And Then it's "Go Time"

Two years ago, my Scout Troop put in a submission to trek at Philmont Scout Ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. We'd submitted before, and due to the lottery system, we'd been unsuccessful in years past. However, in 2014, we got the message we'd been waiting to see for some time.

"Congratulations, your Crew has been selected to trek at Philmont Scout Ranch during Week 7 of the 2016 program year." With that, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief, cheered at our good fortune... and then came face to face with the enormity of what we'd just agreed to do.

For some, backpacking, cooking and camping in the backcountry for twelve days may be a regular occurrence. For many of our scouts, this was absolutely not the truth. We realized we would all have to up our games. We'd need to get new gear. We'd need to consider how much what we would bring would weigh. We'd need to get in shape... oh man, *I'd* need to get in shape!

For the better part of two years, we made sure we had the right group of people to attend. We had fits and starts. We had firm commitments from lots of scouts, only to have several of them fall by the wayside when the enormity of the trip (both in the effort and the cost) became apparent. At points, we feared we might have to cancel the whole thing, but somehow, at the moments of truth along the way (and there were several), we were able to pull it out of the fire and make the trek viable. We raised money by whatever means we could. We advertised a willingness to do jobs no one else would want to do (having to clear out a garage for an estate sale and clean up rodent damage to a large part of the storage will certainly live as one of the more memorable ones). We planned itineraries and booked flights, hired charter buses, made travel plans both before and after the on the mountain trek. We reviewed medical forms over and over. We went to get certified for Wilderness First Aid and CPR. Most of all, though, we strapped on back packs with all of our gear and we hiked. We hiked on flat paved trails. We climbed and descended mountains. We hiked on grass, in dirt, on forest floors littered with pine needles. We practiced cooking as a group. We dealt with the realities of one of our campers being genuinely gluten and dairy intolerant (as in full scale Celiac disease level, and realizing that nothing on the Philmont meal plan was edible for him). We pitched in and bought him a full compliment of gluten and dairy free trail foods so that he could participate with the rest of us.

Shortly, all of the planning, training, dieting, working out, learning, certifying, proofing, and other stuff that has consumed our lives for what feels like forever and no time at all will be set in motion. We will board a plane. We will fly to Albuquerque. We will be met by a shuttle service. We will travel around the small towns in and around the New Mexico Rocky Mountains until our check in time. We will then hit the trail, scale summits, evade bears, explore mines, climb to the top of Mt. Baldy, cover close to seventy miles, perform service and area improvements, and overall see how well we actually prepared for this adventure of ours.

In my day to day life as a tester, this all reminds me of the countless stories, iterations, releases, and other milestones we have met over the years. At some point, you no longer have time to practice, to learn, or to model what you will do. The time comes that you just "must do". In short, it's "Go Time". You are either ready, or you are not. Your solutions work, or they do not. Your learning is sufficient, or it is not. The one difference is that, when I test, there's always another day, another chance to get it right. Out in the wild, if we do something bone-headed or we take on something ill-prepared, the consequences may not be as mild. Though I am not anticipating it, I have to realize that, during these trips, though the numbers are small, people get hurt or die out here. We can do a lot to mitigate those risks, but we can't eliminate them entirely. Now we just have to go out and do our best, and know that we have trained for this. I'm humbled, but I'm also excited.

For the next two and a half weeks, I will effectively be unplugged and off the grid. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to help provide a trek that I hope will be life changing for the participants, and yes, I'm hoping one of the life's changed, in a positive way, will be mine :). Happy trails to you, until we meet again!

The Testing Show Is YOUR Show

Edited: Date changed, see below.

TL;DNR: We have a new podcast at The Testing Show. We need show ideas, questions, your involvement! We are having a Tweetup using hashtag #TestingShowChat on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. - noon Eastern USA timezone. Join us!!!

And now on to more of the show... so to speak.

For the past several months, a fairly large percentage of my time has been spent on an endeavor that I enjoy. That endeavor has been producing and editing "The Testing Show". Put simply, the Testing Show is a podcast hosted and paid for by Qualitest Group. A few years ago, Matt Heusser and I partnered on a podcast hosted by Software Test Professionals called "This Week in Software Testing" (TWiST). It ran for two and a half years, we produced over 130 episodes, and at the time, we felt like we had said all we really wanted to say, or could say. We took a hiatus from podcast production that lasted longer than either of us thought it would.

Towards the end of 2015, Matt and I, along with Justin Rohrman and Perze Ababa, discussed the idea of creating another software testing podcast, reminiscent of the old TWiST, but updated and focusing on newer topics and changes that have happened in the testing word since we stopped producing TWiST. The net result of those efforts is The Testing Show.

Twice a month, we bring you news on an issue happening in the world of testing, or something we think is interesting going on in the broader world and how software testing effects the stories we talk about. In previous episodes, we've covered software systems that erroneously released felons, automated trucking, the challenges of accurate Super Bowl predictions, and software updates causing a satellite to fall out of orbit and burn up in earth's atmosphere... hey, who said testing wasn't fun :)?

We've had a great group of guests come and join us on the show to talk about topics related to their areas of expertise, ranging from Test Management (both process and people), being a Trusted Resource, Testing in Scrum, visits to QA or the Highway and the Reinventing Testers workshop, Automation & Tooling, and Measurement & Metrics.

At the end of each episode, I ask listeners to send us their feedback about the shows they have heard, what they would like to hear, and topics we could cover. It's in this aspect that I want to reach out to our listeners, both current and potential, and see if we can do more.

In our minds, we discuss topics that we think would be interesting to our listeners. Comments on Twitter and other social media sites have been positive, and we thank you all for that. We'd like to see if we can do better, both in the way of helping make a show that you would love to listen to, and also make a show that you would love to share.

As producer of the show, I do my best to make each fortnightly episode the best quality it can be. We often talk for an hour plus, but we edit the show to be roughly thirty minutes, give or take a few. We create show notes with complete transcripts of all the conversation presented, as well as references to what we cover and jumping off points where our listeners can learn more. As we do this, we realize that, amongst ourselves and each other, that we have a limited view as to what's most important to you, our listeners. We can make guesses, but we don't know everything you know, we haven't walked everywhere you have walked, and you have ideas and questions we may never think to ask. We'd like to engage with you directly, and get some opportunities to know what you would like to hear on the show, who you would like to hear from... and if one of the people you would like to hear from happens to be "you", hey, we can talk :).

On Wednesday, June 22, 2016 from 11:00 a.m. - noon Eastern, the cast of The Testing Show will be hosting a live event on Twitter. We will answer questions about the show, discuss things we've talked about in previous shows, but more to the point, we want to know things that you would like to hear us discuss in future podcasts. If that interests you, and you'd like to give us some feedback on what we are talking about, or what we could be talking about, we hope you'll join us. Use the hashtag #TestingShowChat to play along with us. If you can't participate at that time, you can always send email to us at thetestingshow@qualitestgroup.com, and we will do follow up in future shows.

Another way that you can help us get the word out is to leave reviews of The Testing Show on iTunes. If you like what you hear, leave us a review. More reviews means better placement in search engines, and more chances of people discovering the show. Share the show with your friends and encourage them to listen as well. We aim to make The Testing Show the best podcast we possibly can, but ultimately, the show belongs to you, our listeners, and our success resides with you. We'd love if you would join us, and help us make your show the best we can make it.