Our friends at WordPress was just just kind enough to remind me that it is three years since I started blogging… for what its worth…. and I guess, indirectly, asking where my next piece of prose is.This would probably be a good time to ask a rhetorical question about where I could read about the latest musings of my managers and colleagues, but I think I will keep those questions for a later time (There is a time for building friendship, and another for challenging it). And, at the same time give whomever reads this post a chance to step up , or forward….
Among all the brilliant and fabulous people I have learned to know through Twitter and blogs over the last few years, and to whom I will be forever grateful for introducing me to and enlightening me in the world of testing, I have not yet found even one hailing from Norway (apologies to @bjorklo who arranges Test-pubs in Oslo but who I did not meet through Twitter… or a blog).
It feels like I’m adding another Finnish or Swedish tester to my “following” list every month, not to speak of those crazy Brits who seems to be spawning Thinking Testers en masse (big thanks to Rosie for gathering testers searching for a home), but Norwegian testers…? I guess they want to keep their genius for themselves…. because they certainly don’t seem to advertise it!
Seriously boys and girls!!!! Look at Let’s Test!!!! We are about half as many as the Swedes… we should be able to make at least half as awesome a test conference as they can, if not better!!!
My (fairly limited) experience of Norwegian software testing is severely limited to “Verify the requirements”, and quite far from asking the question “Is there any problems here?”, with the accompanying discussions about tester skills and methodologies (my present employer excluded as I just recently started and don’t really know yet). Are everybody so hung up on “process” that they don’t care about what is really going on?
For the first time in my life I look upon my Swedish brothers with envy (a bit of neighbourly in-jokes and competition to be inserted here), as they seem to have a thriving and growing tester community. I am really looking forward to the Let’s Test conference in May, even if I am likely to be the lone representative of our proud nation, and way underdeveloped when it comes to testing skills.
Anyways, had it not been for some minor economic issues connected to a mortgage and an apartment, I must admit I would be very tempted to move to London, or somewhere close, as there seems to be such a great community of testers on the British isles. At the moment I am looking for reports from TestBash2.0, and regular things like London Test Gatherings hosted by Tony Bruce almost seems like a reason to move just on its own.
Until my ship comes in and I can go to the mountain, I guess I’ll keep picking up the small pieces of the mountain that rolls near by me…
… and I’ll try to post more than once a year… 🙂
+1 Testing 
Change “Norway” with “Barcelona” and you know exactly how I feel. Thanks for putting that in words :-S
I attended RST and TestBash 2.0 the past week in Brighton UK, it was my first direct contact with the British testing community and, man, I have lots of things to learn! Having a testing community around you is something you could perfectly add to your CV, as it is a challenge and learning insurance.
That said, I felt tempted of moving to countries with bigger testing communities too, but at the same time I feel that there’s a chance to do something in our home towns, and if we move away, who’s going to build these local communities?
I’ve been following you for a while now, you do great stuff! And if I am following you from Barcelona, I am sure that there are hidden norwegians doing the same as I am, and closer to you!
Set-up the norwegian community, associate with this guy that does Test-pubs, I would attend to an event organised by you if closer 😉 Do what no norwegian has done before and build it, be the example others (like me) need to set-up their own local communities and stop complaining nobody did that before.
Kudos to you just for struggling with this.
🙂
Thanks for the kind words Mauri.
You are of course totally correct, I should stop whining and do something rather than just complaining… its just so much easier to rant and be grumpy 🙂
Geir,
Same with the Danish testing .. community. It seems everyone wants to “test everything using the ISTQB test techniques” and the debates are at best nonexisting [http://www.softwaretestforum.dk/forum/index.php]
Will a STC meetup in Denmarke very happen? [http://www.softwaretestingclub.com/group/denmark]
Keep up the rants (if nothing else)
Well… at there is an STC group with 15 members… can’t be all bad 😛
…and there are a couple of danes on my list as well 🙂
I used to look upon the US testing community with envy (like you, even lazily considering a move), but have started connecting with others in Australia. Although it’s a small scene (which makes the number of “thinking” testers rare as hens’ teeth), it’s been enough to keep me from throwing my arms in resignation.
Have to say the “factory school” of testing still rules Down Under. Too many “certified” testers running around, knowing no other way test scripts (for “resusability” – yeah, sure…) and limiting how people who actually think want to test (currently finding that in my job – “we all have to test the same way to present a unified front”… really?). OK, I’ll stop ranting now.
Thanks for your post, it’s good to know some people are having the same experiences.
Thanks for the comment Dean. Even if this blog i mainly for me to sort out some thoughts and practice writing, a little bit of feedback is very much appreciated. One of my short term goals is to get better at commenting myself, and not just silently nod in agreement 🙂
Good to hear you have found some like minded.
Never underestimate your skills, knowledge and capability. You will be surprised how much you can teach others, even from just telling simple stories like this one.
I started STC because I felt like you did now, to some extent at least. The testing community in the UK felt non-existent a few years back, at least the testing community I wanted to see was non-existent.
This is how I did it, and you can too! – http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosiesherry/8632303675/in/photostream – it’s not rocket science, mostly just persistence (and ignorance!) 🙂
And what a great job you (and the team) have done with the STC! Thank you for staying at it, and I hope you have found a sustainable way to carry on. It would be a shame if you burned out or got fed up with it anytime soon.
I know I haven’t been contributing that much on the forums, but I think it is a great club and I keep recommending it to people.
I guess my ambitions isn’t necessarily to compete with you, Tony or the guys at Let’s Test, but it would be nice to know a few other Norwegian people who were somewhat interested in talking testing outside nine-to-five.
I’ll keep looking 🙂
Thanks for commenting and for STC.