It’s that time of year again for me – conferences. I love this time of year, because I think conferences can be very valuable. The tough part is deciding which ones to go to, since I can only take so much time away from my real work to indulge in my ongoing professional development. But this year, that decision is a little easier.

I have always been a fan of CAST. It is a great conference, with a unique format that fits my personality very well. But this year, the list of speakers and presenters is absolutely next to none.

To start with, the Keynote speakers are all legends in their own rights, including Brian Fisher, Robert Sabourin, and Cem Kaner. But for me, the opening keynote speaker is the real draw…Jerry Weinberg. Jerry is a legend, a consultant’s consultant, a prolific author, and mentor to many of us consultant type software testers. For me, the mentoring has all been through reading his books and hearing the stories and legends from my colleagues who have had the pleasure of meeting him. And that is why I am so excited that he will be there…I will finally get to meet the legend.

In addition to Jerry, the other keynote speakers are also legends, and while I have had the pleasure of meeting them previously, I always enjoy hearing them speak, and never fail to learn something new and broaden my thinking when I get the chance to spend time with with.

But wait!!! There’s more!!!

In addition to outstanding keynote speakers, the tutorials and track sessions also read like a who’s who of the current testing profession, including Scott Barber, Julian Harty, Hung Nguyen, Michael Bolton, Jonathan Kohl, Adam White, Doug Hoffman, Adam Goucher, and more. While not all of these folks are legends yet, most of them are well on their way. These are the brightest, sharpest, deepest and most creative minds in software testing today.

If you’re looking for a conference that has substance, where the name of the game is NOT filling up your plastic bag with free give aways and getting your bingo card punched, then you could find no better conference than CAST.

So while I doubt there will be a red carpet, limo’s or paparazzi, I assure you this will be the most star studded CAST you’ve ever seen. We hope to see you there!

David