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As the big event is now only a matter of weeks away, I thought it would be a good idea to build up some questions and answers on the event itself for those attending.
If any of you have attended before what are your do’s and dont’s of the conference? What to bring, what not to bring? What do you find the best way of getting the most out of the conference?
For those you,like myself, who are attending for the first time, do you have any questions that seasoned regulars could answer? I’m sure there are a few things that can only be learned from attending a few of these conferences?
I definitely recommend reading Rob Lambert’s guide to EuroSTAR, originally written in 2012 and recently updated for 2014:
http://thesocialtester.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/TheSocialTester_EuroSTAR-Quick-Guide.pdfOk, so all the questions I had have been answered now. 🙂 Other than: As a shy person who is not comfortable striking up a conversation, but more than happy to talk to anyone that is willing to talk to me, how do I go about socialising?
I’m socially underdeveloped. Which seems strange; how can I be a manager of people and testing if I’m afraid of talking to people? Because at work they have to talk to me, and it’s a known situation. In a big conference with more than 10 people I can easily get lost and walk amongst people unseen.
So is there a method of getting involved in conversations and socialising: A guide or rule for the timid social mouse(s)?
@Stephen we completely understand, and trust me you are not alone on this one! 🙂
I would recommend joining in some of the social events we have planned as these are a great way of meeting people. So for example, we will be hosting an Early registration on Sunday night in the Ferryman pub across the road from the convention centre, small gatherings like this are a great way of meeting people! What day are you arriving to Ireland?
You should also stop by the Community Hub and the Test Lab are also the ideal place to get involved in some conversations – There are smaller groups of people here and it’s very easy to join in some of the activities that are happening or to just sit down and chill out for a while. It might be a bit less intimidating.
A way of getting started might be to set yourself the challenge of introducing yourself to the person sitting next to you in a track session, or standing in the queue for food or perhaps if you see someone standing by themselves, they might be having the same problem & maybe you should introduce yourself to them 🙂
I find some good conversation starters are questions like:
In a track session:
– So is this your first time at the EuroSTAR Conference?
– Have you ever heard this speaker present before?
– How are you finding the sessions so far?
– What has been your favourite session so far?In the queue for food:
– Everything looks so good… I’m not sure what to get! What are you thinking?
– I’m so hungry after those track sessions, which track session did you go to?General:
– Where are you from?
– Where do you work? How long have you worked for this company?
– How did you become interested in Software Testing?
– Is this your first time in Ireland?
– Will you be attending the Conference Awards Dinner?Sometimes the easiest way to meet someone is to offer a handshake and say, “Hi, I’m Stephen.” Introduce yourself with a smile and a small dash of confidence can work wonders.
And of course come over and say hi to the EuroSTAR Team, we are really looking forward to meeting all our TEST Huddle friends 🙂
I hope this helps a bit 🙂
Hi Stephan,
On Tuesday afternoon there’s drinks at euroSTAR, if you haven’t met up with people already, which I’m sure you will, you can surely find kindred spirits at the Community Hub … also when you have already met up with loads of people you are welcome there of course and also before the drinks 🙂
Kind regards,
NathalieTOday there’s also the webinar ‘ travelguide’ … with some tips and tricks if you haven’t gotten up to speed with previous suggestions…
Hi Nathalie. Thanks for a very informative and fun guide. It is my first time attending the tutorials. Do we need to come equipped with hardware or is it supplied?
Hi Martin,
Thank you!
If you attend a tutorial that really needs you to bring equipment it will be in the conferencedescription of that tutorial specifically or in your confirmation information. The tutorials I’ve been in didn’t have laptops or computers provided and I brought my own (and I can’t remember any that was equipped either) Lot’s of tutorials don’t really need hardware though if they are about management or personal skills f.e.
I usually have my notebook with me, but most of the time it’s not even opened – besides a mailcheck, some blogging and twittering- untill I’m on the plane back.Hope this helps.
Thanks Nathalie, yes that helps a lot. I am really excited about attending the conference next week, so much so that it is difficult to focus on my day job. However for now I must get back to my software!
I missed first 5-10 minutes of the webinar, so please excuse me if you answered this:
The schedule on the website doesn’t say in which hall will each session be held. I suppose this will be written in materials given to us on the site?@Martin
I really know the feeling!!! It starts about a week/ week and a half before my travel. My thoughts start racing and I can’t wait to be on the plane!!! Although my work is fun, these days are a nuisance …@lelazg
Hello Lada,
In the conference materials that are handed out to you at the registration there are a conference booklet and in the conference bag there’s a mini-programme, both contain the room locations of the different tracks.
The keynotes are always at the auditorium though; the tracks can be in the auditorium or other rooms. Tutorials are mostly in other rooms than the tracks are.
During the conference you’ll notice signs outside each room whith the tracks that will be held there; mind though; they will only be the two adjacent to eachother (after lunch, after morning start, after breaks) and they thus change during the day.
So currently you don’t have locations, but when arriving at the conference you will have plenty information about those.
Kind regards, Nathalie@lelazg / Lada
1 correction: the miniprogramme is added in your conference BADGE, not BAG 🙂 it’s a convenient hand-sized version for fast reference.Just to let you know I have written a blog post on the EuroSTAR Conference website with all the details of what is happening on TEST Huddle over the duration of the Conference. It may be of some use for next week though as you have demonstrated @Nathalie, it is hard to beat the experience of attending a EuroSTAR Conference.
You can read that blog post here.
Rob Lambert‘s ‘Unofficial Guide to EuroSTAR‘ is also a very good read for anyone coming to the conference, especially if it’s your first conference 🙂
Looking forward to seeing everyone next week! 🙂
Thank you very much for all the information and help. I was quite worried with my first EuroSTAR conference but thanks to the Unofficial Guide and Nathalie’s webinar yesterday it all seems much more clear and easy. I really have to put in practice Emma’s tips but that will require a little more of effort 🙂
Finally everything ready and counting the hours, with the flight on Saturday to have a couple of days to visit the city, I hope to not get lost too much.
Thanks again.
You are very welcome Hugo. And feel free to call up and chat to the EuroSTAR / TEST Huddle team whenever you see us 🙂
I hope you enjoy your sightseeing on Saturday, you are very welcome to join us for a drink in the Ferryman pub on Sunday night if you are free. We will be there from 17:00 until about 19:00
See you next week!
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