A decade of TestingConferences.org

A few months ago, if you asked when I started testingconferences.org, I would have said it was while I was working at a startup in West Hollywood. The startup was a Ruby shop (just like the site) and it was one of the first places I’d seen using a continuous integration (CI) server effectively.

Then, I came across a LinkedIn article I wrote announcing “A simple list of software testing conferences” published in October of 2015. (I also published a copy here.) Since that West Hollywood startup didn’t happen until 2017, I realized two things:

1. My memory is definitely faulty
2. Testingconferences.org is now well over a decade old!

That was a surprising revelation! The site was created to scratch an itch; I simply wanted to know which software testing conferences were available to attend. It was also an excuse to spend time writing Ruby.

Then, as now, the site is my personal sandbox. When I wanted to learn CI systems, I hooked one up. When I wanted to make setting up a local development environment easier, I wrote scripts to automate it. Today, I’m experimenting with AI coding assistants and automated measurements. All based on things I wanted to learn. (You can see the roadmap here).

By the numbers:

• First commit: April 16, 2015
• 182+ contributors have shared updates, suggestions and fixes
• Over 1,500 deploys have kept the listings current
• Countless testers have discovered new events and peers, all because someone took the time to send a pull request.

The project is still running as an open source list, which means anyone can contribute!

Beyond the stats, it’s the personal things that stay with me. I’ll never forget when a buddy of mine came by my house years ago. He was telling me about a testing conference he was headed to and slyly mentioned using my site. Or when I talk to conference organizers and they can point to a meaningful impact the site has made in selling tickets. Or when a fellow tester reaches out to say they spoke at or attended a conference because of it.

Thanks for the decade of support. As always, if you see something missing, add it by learning how to contribute!