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The 4th Annual
Conference of the Association of Software Testing (CAST)

Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
July 13-16, 2009
Serving Our Stakeholders

Keynote 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


You have spoken and we have listened. Many of you have told us that you're
having a harder time than usual getting funding to attend CAST; that your bosses
are telling you that there is simply less money to go around this year. As a
result, and a statement of your enthusiasm about CAST, you have asked us if we
can give you more time to convince your bosses to pay for your trip to CAST. You
have asked us if we can provide more incentives to use to help you convince your
bosses. You have asked us if we can provice more infomation for you to use to
demonstrate the value of CAST to your bosses. To each of these questions, we
have a single answer:

"Yes we can."

Read on to find out about extended early bird registration rates, group discount
rates, comparisons to conferences your boss likely views as comparable to CAST,
and information to help you promote CAST and solicit sponsors.

Welcome to Volume III of BroadCAST, your information source for all things
related to the Conference of the Association for Software Testing. In case
you've forgotten (or a friend forwarded this message to you and this is your
introduction to CAST) , CAST 2009, the 4th edition of our conference will be
held July 13-16 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".

Read more about CAST
http://cast2009.org


EARLY-BIRD RATE EXTENDED TO May 1

If you haven't already taken advantage of the Early-Bird registration rate for
the conference, you only now have a few extra days to do so. Register now and
save yourself (or your company) a few extra bucks!

Price Table
http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/images/cast_pricing.jpg

Register now!
http://cast2009.org


GROUP DISCOUNT RATES ANNOUNCED

We are pleased to announce group discount rates for CAST 2009. If you are part
of an organization that is paying for you and your co-workers to attend CAST,
you qualify for the discounts below.

* 5% off for 3 or 4 participants.
* 10% off for 5 to 9 participants.
* 15% off for 10 to 19 participants.
* 20% off for 20 or more participants.

If you're ready to register a group, contact Scott Barber for the appropriate
promotion code at executive.director@....



CONVINCE THE BOSS

It is frequently the case that the manager or executive who must approve your
request to attend a conference is not a tester and has not been to a testing
conference, but has probably approved funding for folks to attend one or more of
the following conferences at some point in the past. If that is true for you,
the following information might help you make a case for CAST.

CAST Price Comparison Table
http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/images/price_comps.jpg

Features unique to CAST:

* 1/3 of every presentation is reserved for your questions.
* Presentations tightly tied to the conference theme.
* No "thinly veiled sales pitches" -- even during vendor sessions.
* Over 75% first run content -- including tutorials!



PRE-CONFERENCE TUTORIALS

Don't forget about our eight unique, one-day tutorials, each presented by
recognized thought leaders in their areas of expertise, to precede CAST 2009 on
July 13. Each of these tutorials have been hand chosen and custom made to
support this year's theme: "Serving our Stakeholders".

Tutorials Table
http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/images/09/tutorials.jpg

See the CAST Tutorials page for more information.
http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/drupal/CAST2009/tutorials

Register for the conference and a tutorial now!
https://www.123signup.com/register?id=zypnc

Register for a tutorial only now!
https://www.123signup.com/register?id=zyphf


CONFERENCE PROGRAM

The CAST 2009 Program Committee has nearly completed the conference agenda. We
are adding abstracts and speaker biographies to the website now. Check back over
the coming weeks to see the program in it's entirety!

See the CAST program.
http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/drupal/CAST2009/Program


PROMOTE CAST

In addition to all of the information you receive in BroadCAST that we encourage
you to use to promote CAST in your company, on your Blog, or wherever else
interested testers may be found, we have created a page full of CAST Logos in a
variety of sizes and shapes that you can use on your Blog or Website. Take a
look, pick your favorite, copy the code, paste it in, and save or submit. It's
just that easy.

View the Promote CAST Logos
http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/drupal/CAST2009/Promote

See an Example of a Blog Promoting CAST
http://www.testingreflections.com/node/view/7970


SPONSORSHIP

CAST's Sponsorship and Exhibitor Programs include what you'd expect from a
conference in our industry, but probably at a lower price than you might be used
to. There are packages where promotional material is delivered to participants
on your behalf, meal and artifact (participant backpacks, proceedings CDs, etc.)
sponsorship opportunities, as well as exhibitor booth options. Additionally,
this year we have expanded our "Vendors & Service Providers Only" track. This
is where you get to come and discuss, demonstrate, answer questions about,
and/or introduce your products and services to interested CAST participants. We
do require vendors to follow the same 2/3, 1/3 rule that CAST mandates for all
sessions, that is: You present for up to 2/3 of the total time slot, you leave
at least 1/3 of the time for facilitated questions and answers. This idea has
been given a limited number to sessions during the previous two conferences. The
participants *loved* that the vendors were presenting then sticking around to
field hard questions. The vendors who presented reported that in addition to
high quality leads and contacts, they gained significantly more valuable market
information than they get as exhibitors or vendor-presenters at other
conferences.

Sponsorship Summary Table
http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/images/09/sponsorsummary_sm.jpg

We hope you'll find all the information you need to decide what level of
sponsorship is right for you in the link below, but if you do not find what you
need, please do not hesitate to contact AST's Executive Director and this year's
CAST Sponsorship Chairperson, Scott Barber.

View the CAST09 Sponsorship Guide.
http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/drupal/CAST2009/Sponsorship

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON AST AND CAST

Over the past 40 years, software design and construction techniques have evolved
spectacularly. We can build much larger and more complex programs each year than
we could the year before. Unfortunately, many of our test techniques and test
management maxims come from the 1960's and 1970's. We must foster significant
advances in both theory and practice of testing to catch up with the progress in
development.


MISSION OF AST

The Association for Software Testing is a nonprofit professional organization
dedicated to advancing the understanding and practice of software testing. The
AST serves a community of scholars, students, and software development
practitioners by providing forums for discussion of all aspects of software
testing through conferences, publications, web sites, and other services.

AST works on both theory and practice, but concentrates more on practice. Our
objective is to build a community of testing practitioners, academics, managers,
and consultants who view the role of testing as skilled, relevant, and essential
to the production of faster, better, and cheaper software products. We value a
scientific approach to developing and evaluating techniques, processes, and
tools. We believe that a self-aware, self-critical attitude is essential to
understanding and assessing the impact of new ideas on the practice of testing.

In pursuit of these goals, AST holds an annual conference (CAST) and sponsors
workshops, such as the Los Altos Workshop on Software Testing, the Workshop on
Regulated Software Testing, and the Workshop on Teaching Software Testing. The
distinguishing characteristic of these events is that ideas presented are
subject to the generative scrutiny of all of via a moderated, collegial
discussion of the work and its impact.


MISSION AND STYLE OF CAST

CAST has been designed as a forum to advance the state of software testing
through the presentation and discussion of influential practices and theoretical
concepts in software testing.

The conference is designed not only to allow but also to encourage a high-level
of interaction among presenters and participants. Flexibility is built into the
schedule to facilitate productive brainstorming and impromptu debates. The
conference organizers are observant and responsive: when this interaction builds
the interest and energy for a particular topic, the flow of events and
allocation of time to topics will be fine-tuned. Trained, seasoned moderators
will help ensure that discussion sessions are productive.

The conference attracts those who want to discuss and debate testing topics with
savvy practitioners who have "been there, done that." It addresses leading-edge
"next great thing" topics, such as whether paradigm shifts may lead to a new era
of testing. The conference also addresses the enduring, apparently timeless
challenges of testing, such as handling deadline pressures and building the
credibility of the test team.


For further information contact:
Association for Software Testing
Phone: 321.271.8028
Fax : 866.749.4971
Email: member.services@...
http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org