Speakers and Presentations
To be scheduled in Dec. 2011 @ 6:00 PM
Agile QA’s Revolutionary Impact on Project Management
Agile QA techniques are having a dramatic impact on project management. With an agile approach, QA is no longer the last, highest-risk phase in softw
are projects before launch. In this discussion, you will learn how agile QA practices are changing project management and allowing teams to deliver high-quality products faster. You will find out how to successfully harness best practices of agile QA, including automated testing, test-driven development and continuous integration.
About the speaker:
Rachele Maurer is an agile coach with Platinum Edge, Inc. Rachele has more than a dozen years of PM experience with Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A and iCrossing. She has worked in various areas of the interactive marketing industry, and has been on projects that have varied from Web site redesigns to data center migrations. Rachele is both a PMP and a Certified Scrum Master.
Platinum Edge is a full-service training and consulting partner focused on helping organizations around the world make the Waterfall to Agile transition. From Certified Scrum Master (CSM) and general Agile courses, to implementation strategies, on-site coaching and Agile PMO development, our partnership model ensures your success.
Wednesday September 14, 2011 @ 6:00 PM
Build Cross Platform Mobile Apps Rapidly
After the dot com era if there is anything which grew as rapidly in a short span of time, it is the mobile app market. Recent report says that 1 billion people will own smartphones by 2013 and the mobile app market will grow to $30 billion by then.
One of the biggest challenges for developers and businesses has been to keep up and/or have presence on the various platforms available in the market. Unlike the web, in mobile apps you typically have a separate talent pool for each of the major mobile platform. The underlying technologies for these platforms are so different that it is very difficult to share resources across platforms. Typically individual developers end up targeting just one major platform and businesses pay almost thrice the cost to be on the top three platforms.
In this session we will discuss various strategies using which you can target all major platforms by minimizing the development cost and sharing resources & code base across platforms.
The session will mainly focus on the following three platforms: iPhone, Android & Windows Phone 7 and popular development tools to build on these platforms.
Wednesday May 18, 2011 @ 6:00 PM
All You Need To Know About Managing Perceptions
Ever felt a disconnect with the way someone perceives you, your actions, performance, persona? Ever worked on a team that was delivering great service/support but was perceived differently? Perception is powerful - and managing it is even more powerful. During this interactive presentation you will learn some tips and techniques to help you maintain or influence someone's perception of you and your team.
Objectives:
- Create awareness of the fact that we can manage other's perception of us, as individuals and as a team.
- Understand and learn the drivers of how we are perceived
- Learn some practical tips for successfully managing (and maintaining) being positively perceived
- Define immediate actions to take - worksheet provided
Please register here.
About Mark Chagaris
Wednesday April 20, 2011 @ 6:30 PM (PST)
Introduction to Agile and Scrum
In this interactive webinar, the participants will get an overview of the fundamental principles and mechanics of Scrum, thereby understanding the benefits of adopting Scrum principles and values in an organization.
Bachan Anand from Conscires Agile Practices , will be focusing on the following goals and relate it to how Scrum and Agile will help you achieve these goals.
As a customer , I want:
- The ability to go to market faster
- Faster return on investment
As a Project Manager, I want:
- To measure the progress of my project in terms of real progress made and product ready to be shipped.
As a team member, I want
- A sustainable pace
Wednesday March 23, 2011 @ 6:00 PM
Overview of Agile/ Scrum
Kevin Graves has been mentoring Agile/Scrum teams for the past 2.5 years. The has been involved with 7 different teams and 150 sprints. Tonight, Kevin will be providing an overview of Scrum/Agile and compare it against traditional waterfall methodologies. He will also detail how the average day of a QA Professional changes when the team moves to a Scrum/Agile development methodology. For registration please visit http://scqaasfagile.eventbrite.com.
Wednesday January 19, 2011 @ 6:00 PM
Developing your Testing and QA Career
through Education Based Certifications
Testing software systems to verify they perform reliably and as expected is a very critical quality control activity. Unfortunately, this critical activity is being performed on almost every software project in a very ad hoc, informal manner by developers, testers, and users. Informal surveys conducted by the International Institute for Software Testing during its seminars indicate that less than 1% of test professionals attending these seminars have used formal test design techniques to design their tests. Formal academic programs seldom provide even rudimentary coverage of software testing, let alone teaching it as a discipline.
Wednesday Nov. 17, 2010 @ 5:45 PM
IT Professional Certifications
What It Can and Cannot Do for You
SCQAA-SF will host an exciting year end event at Bank of America building that you can't miss. As the IT industry rapidly grows, there will be a need for new specialized professionals. With this rapid growth, it is becoming harder for managers to make a distinction between professionals and specialized skilled professionals. Although certifications demonstrate a level of understanding theory, it also demonstrates the understanding in carrying out quality principles and practices, but being certified comes with its own trials and tribulations.
In this regard SCQAA-San Fernando Valley will host a panel discussion to:
- Pros and cons of certifications
- The costs of achieving and remaining certified
- How to pick the right certification for you
- How to leverage your certification to a better career
This meeting is free of charge and food will be served. Please go to http://scqaa-sf.eventbrite.com/ for registration.
Thursday Sep. 23, 2010 @ 5:45 PM
Addressing the Top Ten Challenges in Software Testing
SCQAA-SF will host Steve Bender a well known speaker on software quality and project management subjects.
Steve will talk about "Addressing the Top Ten Testing Challenges". His focus is making you be able to determine whether or not it is a challenge for your software testing organization, and if so, begin to determine whether you want to make recommendations to your software testing group to address that challenge. This presentation is highly recommended for QA managers, analysts and engineers who have experienced testing challenges such as Testing without Tools, Explaining Testing to Managers etc.
Wed. August 18, 2010 @ 6:30 PM (PST) - SCQAA-SF Webinar Series
Unconventional Risks- Are You Prepared?
Join our next webinar presented by Eli Dabich, Co-founder of Synergy Associates.
Eli will be talking to us how most organizations have developed Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans for conventional risks like electrical outages, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, etc. But have they considered unconventional risks like gangs, cyberwarfare, nuclear/biological attacks, global warming, etc. This presentation will focus on the background of these threats, what are the risks, how to identify these risks, and how to prepare for these risks.
Wednesday July 14, 2010 @ 5:45 PM

