The Pacific NW Software Quality Conference is starting the call for proposals earlier than ever this year and introducing a new theme to inspire ideas. This year’s theme for PNSQC is 2020 Vision: Quality Looking Forward. We chose this theme to inspire attendees and speakers to think of ways to learn from the past, and envision ways to achieve quality software in the future. Vision can be thought of not as the manifestation of sight, but the ability to think of, imagine, and make happen, what lies in the future.
For a company, a department, a team, a vision is not just an idea created by the organization as a singular occurrence. Realizing the vision means sharing your knowledge with others with similar interests and passions and taking action towards that vision in unison. When you get involved with PNSQC, either by proposing a paper or volunteering, you contribute to the Vision of software quality in the Pacific Northwest.
The Program Committee is putting a lot of energy and enthusiasm into the tracks this year. Having more speakers and shorter breaks was a popular change for last year that will be carried forward this year. The six tracks cover a wide range of topics targeted for managers, developers, testers, and other software engineering professionals dedicated to software quality. Thinking in terms of these tracks may help focus topics for proposals:
Topics in the People and Management area include:
Topics in the Emerging Technologies area include:
Topics in the Security and Performance include:
There is a little-known concept known as “General Specialization,” which may be the most urgent topic of the future for development teams. This means being a generalist working on a series of diverse tasks. But, once you encounter a new or difficult problem, solutions sometimes require much more specialized knowledge specific to that environment. Share your deep practical knowledge in solving such problems relevant to all things quality in this track. This track replaces the ‘Testing track’ to include any activity with strong ties to quality.
PNSQC is seeking speakers of all experience levels and backgrounds to contribute to our conference program. Speaking in front of your peers offers benefits far beyond what a general attendee comes away with.
The People’s Choice Best Presentation Award has gained momentum over the last 2 years as a way to demonstrate our commitment to the PNSQC community as a ‘home-grown’ conference. As such, we have brought back the top 3 awards from the previous year for key roles in the current year. To top last year, we have decided to have the top 3 awardees either as keynote or invited speakers. The top 3 are chosen in real-time by the attendees via the PNSQC mobile app, so the opportunity to be recognized for your contribution to a PNSQC is even stronger.
Writing a quality paper and giving a quality presentation is hard work, but we’ve put together some resources to help you succeed and come home with a people’s choice award!
Alan Kay wrote: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
This is especially true today as technologies, society, and business models are accelerating in their rate of change. We can’t control the change, but we can steer it through our vision for what we want to see in the future. By sharing your experiences and your successes, you will help others and gain a better understanding of the software quality, the profession, and what skills and knowledge will be needed in the future.
PNSQC invites you to refine your ideas and submit an abstract. If your idea is accepted, you’ll be invited to present your paper at PNSQC in October 2020 in Portland, OR.
PNSQC Mission: Enable knowledge exchange to produce higher quality software.
