that I can't control (being given a chance), due to luck, due to persistance, due to kindness from other people, has fallen in to place. I'm overwhelmed with gratitude. It may seem like it isn't a big deal to those of you who speak at conferences all of the time, have multiple doctorates, or are published authors. To me it is huge!

One of my goals is to add my voice, my perspective, and my passion for software to the chorus that is constantly changing in the industry. Just as we need people who are brilliant with tools, who are fantastic with numbers, and who are great with theory, we also need people who have intimate knowledge of users, who care about the soul of software, and who never stop fighting for an improved experience when you sit down at your computer to get a task accomplished. I may never be the person who has the most impressive metrics, or who wrote the best testing tool, but I can be the person who contributes some new ideas to protect the less tangible aspects of software that make it memorable and amazing to use, and that is something worth working to contribute.

I've also learned something else comforting. Not being a manager doesn't mean you aren't a leader. Also, being a good follower doesn't mean you aren't a leader. If I believe in the person, I love to follow other people. There isn't any shame in being a good team member. I don't have to lead everything I participate in in order to be happy. In fact, all of the leaders I like and respect are good at following too. I want to remember that as I try new things. Listening and taking feedback is how you learn. Following the right person and ideas is a sign of good leadership and followership, not a sign of weakness or lack of initiative.