CAST 2009 CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The 4th Annual
Conference of the Association of Software Testing (CAST)
Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
July 13-16, 2009

http://CAST2009.org

Serving Our Stakeholders

Keynote Presentation by Jonathan Koomey,
Project Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Consulting
Professor at Stanford University,
and author of
Turning Numbers into Knowledge: Mastering the Art of Problem Solving



The Association for Software Testing is pleased to announce its fourth
annual conference, CAST 2009, to be held July 13-16. The meeting will
be held in sporty Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the Antlers Hilton
Hotel. The Antlers Hilton offers stunning views of the Rocky
Mountains and Pikes Peak, which serve as a dramatic backdrop for this
year's theme: "Serving our Stakeholders".

Only rarely do we test software solely for the joy of finding a bug.
We test software because someone wants us to provide them with
quality-related information about their software so they can make
better decisions, fix important bugs, and/or assess regulatory
compliance. Those someones are stakeholders. Generally, stakeholders
fall into one of four groups: end users, regulators, business leaders,
or development teams. Sometimes these groups have competing expectations.

* End Users: Many testers focus on the needs and expectations of
end users. Do you? When you do, how do you go about donning an
"end-user persona"? How can you be an advocate for end users? Are
end-users the only stakeholders on your project?

* Regulators: When are regulatory agencies your most important
stakeholders? When are they just another source for requirements? Or
do they just generate busy work? How can we satisfy regulators without
neglecting other stakeholders?

* Business Leaders: You may think of managers and executives as
your primary stakeholders. Do you really give them the kind of
business information they need? How do you provide business decision
leaders with actionable information?

* Development Teams: Do your developers thank you for finding
bugs, or do they hide when they see you coming? Do you treat them as
your primary stakeholder? Do you think it would be useful if you did?

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

The CAST 2009 Program Committee is seeking proposals for papers and
presentations that explain how testers can serve stakeholders. Both
academic research papers and industrial experience reports are welcome.

In addition to presentations that demonstrate service to stakeholders,
we're looking for personal experience reports that clearly demonstrate
skills and practices of seasoned software testing professionals. We
are looking for rich, diverse experiences and ideas that illuminate
the theme.

If you have hands-on experience, and a fascinating story to tell,
contact us and we will assist you in evolving your tale so it will be
ready to present at CAST.

CONFERENCE FORMAT

CAST is designed to be a forum that stimulates discussion leading to
innovation in software testing; and so is distinguished by significant
interaction among presenters and attendees. Papers, experience
reports, and presentations are challenged, debated, and discussed by
conference attendees. We encourage and facilitate conversation by
building flexibility into the schedule so that topics generating high
energy can be explored more deeply without adversely disrupting the
course of conference events. Trained facilitators will ensure that
discussion sessions are appropriately structured and productive.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS

Please submit an abstract for consideration by March 23rd. Abstracts
should be 2-3 paragraphs in length explaining what you would like to
write about and present. Submit your abstract via email to
cfp@....

March 23rd is the final deadline for submissions. Good proposals may
be accepted prior to March 23rd, so submit your abstracts as early as
possible before the schedule fills up.

If your proposal is accepted, you are expected to write a two to ten
page paper on your proposed topic. Papers will be peer-reviewed to
help you refine your ideas and presentation.

Although we are not associated with ACM, we encourage paper authors to
follow the ACM SIG Proceedings style, freely available at
http://www.acm.org/sigs/publications/proceedings-templates. However,
please do not let this format restrict the quality of your paper. Use
the format as a guide, not a restrictive template.

Authors of accepted abstracts will receive complimentary registration
for CAST 2009. (This does not include tutorials or workshops.)
Submitted papers will be published in the conference proceedings.
PEER REVIEWERS

In addition to presenters and papers, we are seeking software testing
practitioners and academics to review papers. To best serve the
stakeholders of CAST 2009, we need testers to work with authors to
help refine papers. If you would like to volunteer to review papers,
please send an email indicating your desire to be a reviewer to
cfp@....

IMPORTANT DATES

* Monday, March 23, 2009 : Final date for abstract submission --
submit as early as possible
* Monday, March 30, 2009 : Final notification of acceptance/rejection
* Monday, April 20, 2009 : Deadline for submission of paper for
peer review
* Monday, May 18, 2009 : Deadline for submission of revised paper
for peer review
* Monday June 1, 2009 : Final papers & slides (if applicable) due
* July 13-16, 2009: Conference

CONFERENCE CONTACTS

For further information about CAST 2009, please contact a member of
the conference committee as listed below:

* Sponsorship: Scott Barber,
executive.director@...
* General Conference Information: Ben Simo,
president@...
* Program: cfp@...