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# See you at CAST 2015
- URL: https://www.kenst.com/see-you-at-cast-2015/
- Published: 2015-04-23T20:53:00.000Z
- Updated: 2022-06-10T00:04:22.000Z
- Author: Chris Kenst
- Tags: AST, Conference, Events, Testing

Thanks to my awesome company’s sponsorship and my wife’s love of travel I will be at [CAST](www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/conference/cast-2015/) this year and attending the [tutorial](http://www.associationforsoftwaretesting.org/conference/cast-2015/tutorials/?ref=kenst.com) “Delivering Difficult Messages” by Fiona Charles. This is both my first time attending CAST and traveling to Grand Rapids, MI so I’m expecting to have a little fun and to learn a lot. As for the conference experience, I’m not sure what to expect.

Over the last four or five years I’ve been to a few different conferences and training events:

- STPCon
- [StarWest](https://www.kenst.com/starwest-2011-keynote-presentations/) x2
- [Rapid Testing Intensive](https://www.kenst.com/rapid-testing-intensive-2012-day-5/)
- [BBST: Domain Testing in-person](http://kaner.com/?p=358&ref=kenst.com)
- [Workshop on Teaching Software Testing](https://www.kenst.com/see-you-at-wtst-2014/) (WTST) 13

WTST 13 was my first-ever peer workshop and the last trip I made. In contrast to large conferences like STAR and STPCon where several hundred or even a thousand people crisscross each other as they go to any number of tutorials or talks, the peer workshop format was limited to 20-25 participants in a single room. There were a few presenters who spoke along a similar theme but it was the participants who drove the discussions until everyone was satisfied. It was certainly a unique experience.

Comparing workshops to conferences may not be fair due to their different approaches but my goal for attending them is the same: to learn something new and useful (apply to my job or company) and interact with my peers.

My understanding of CAST’s format, even before going, is it’s a small-ish conference attended by few hundred conference-goers, most of whom are AST members. Although a few hundred participants is still a good-sized event, I’m hoping to be able to interact with a few (or a lot) people. Of the few conferences I’ve attended the biggest impact has always been the interactions: meeting others, sharing problems, being challenged in my thinking, trying to explain something, reference recommendations, etc.

Aside from the one tutorial I’m signed up for and a welcome get-together in the morning each day I don’t know what else there is planned. There’s no schedule available, yet and until there is I won’t be sure what to expect.

Enough about my expectations; who else is attending and what are you looking forward to?