Diary of a Conference Programme Chair

I’ll be honest, I still don’t think we really know what we’re doing here at PeersHQ, but I do know that we put our hearts and souls into the PeersCon event.

I hope here to offer a wee peek behind the sorts of activities that we have undertaken to make the conference happen, with transparency at the core of everything we do.

Name

As a collective, we already had the name Testing Peers, something Simon Prior is to blame for, and when we had been teasing a conference as far back as 2022, PeersCon had been the mooted title, shorthand for Testing Peers Conference. PeersCon speaks to a collective, a community, a collaboration between Peers, and perhaps the omission of “testing” from the title helps to expand on what some see as a narrower demographic of testing, as we seek to address testing, quality, agility, and leadership.

Venue

We started off with “not London” and went from there. As the original four of us were spread across the UK, we ended up aiming for somewhere in the Midlands, somewhere with good transport links, somewhere that could do catering and feel like a “proper” conference experience, without breaking the bank. We had shortlisted Birmingham and Nottingham, eventually settling on a venue known to me, the Trent Conference Centre. Once we had agreed to definitely go for it, that part was relatively simple.

Date

We were aiming for a time of year when it was a less traditional conference season but also not going to clash with any existing traditional holidays in the calendar, March 13th it is!

Price

We are acutely aware that there is a cost of living crisis going on and that companies are tightening their belts, perhaps not having much in terms of training/conference budgets. We also know that there is so much value in conference attendance, from groupthink, learning, networking, and more. It’s an experience that we want so many more people to have, but we know that for some, costs can be prohibitive. So, we aimed for a very low price point and shared our estimated costs on the front page of the website. Transparency in pricing has been key to ensuring that attendees understand where their money goes.

Tickets have been handled through Eventbrite available here: https://testingpeerscon.com/ticket/

#PayToSpeak

There is a lot written about this in our community and beyond. We are a not-for-profit; no one running the event is taking any expenses, and we are all incurring costs for the event to take place. We hope that if the event grows, partnerships mature, and so on, then this model can be changed for the better. Undoubtedly, if we were a for-profit model, this would be a very different proposition, but then it also would mean a loss of identity. We address this head-on as we want everyone to know about it upfront.

Different folks have written about this, and we encourage you to look things up for yourself:

• Maaret Pyhäjärvi posted on LinkedIn: Link
• Andrew Knight blogged: Link

Money/Sponsorship

As mentioned, this event fundamentally leans on partnerships with sponsors, otherwise, the four of us would incur financial costs that none of us need in our lives! For PeersCon24, we partnered with NTT DATA, IntelliQA, Medtronic, nFocus Testing, and Cambridge Consultants. For PeersCon25, we are announcing partnerships leading up to the event, with NTTData, nFocus, Cambridge Consultants, and IntelliQA returning, and Capacitas joining, with more to come. We have a charter that ensures partners align with our values. Without them, events do not happen, and we are eternally grateful for their ongoing support.

More about partnerships can be found here: https://testingpeerscon.com/partners/

Programme Committee

PeersCon24 had a rapid turnaround of less than five months, and the organisation was handled by the original four. But this isn’t sustainable, inclusive, or representative of the Testing Peers community.

I took on the role this year of programme chair, the first time we had formalised the role, and sought to bring some other wonderful folks from the testing and software quality world along for the journey, folks new and old in their careers, consultants and ICs, all-round awesome humans in the form of Kat Obring, Bruce Hughes, Jo Richards-Steele, and Yogita Lad. We agreed on the theme, kept in touch, and then, once the reviews happened, we shaped our wonderful programme for this year’s event.

Theme

For PeersCon24, the theme was Being, not Doing, a commentary on the idea that doing things without appreciating their rationale and purpose reduces value and impact. You don’t just DO Agile if you don’t first understand agility, its principles, etc. The same applies to testing, you don’t just do it, you appraise, analyse, explore, and more.

For PeersCon25, the theme is Testing Horizons. There are many seasons in our careers and our industry, new and false dawns, things coming to an end, things to shine a light on, things that still operate in the darkness, near and short perspectives, big and small pictures, you get the idea.

Website

This isn’t my forte, but thankfully there are good people in the Testing Peers community who can. Russell Craxford is wonderful at keeping tabs on things, and Callum Akehurst-Ryan is the graphics king. The website also enables us to use forms for collaboration and partnership opportunities in one place.

#VolunPeers

If you pardon the pun, these folks help make the day happen. From signposting, registration, and track chairing, these folks in their brightly coloured shirts ensure that delegates get to where they’re supposed to be at the right time while making the speaker experience as smooth as possible. They are awesome, and this event would not happen without them. If you ever get the opportunity to volunteer at an event, you should strongly consider it, it might not be easy, but it is wonderful.

CFP (Call for Papers/Collaboration)

We decided we’re more interested in the seed of an idea that we could then collaborate on. We opened up video submissions to accommodate those who struggle with writing and left the option of “other” alongside traditional talk/workshop options, allowing for more creative proposals. This has already yielded sessions like 9 out of 10 Testers last year and Defend the Indefensible this year!

Review

For PeersCon24, with its limited timeline, the four of us handled reviews with RAG status and optional feedback. I was desperate to improve this process. This year, I introduced definitive scoring and mandatory reviewer feedback. We had 21 reviewers, which was a huge learning experience, but it greatly helped shape the programme.

As I write this, I have just finished emailing every collaborator to offer them the option to receive review feedback, not everyone will want this, but it’s important that they have the choice. Transparency in feedback is crucial to fostering learning and improvement.

Optics

Representation matters. I won’t always make the right decisions, but I will always be receptive to respectful feedback and act on it. Some brilliant humans in our industry have challenged me on optics and diversity, something I’m grateful for. It might not always make me feel wonderful, but thank goodness for it!

Socials & Collaboration

We must do better at promoting the event and asking for help explicitly. Collaboration is key, and we need to improve in this area.

Meetings & Communication

Finding the time for calls has been tough, but async comms via Slack, email, and collaboration tools have helped shape the programme and event organisation.

Retrospective

We recorded a podcast episode on the last event, which you can listen to here: PeersCon24 Podcast. A special shoutout to David Maynard who does so much work behind the scenes with editing and is the most prolific host of the podcast!

On the day of the event, we collected immediate feedback from attendees, not only to rate sessions but also to provide insights into the overall experience. We explicitly sought actionable feedback, ensuring we could translate thoughts into tangible improvements for the future. Transparency in gathering and sharing this feedback has been a key focus, helping us build trust and continuously refine our approach.

Closing Thoughts

Putting together PeersCon is a huge undertaking, but it’s worth every bit of effort. We are learning, improving, and staying true to our values. Transparency, collaboration, and community drive everything we do, and we can’t wait to see how PeersCon continues to evolve.