The Southern California Quality Assurance Association (SCQAA) San Fernando Chapter presents

******* Bryan Schultz *******

” Selling QA/QC to Management”

Wednesday, March 3, 2004 Networking @ 5:45; Business @ 6:45; Program @ 7:00 PM

Countrywide, 2900 Madera, Simi Valley, CA 93065

Having problems "selling" software QA/QC to your organization? Do people not understand the true value of QA/QC? If you say yes to these questions then you should attend this presentation. This presentation will show:

1. What is Business Value from a Business Management Perspective

2. The Business Management Catalyst for the Increased Value of Software Quality

3. Selling QA/QC to Management: The Business Value of Software QA/QC

Everyone who works in the software QA/QC field should understand how QA/QC creates value and be able to communicate it. After attending this presentation you will be able to improve your ability to communicate the business value of software QA/QC to your organization.

Mr. Schultz has fifteen years of experience in computer system quality assurance, project management and quality control. He is both an instructor and keynote speaker in Canada and the U.S. on the subject of software testing and quality assurance. Bryan is a Certified Quality Analyst and a Certified Software Test Engineer and he is currently writing a book on the topic of risk management.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! Wednesday, April 7, 2004 April Monthly Meeting in Countrywide, Simi Valley, CA Speaker: TBD, Topic: TBD Wednesday, May 5, 2004 May Monthly Meeting in Countrywide, Simi Valley, CA Speaker: Wayne Smith & Dr Albert Kinderman, Topic: The Emerging Relationship between Software Quality and the Free & Open Source Software Environments

Fee: $10 nonmembers; Free for members Questions? Contact scqaasf_newsletter@sbcglobal.net

Membership: $65/year standard (one year of meetings); $100/year (one year of meetings + training discount)

Quality Assurance Institute Courses

SCQAA- San Fernando Chapter is proud to offer 3 more excellent and nationally recognized courses in software testing and software quality assurance. These classes taught by distinguished QAI instructors have not been offered in the Los Angeles area for a very long time and we are happy to bring these courses back here, in response to several dozens of requests from our local members.

To find out more about the classes and to register online be sure to visit our web site at www.scqaa.us. Take advantage of our membership benefits, become a privileged member if you are not already and get the courses at 50% discount!!

Remember, only those SCQAA-SF full members are eligible for our course discounts. To become a member click here: http://www.scqaa.us/member.php

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***** Prep course for CSTE *****

Thursday & Friday, March 11 & 12, 2004

7:45 AM - 8:30 AM - Continental Breakfast/Registration

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM

The Certified Software Test Engineer (CSTE) Prep Course is designed to help candidates prepare for the certification examination. It assists the professional to focus on the topics that are important for understanding and thus help towards the successful completion of the exam. This course is not intended to supplant the need for proper examination preparation. However, it will serve as an excellent review of the material covered in the test.

Enroll [Course Fee: Members $400.00 - Non-members $800.00]

** Boot camp for Software QA Analysts **

Thursday & Friday, May 6 & 7, 2004

7:45 AM - 8:30 AM - Continental Breakfast/Registration

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM

This Boot Camp is a foundation course for IT quality concepts. It provides an excellent overview of the entire IT quality professional area. It further provides a macro introduction of the quality assurance area by introducing and reviewing the principles expounded by leading quality experts. This course similarly provides an exceptional review for those planning to pursue IT quality certification for the Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA) professional designation.

This seminar also addresses the important aspects to consider for those organizations who desire to properly organize their quality initiative for improved productivity and organizational integrity.

Enroll [Course Fee: Members $400.00 - Non-members $800.00]

***** Prep course for CSQA *****

Thursday & Friday, June 3 & 4, 2004

7:45 AM - 8:30 AM - Continental Breakfast/Registration

8:30 AM - 5:30 PM

The Certified Software Quality Analyst Prep Course has been designed specifically to prepare the quality assurance professional for the CSQA examination. The course provides a thorough background of the Quality fundamentals and also includes the more advanced concepts, which the Certified Software Quality Analyst must understand. The successful completion of this course along with the necessary practical experience and related resource familiarity will well prepare the candidate for the CSQA examination.

Enroll [Course Fee: Members $400.00 - Non-members $800.00]

Message from your President: Judy Cheves

RAVE Reviews from our Boot Camp for Software Testers!

Our first sponsored QAI course, “Boot Camp for Software Testers,’ was held February 5th and 6th at Countrywide in Simi Valley. The feedback from the participants was very positive with comments on how valuable the course was for testers as well as QA Managers and Project Managers. Many of the Boot Camp participants are planning on attending the CSTE Certification Prep course to be held March 11 & 12 to prepare for certification later this year.

Our next set of courses, “the Boot Camp and Prep Course for QA Analysts,” are scheduled for May & June. Dates & details are available on our website, www.scqaa.us.

Bryan Schultz will be our speaker at our March meeting. Bryan is best known for quantifying business risk and integrating the business risk factors with software testing and QA deliverables. Mark your calendars and join us on Wednesday, March 3rd for Bryan Schultz presentation, “Selling QA/QC to Management.”

Regards,

Judy

Job Opportunity

Data Quality Program Manager. Kaiser Permanente in Pasadena. Previous experience implementing data quality programs, data quality measurement and reporting systems in a large-scale data warehousing environment. Implement quality assurance program for ETL (Extract, Transformation and Loading) operations in a large-scale data warehousing environment. Link: http://www.kaiserpermanentejobs.org/

Director of Web Quality Assurance. Strategic Resource in Los Angeles. Key leader and senior manager in the company, reporting directly to the CIO. Link: http://Information-Technology.CareerBuilder .com/JobSeeker/Jobs/JobDetails.aspx?Job_DID=J30Y56WMV1XNZY6JJ1

QA Analyst. KForce in Gardena. A new position, testing a currently developed J2EE application to manage back office functions for the company, which is a full-service specialty staffing firm in the specialty skill areas of information technology, finance & accounting, human resources, engineering, pharmaceutical, health care and scientific. Link: www.kforce.com

2 QA positions, RMG (Resource Management Group),A Division of Prosum Technologies Inc. in Simi Valley. Mid to senior level. Need experience with Mercury Suite of products, automated tools experience...Perform testing, test scripts. Contact: Chris Martin" <chris.martin@prosumrmg.com>

Quality Assurance Engineer. Digital Insight, Calabasas. Develop and document quality-assurance procedures. Experience Required: At Least 3 Years. Link: http://Information-Technology.CareerBuilder. com/it.ic/California_QualityAssurance.htm

Software Testing Engineer – Temporary. Medtronic in Northridge. excellent test plan/test case development and hands-on execution skills in QA of web-based applications software. Contact Fan Adams directly at 818 576 4993 Link: http://careers.peopleclick.com/jobposts/ Client40_Medtronic/BU1/Medtronic_PagesInt/175-8777.htm

Technical Writer - PB Systems.com, Los Angeles

I need someone that can work for me in Los Angeles, Ca. as a Technical Writer with emphasis on writing Test Plans, Cases, and Scenarios for a contract that will should be minimum of 3 months and could start as early as next week. Familiarity with automated testing tools is a plus, but not required. Hourly rate will depend on experience. Contact: Bruce @ pbsystems.com tel: 714.573.1230 x236

Quality Meetings Upcoming

March 16 Computer Analysis: Diagnostics of What’s Working and What’s Not by Lance Gelein. Sponsored by Society for Technical Communicators, San Fernando chapter. Location: Radisson Hotel in Chatsworth. Link: http://www.stcsfv.org/

March 20 Forewarned is Forearmed by Lois Zells. Sponsored by PMI-Los Padres. 8:30 – 4 at the Radisson Hotel, Oxnard. Link: http://pmi-lospadres.org/

April 20 Beta Testing by Luke Freiler of CenterCode Inc., sponsored by SCQAA-Orange County. Location: AmerisourceBergen, West Coast Management Center 4000 Metropolitan Drive, Orange, CA 92868-3502, 4th Floor Conference Room, Free parking is available

April 25 – 28, 2004 ISACA Spring Conference at Universal City, CA, provides affordable quality training on fundamental IDS auditing concepts and emerging technology risks, and an opportunity to network with other auditing and security professionals. Weblink: http://isacala.org/2004SpringConference/2004SpringConference.html

Our Corporate Meeting Sponsors

Serena, Corp. at 20920B Warner Center Lane, Woodland Hills, is our very first chapter Corporate Meeting Sponsor. We very much appreciate their sponsorship, which provides the SCQAA San Fernando Board with a fine workspace for our Board meetings.

Countrywide, Corp. in Simi Valley is our second chapter Corporate Meeting Sponsor, as they are providing Membership meeting space, starting with the first monthly meeting on September 17, 2003.

Our Corporate Sponsors

Kaiser Permanente, headquartered in Oakland, is sponsoring SCQAA-SF this year to enable its Southern California employees to take advantage of chapter meetings and instructor-led QAI training.

QAI Certification Programs

To request more information, send email to certify@qaiusa.com.

Earn CPEs

Are you a CSQA or CSTE? Earn some of your Continuing Professional Education (CPE) points by attending SCQAA-SF meetings. Earn even more by helping with our committees!

Southern California Quality Assurance Association San Fernando Chapter (SCQAA-SF)

QAI Certification Programs

To request more information, send email to certify@qaiusa.com.

Meet Your SCQAA

San Fernando Chapter Board

The current Board is composed of:

Position	Board Member	Backup Member
Chapter Chair	Judy Cheves	Shahidul Manan
Vice Chair	Shahidul Manan
Treasurer	Deanna Witrack	Judy Cheves
Secretary	John Heeg	TBD
Chapter Advisor	Jim Stoumpos
Events/Promotion	TBD
Food Service Chair	Peter Reidy
Historian/Librarian	TBD
Mail List Chair	Gerry Caruso	Karina Gamble
Meeting Chair	Kidra Shidroo
Membership Chair	Ron Winters
Newsletter Chair	Elizabeth Runyon	Deanna Witrack
PMI Liaison	Bill Hackenberg
Program Chair	Karina Gamble
Sponsor/PR Chair	Bob Tabaka	Bill Hackenberg
Web Team	Shahidul Mannan Kidra Shadroo Leonard Daly
Webmaster	TBD

Would you like to be a speaker and have a topic of interest to the quality community? Contact the Program Chair (karina@qainsight.com) or Chapter Chairperson (Judy.cheves@Countrywide.com) and let us know what you would like to contribute.

Would you like to contribute information to this Newsletter? Contact the Newsletter editor at this address: scqaasf_newsletter@sbcglobal.net.

The SCQAA San Fernando Board holds monthly Board Meetings at Serena Inc. in Woodland Hills. If you would like to attend the Board meeting and would like to help this chapter, please contact Judy Cheeves at E-Mail (Judy.cheves@Countrywide.com ) to obtain the meeting schedule and location.

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We'd love to hear from you. Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Please help us respond to your requests and input by writing to us at: scqaasf_newsletter@sbcglobal.net or visit our Web site: www.scqaa.us and you can contact a Board member.

Privacy policy: We will not distribute your name or e-mail address to anyone, other than for SCQAA or QAI chapter purposes.

Directions to Our Meeting Location in Simi Valley:

You might want to check out driving directions from your starting point on yahoo.com, but here is how you will finish the trip:

Countrywide Financial 2900 Madera Road, Simi Valley, CA 93065 1C Central Lobby Presentation & Video Make your way to CA-118 and go to Simi Valley Exit CA-118 on Madera Road North Go 0.3 miles then turn right on North Madera Road Go 0.3 miles past Countrywide Way to first driveway on the right: 2900 North Madera Road. Follow the driveway up and around the building on your right and park on the other side (which is actually the front). Conference room 1C is right off the main lobby.