Top 10 Software Testing Conferences with Joe Colantonio

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Here are my top 10 software testing conferences and events you should attend in 2025 and watch all the way to the end. Because the last one is a no brainer. First, why a List of Top Software Testing Conferences? Many testers always ask me what is the future of software testing and how should they prepare for it? One answer may be obvious, but you should always be learning to succeed in test automation, qa, software testing or any industry. And based on my interviews with over 700 software testers and DevOps engineers across my podcast, the number one way that many mentioned to me and I also included as some of the tips in my book to help you on your continuous learning journey is to attend on site and online testing conferences. And this list is based on real experience. It's not AI generated, it's my own and that of real world testers I speak with every day on my podcast. So Here are the top 10 in no particular order. All right, before we get into today's episode, I wanted to share with you today's episode sponsor. They just wanted me to share and spill a little tea on this huge announcement of how BrowserStack has just partnered with Bitrise, a leading mobile DevOps platform, to revolutionize mobile app test automation on real devices. And this collaboration integrates CI CD workflows with mobile real device testing at scale, providing developers and QA teams better visibility into pipelines for faster quality driven releases. But if you're like other people, you're probably wondering, so how is this partnership going to benefit you? Well, if you're a Bitrise user, you'll gain exclusive free access to BrowserStack App Automate, enabling mobile app testing on real devices in the Bitrise workspace. This is BrowserStack's popular device cloud plan with three parallels that allows you to test your mobile apps at 3x the speed. Plus you'll also get access to their advanced debugging, analytics and deployment workflows with built in test observability. But that's not all. There's something for Browser Stack App Automate users as well. They get 15,000 credits on Bitrise absolutely free. So don't wait, check out the links in the description and grab your exclusive benefits now. So let's first start on conferences that focus on the big three open source solutions for Browser Automation your Testing Education so as my latest Automation Testing Trends video goes over that you can see here, Playwright remains this year's leading automation testing solution. Our survey shows it is one of the fastest growing interest areas for our community. So let's start this list with the conference focus solely on Playwright test Automation or solutions to automate software testing. The Worldwide Playwright User Event this Worldwide Playwright User Event is a conference dedicated to the Microsoft Playwright Testing framework, bringing together developers, curate professionals and test automation enthusiasts. Attendees can expect expert led sessions and real world success stories and advanced tips integrating Playwright into CICD pipelines. This event also offers a mix of technical talks, hands on workshops and networking opportunities, making it a valuable forum to share insights on cross browser testing, performance optimization and emerging features in Playwright. If you're looking to shopping your test automation skills or learn from industry pioneers in the Playwright ecosystem, this event stands out as a must attend. So if you want to learn just about Microsoft Playwright Web Testing framework, this one is for you. Next one up is obvious. It is the granddaddy of them all. It is Selenium Conf. But this year they're also combining it with the Appium Conference. So for Selenium and Appium testing enthusiasts, you can't go wrong with the Selenium Appium Conference. This conference focuses on bringing together both the global Selenium and Appium communities and projects related to browser and mobile automation tools. It features talks and workshops led by Selenium and Appium core committers and industry experts covering new features, best practices and real world success stories. And the first Selenium Conference I ever attended was in Boston 2013, which was a big eye opener for me because I came from UTP and WinRunner, so I learned a ton about open source using Selenium and I highly recommend this one. All automation engineers interested in Selenium and Appium and you can find a link down below for all the times and dates for these conferences and when they take place. So next up is Cypress Conf. So if you've ever spoken with the Cypress Automation Ambassador, you know how excited they get about this test framework. It's especially popular among front end developers and front end testers and it is repeatedly cited in our annual Test Guild survey as a great solution for JavaScript lovers. If that's you, then Cypress Conf is a must attend. This conference is a free virtual event focused on the latest in Cypress and end to end testing and it's perfect for seasoned Cypress users or newbies just getting started. Next up is a personal favorite of mine it is robocon. So in my experience I think the robot framework is one of the most unheralded automation frameworks available. Its flexibility is touted on my podcast as one of the biggest strengths in handling complex test automation challenges using a unified framework wrapper. So what is robocon? Robocon is a conference focused solely on Robot Framework, which is a popular open source automation framework I think every tester should know about. And it's a great event for anyone interested in test automation as it brings together a community of developers, testers and enthusiasts to share knowledge, tools and best practices. It offers both on site and online options for attendees. I've had the honor for the past three years of running and hosting the online event and I'm always amazed to learn about its diverse testing features. A very, very helpful, very dedicated community and I'll also be hosting the online event taking place in March and once again find a link for that down below. So if you know me, I like to include things outside of functional automation. I believe in true end to end testing and one of those testing techniques I think every tester should know is security. So that's why I'm including OWASP on this, which hosts several key events in 2025 that are highly beneficial for software testers and automation engineers, and these gatherings offer opportunities to enhance skills, stay updated on industry trends and expand your professional networks. As you know, I truly believe that software testers should be evolved in security testing, and these events are a great way to get up to speed on security testing. Attending these events can provide valuable insights into application security, directly benefiting your testing and automation processes. I also think OWASP is one of the most undervalued resources for testers, so definitely check that out as well. Next up is the Browser Stack QA Leadership Summit. So the Browser Stack QA Leadership Summit brings together leaders and experts in the field of quality assurance to discuss the latest trends, challenges, methods and techniques around innovations and testing. It's a fantastic opportunity for QA professionals to network, learn more from industry leaders, and explore new strategies to enhance your software testing process. This summit typically features a lineup of insightful sessions, panel discussions and workshops led by top experts from various industries. And it's all about sharing knowledge and empowering QA teams to drive quality and efficiency in the organization. And it's also all online and I had the honor kicking off last year's event by speaking one of the co founders about navigating the future of testing and quality insights and test coverage, AI and more and I had a great time and rumor has it I might be speaking at the next one as well or another smaller conference single track that I really love. The community here was excellent Is QA or the highway, which is an in person one day software quality assurance and testing conference. It's a fantastic event for QA professionals to gather, share insights and learn from industry experts. And the conference typically features a variety of sessions that cover a wide range of topics around test automation, agile testing workshops and network opportunities. All aimed to enhance your skills and knowledge in the QA field and it's a great place to explore new tools, methodologies and best practices. And it also has a special place in my heart because it was the first and only conference I've ever keynoted in person and it was an awesome conference experience. They treat their speakers like rock stars. They actually gave me this awesome LED test killed light which is sweet as a speaker gift, so it really has a special place in my heart. If you've never been, I highly recommend you add it to your testing bucket list to attend in 2025 for a for hardcore performance engineers, you definitely want to check out the International Conference on Performance Engineering. Icpe, which is the premier event dedicated to advancing performance engineering across diverse computing environments, has a rich history spanning 16. It originated from convergence of workshops on software, performance prediction and benchmarking. It really is for technical, really performance nerds, and this conference provides a unique platform for industry practitioners and researchers to explore the latest trends, innovations and challenges in performance engineering. I learned about this event years ago from Alexander Padelko, who is a hardcore performance engineer and currently senior Performance Engineer at Amazon, and he heads up a lot of things at this conference as well. And he told me that the ICP covers a wide range of topics including performance modeling, analysis, measuring, benchmarking and runtime management across various systems ranging from cloud and edge computing to mobile devices and large scale data centers. So attendees gain insights into critical aspects such as scalability, reliability, security, energy efficiency and cost effectiveness in modern software and system design. And the conference addresses a bunch of emerging areas and performance such as AI driven systems, IoT, cloud, edge infrastructure and a whole bunch more. So you definitely want to 10 if you want to gain insights from leading experts in performance engineering and you want to discover innovative techniques for performance modeling and optimization. And just like security testing, I think software testers and automation engineers need to know more about performance as well. And here's a great conference to attend to do so and really up your performance knowledge as well. So the next one is Innovate QA so the founder of Innovate qa, Anna Roisman, has been on my Automation Testing podcast for many years. She runs many different conferences. I think this is her latest. She is an expert in running software engineering on site events for QA that a lot of people rave about. And her latest is Innovative qa, which I think takes place in Seattle in June. And Anna told me this conference focuses on the importance of software testing with insights, best practices and cutting edge tools to build high quality, safe, accessible and reliable systems and products that customers love. And these events also once again typically feature industry experts, thought leaders and practitioners who share practical insights, emerging trends and real world case studies to help software testers. So by attending Innovate qa events in 2024, you'll have an opportunity to deepen your understanding of cutting edge testing tools and methodologies and learn how to streamline your automation efforts and connect with a community of like minded peers. The last one shouldn't be a surprise. It's one of the biggest and one of the oldest online events dedicated 100% automation testing and that is Automation Guild Online Conference and community. So Automation Guild was one of the first online conferences in the world dedicated to automation of software testing, helping you succeed in creating what I like to call test automation awesomeness. I started around 10 years ago as an online only event. It's a five day event and it covers not just functional testing but full end to end testing including topics around performance testing, security testing. We have workshops and a whole bunch more and based on feedback from thousands of software that have attended our event over the years, it's a fantastic event which brings together some of the top automation experts globally to share actionable tips, the latest tools, techniques and best practices and mindsets you can implement immediately. We cover functional automation testing, artificial intelligence, DevOps, performance testing, security testing, continuous integration, mobile testing and more. And the best part? It's 100% online so you could join from anywhere without the hassle of traveling. You also get lifetime access to all the recordings, which means you can revisit the sessions anytime you need a refresher. So think of this as a hybrid conference, slash membership, slash community all rolled up in one for year long automation testing and learning. And your online ticket also gets you access to a year long commitment from the community with one new training session every month to help you with your automation efforts throughout the year. So if you're all about accelerating your modern software automation efforts and connecting with a community of like minded professionals, make sure to register now using that link down below. So the event has a three day ticket and a five day ticket. So it's happening February 10th to the 14th. But the community lives on before, during and long after the event is over. And if you miss it, you can still join the community. Get instant access to all of the recordings with an all access replay pass. And as I mentioned, I created this event for Software Automation engineers by Software Testing Automation Engineers in 2016 as a user conference on advanced automation testing topics, but it covers a bunch of other things that can pertain to both experts and newbies in software test automation. Every Automation Guild aims to help attendees discover a tip tool, best practice and mindset that will help you on a new or existing automation project. And unlike any of these other events, we come with a six month money back guarantee. So after six months if you can honestly tell me you didn't learn one tip tool technique a best practice to help you with the automation, you'll get your money back, no questions asked. So if you're looking for a 24. 7 automation software testing community to support and exchange ideas, I highly recommend you join this event. And once again you could find that in the link down below. Look forward to seeing you there. And regardless of what event you attend, here are some quick tips to get the most out of your experience. This is also based on a lot of tips that I was told by many automation engineers on my podcast that I included in my book as well. So before the conference you definitely want to research speakers and their expertise. Weeks before the conference starts, make sure to set specific learning objectives and outcomes you want to achieve. Join conference social media groups and engage in pre conference discussions. Also review attendee lists of available and identify potential connections. And you never know what kind of connections you make at conferences so make sure to update your LinkedIn profile and professional social media. Also prepare a 30 second elevator pitch about your role and interests and also prepare note taking templates and tools. So during the conference obviously you want to take structured notes. But for folks that are attending Automation Guild, just so you know, we're training an AI chatbot with all the sessions and all the live Q and A. So after the fact you could just use it as a coach and ask it hey what did this person talk about? And it automatically will summarize and take the notes for you. Also make sure to document key quotes and insights for sharing with the team. I know a lot of companies, once they send someone to an event they usually ask them to do a presentation for the team after the fact. Also prepare questions for Q and A portions and use conference hashtags to engage with the community. For networking, you want to actively participate in discussions, forums and chats. Once again, you never know who's around and who's going to see you and find interest and common ground with you and give you offers if you're looking for different opportunities. So it's funny, when I was at a conference I was asking a lot of questions and I noticed turning someone turning around to look who was asking those questions and it turned out a year or two later that person was interviewing me for a job and he remembered that and I got the role. So you never know what's going to happen at these type of events. Definitely connect with speakers and attendees on LinkedIn. LinkedIn has been huge for myself and my career as well. Make sure to share insights and engage with others in their chats and also schedule follow up conversations. Also, you can learn a lot from vendors, so I highly recommend you make the most out of the exhibition areas so research vendors beforehand, prepare specific questions about tools and solutions, schedule demo follow ups and take notes on potential solutions. And after the conference, I highly recommend you schedule a personal debrief session within 24 hours. Create an action plan for implementing new ideas and share key learnings with your team. They always say teaching is the best way to learn. Follow up with the new connection within a week and join relevant communities mentioned during the session. So Those are my top 10 must attend software testing conferences events for 2025. Let me know your thoughts as well in the comments down below. If you haven't already. Make sure to like and subscribe to never miss another episode. As always, test everything and keep to good. Cheers. Thanks again for your automation awesomeness. The links to evident value we covered in this episode head on over to testguild.com a532 and if the show has helped you in any way, why not rate it and review it in itunes? Reviews really help in the rankings of the show and I read each and every one of them. So that's it for this episode of the Test Guild Automation Podcast. I'm Joe. My mission is to help you succeed with creating end to end full stack automation awesomeness. As always, test everything and keep the good Cheers. Hey, thank you for tuning in. It's incredible to connect with close to 400,000 followers across all our platforms and over 40,000 email subscribers who are at the forefront of automation testing and DevOps. If you haven't yet, join our vibrant community@testguild.com where you become part of our elite circle driving innovation in software, test testing and automation. And if you're a tool provider or have a service looking to empower our guild with solutions that elevate skills and tackle real world challenges, we're excited to collaborate. Visit test guild.info to explore how we can create transformative experiences together. Let's push the boundaries of what we can achieve.

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