Copenhagen Context – Team CoCo FTW!

Sometimes you just get it right. Now, you can accuse me of bias because I was on the selection committee, but the program at Copenhagen Context was unbelievably good. Hats off to This whole gig was primed by organizer Morten Hougaard of PrettyGoodTesting, who seems to know a thing about running a conference. The entire affair ran seamlessly, and from my observations, I didn’t see even the usual “room problems” or tech mishaps, so well done!

As for Copenhagen, as this was the first visit to Denmark for a semi-jaded Euro-traveller, I was taken aback by how beautiful the city is and how lovely the people were. I had some fantastic meals at Gorilla, a great burger joint, and as well, enjoyed a delicious pint at War Pigs. Denmark is definitely on my short list of places to come back to when I can spend more time! Beautiful!

In regards to the content presented, it was absolutely world-class. Fresh, current, new faces, diverse – everything you want when spending your limited training time at a conference. Highlights for me were talks about testers getting involved in the requirements gathering process by Jyothi Rangaiah and business contexts for testers by Smita Mishra were both filled with practical advice you could start using immediately. And for those who  haven’t caught Elizabeth Zagrobas talk “Succeeding As An Introvert” yet, frankly, it was one my “must see” talks of 2017. I learned a ton about how to work with people who aren’t necessarily wired to deal with my “type A” nonsense, and I think she’s giving it a couple more times this year, so make sure you see it!

As far as the future of software testing is concerned, I’ve said loads that was speculative and hasn’t always come to fruition. But one thing my good friend Martin Hynie has talked to me about for a while now, the Cynefin framework, could have a very big impact on our business. I am still learning about the framework and how it used in decision-making in complex systems, but I am confident the work that Martin and Ben Kelly is out front in applying to software testing and technology in general.

If you haven’t been to Copenhagen Context, I would highly recommend it, and I hope to be back again soon. Thanks again to my colleagues in the program committee, Paul Holland, Duncan Nisbet, and Maria Kedemo, and to all my good friends in the testing community that I care so much about, reminding me to live the hygge life – enjoying the good things in life with good people!

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