TestBash Home 2021 on its second edition organized by Ministry of Testing and as last year it was incredibly awesome with more than 1000 attendees, one of the reasons that make it unique:

  • Lots of learning opportunities
  • International speakers and inspiring topics in the program
  • Attendees from all the world corners which add more fun, it’s like a 24H marathon with NO-STOP in all the platforms !!!
  • Event hosts are lovely ! they are like made for testbash, I personally enjoyed all of them and specially Gwen she is AMAZING šŸ™‚
  • Networking opportunities it’s always nice to connect with other testers and exchange testing related stories
  • 99 sec talks from attendees & sponsors and also meetups organizers across the globe sharing their personal journey in their cities, plus their local communities
  • Just type #testbash in twitter and you will discover by your own how vibrant attendees and dynamic vibes are there !
  • Polls in Hopin to engage participants, one of them asking about attendees which snacks they are eating, checkout the FullSnackTester tweet !

All of this make it so unique experience although attending from home but you feel like it’s an on-site event, by the same occasion I wanted to make a collaborative blog with different attendees from many places to share their takeaways and their favorite moments.

#1 Chris Armstrong(@christovskia) from Leicestershire, UK

  1. Tell us about your background and from where you joined Testbash home?

    “I am a tester, originally from Cambridge, originally falling into testing serendipitously, as my parents moved to the town where a computer games firm were based, while I was at university. Seventeen years and too many jobs and industries later, Iā€™m a QA Strategist at Provar, and loving it.”
  1. What did you expect from this online conference and why did you want to be part of it?

    “I have loved the access to many more conferences since they all became virtual events, but only a few have stood out for me as events that are more than just talks. TestBash Home 2020 came at a time when we all really needed to be together, if only virtually, as a community, and I fully expected TestBash Home 2021 to be the same. The added incentives were that myself and Bruce were raising money for the Covax scheme by staying up for the entire event, plus my company, Provar, were sponsors.”
  2. Did you enjoy the remote mode although interactions between speakers and attendees are just via screen ?

    “I enjoyed it, but it cannot replace in-person interactions. However, given the platform and the pandemic, this is the best. Whether it be Hopin, Twitter, Slack or the Club, there was so much interaction.”
  3. What was your favorite moment?
    “The end, not because the conference was bad, but because this meant that the TestBashathon was overā€¦..of course I wasnā€™t able to sleep though”
  4. What are your new learnings and takeaways?
    “More than anything is that the testing community is a supportive place to be, and you get out what you put into it.”
  5. A last word for the global testing community
    “    Thank you for letting me be a part of it, and if you arenā€™t yet plugged in, please do and talk to me!”

#2 Lisa Crispin(@lisacrispin) from Charlotte, Vermont, USAĀ 

  1. Tell us about your background and from where you joined Testbash home?

Iā€™ve been in the software profession for several decades, and in testing since the early 1990s. I joined from my home in rural Vermont, near Canada. I had to work on Thursday, but I sneakily watched the closed captions whenever possible as I was in mobs/ensembles at work.

  1. What did you expect from this online conference and why did you want to be part of it?

I loved TestBash Home 2020 so I had high expectations, and I was not disappointed! As before, the chat was always so busy and fun and interesting. I liked the AMA sessions and the Q&A sections of the talks. The talks all set a high bar for conference talks. I liked the new 10 minute talks too.

  1. Did you enjoy the remote mode although interactions between speakers and attendees are just via screen ?

There was a close sense of community and interaction even though it was remote. People sharing their comments and sketchnotes on Twitter also enhanced the experience.

  1. What was your favorite moment?

There were so many and itā€™s kind of a blur now! Tristan and Alan talking about modern testing was one of many highlights for me. Gwen keeping the energy up at the end was awesome. Bruceā€™s beautiful sketches were a big highlight for me. I loved the little snippets from the MoT meetup organizers around the world!

  1. What are your new learnings and takeaways? 

There were multiple sessions relating to accessibility testing. I did a lot of that a few years ago and I am super inspired to get back into it. The schedule has been taken down now so I canā€™t remind myself what all my favorite sessions were. I loved Erikaā€™s storytelling based on the Neverending Story movie. I related so much to Jenny and Erin talking about how much customer support helps us with testing.

  1. A last word for the global testing community

TestBash conferences are exceptional, whether they are in person or remote. The MoT Pro subscription is so valuable, it gives access to all the conferences (at least by recordings) and so much more content. If you can, find a bit of time every week to learn via the MoT content and/or connect with people via the Club and Slack. And donā€™t forget all the local MoT meetups!

#3 Kristof Van Kriekingen(@Kristof_VK) from Aarschot-Belgium 

  1. Tell us about your background and from where you joined Testbash home?

    Iā€™m Kristof, a tester from Belgium. I love to automate, nuke down servers with performance tests, hunt for edge cases and a security enthusiast. Always eager to learn so TestBash Home is the perfect place for me. I joined TestBash from my hometown Aarschot in Belgium during a lovely heatwave. 

  1. What did you expect from this online conference and why did you want to be part of it?

      I had high expectations and I was kind of curious about the remote way of TestBash. I wanted to be part of it because of all the knowledge that is being transferred between all the people. I really love the Ministry of Testing community, they are all such nice people and because of TestBash I got to know some even more. I kind of want to give a conference talk myself someday so for me it was also a little sneak peak of how things are done properly.

  1. Did you enjoy the remote mode although interactions between speakers and attendees are just via screen ?

   I really did. I must admit Iā€™m not the most social person in real life and I think because of TestBash being remote, a lot of other people dared to ask more questions. The networking sessions were awesome and easy to join. It was a low-boundary step for me to meet new people. 

  1. What was your favorite moment? 

    Thatā€™s a very good question, there are so many. I will have to re-watch some of the recorded sessions since I didnā€™t follow the full 24 hours and I had some Chat-Ninja duties, which made me focus a lot more on the chat then on the talks. A few favorite moments so far are:

a.   Me listening to @Maaike her Bullsh*t talk with a clicker next to me, clicking every single time when she says ā€˜Bullsh*tā€™. (I had 50 clicks, others had some more but perhaps my ears didnā€™t allow me to hear any more)

b.   I looooved the networking sessions: I met so many different kinds of people and we had such good conversations. Will do it again!

c.   A very epic 99second talk by ā€œChris Spearsā€ (@christovskia) ā€“ no spoilers here.

  1. What are your new learnings and takeaways? 

    As I mentioned above, I still have to re-watch a lot of the sessions but some of my leartnings & take-aways are:

a.   That I donā€™t have to be scared to talk in front of thousands of people.

b.   The MoT community is so supportive.

c.   Datadog has synthetic API tests

d.   @Maaike isnā€™t afraid of dropping the F-bomb multiple times

e.   Extra insights on how to contribute to automation without coding

f.    Being a chat-ninja is a lot more work than I imagined, but I would do it again!

  1. A last word for the global testing community

    Join the Ministry of Testing Club and come share your knowledge! TestBash is a great experience to cross off your bucket list. You join 1 TestBash and youā€™ll try to join them all. Itā€™s not just about the talks & workshops but itā€™s also about the interaction between the people. Thank you for organizing TestBash. Thank you for joining TestBash and see you at the next one! (hopefully physically) 

#4 Deborah Sherwood(@deborahsherwood) from Sydney-Australia 

  1. Tell us about your background and from where you joined Testbash home?

My name is Deb and I am based in Sydney, Australia. I started working in the IT industry as an engineer in 2001 and moved into testing in 2008. After attending Testbash home last year, a fire was ignited inside me and I started my charge towards becoming the QA Lead, which happened in August last year. I joined Testbash home this year from my home office.

Coffee number one. I wonder how many coffees I will have to get through #TestBash Home today. Loved loved LOVED the last talk from @Anais_vanAsselt! Thank you šŸ™

Originally tweeted by Deborah Sherwood (@deborahsherwood) on 2021.

  1. What did you expect from this online conference and why did you want to be part of it?

After attending last year and the success I have had since then, I was super eager to join this year no matter what the line up. Whenever I attend a Ministry of Testing workshop/talk/course, it always adds more fuel to the fire and keeps me motivated to do more for my team. Itā€™s a fun day of learning and socialising even though itā€™s not face-to-face.

  1. Did you enjoy the remote mode although interactions between speakers and attendees are just via screen ?

Being on the other side of the world I have no choice but by having a remote set up it means the barriers to attendance donā€™t exist. Yes it would be nice to see people face-to-face but I canā€™t always pay for the fees for that. This allows me to be part of the community.

  1. What was your favorite moment? 
  • Watching AnaĆÆs van Asselt was the first highlight. I loved her slides and how she presented the story of how test automation relates to gardening. Her story is very similar to what I am doing now with one of our teams. It made me realise that other people have faced the same problems and I am not in it alone
  • Accidently meeting Bruce and Chris! I went into the Provar section not knowing that it was them and after I left I realised who they were. I then went back during the next break and also met Tristian! It was so lovely meeting new people from other countries.
  • I used the network section at one stage and the first person I was connected with was wearing the very kitty headphones I wanted! We ended up talking about our many many cats for 3 minutes
  • This was another highlight
  • I was a volunteer at one stage during the AUS timezone and it made me feel more connected to the event. I was scared I would mess it up but I was proud to be helping (everyone at work knew not to disturb me during this time!)
  1. What are your new learnings and takeaways? 

I have a white board full of little tweaks I can do within my team and I havenā€™t even watched all of the presentations yet! I think my main thing is to work on QA metrics and a charter of heuristics. I also learnt I really need to stop doubting myself and know what I am doing is good work. I could relate to a lot of presentations with our own team stories and I need to realise we are not alone.

  1. A last word for the global testing community

I love this community. I love:

  • how accessible it is
  • how much info is available
  • how much help is available from everyone
  • how friendly everyone is
  • how supportive everyone is


Honselty, I cannot rave about Testbash Home and the Ministry of Testing enough! I just love it. 

#5 Alejandro LĆ³pez (@alopezari) from MĆ”laga-Spain

  1. Tell us about your background and from where you joined Testbash home?

I graduated as an Electronic Systems Engineer (a branch of Telecommunications Engineering) in 2014 and then I spent some years working at different roles such as firmware developer, wireless test engineer and hardware designer, until I decided to focus on software development and started a career in software testing and quality assurance. 

After that, I had the chance of working on several areas inside software testing and participating in projects from different contexts. Currently, Iā€™m looking for a balance between testing, devops and development skills.

I joined Testbash from MĆ”laga, my home, and one of the cities Iā€™m in love with šŸ™‚

  1. What did you expect from this online conference and why did you want to be part of it?

Two main things: learning and meeting new people.

About learning, not just during the conference, but also getting references so that I can investigate and keep learning later.

Regarding meeting new people, Iā€™m kinda new to software communities, but Iā€™ve realized MoT is one of the biggest and most active communities in software testing and there are a lot of great people here, so I just wanted to be part of this šŸ™‚

Of course, Testbash home exceeded my expectations and I had a great time there with you guys šŸ™‚

  1. Did you enjoy the remote mode although interactions between speakers and attendees are just via screen ?

I did! Itā€™s true that the networking bit is always better face to face (not just because of the beers hehe), but considering the situation, it was a great workaround for letting us enjoy the event this year. And it is also way more accessible for people living in other countries.

  1. What was your favorite moment? 

Uhm I enjoyed Bartā€™s moves a lot hahaha and also Erikaā€™s talk was just fantastic. I also enjoyed Maaikeā€™s talk. Before watching it I was curious because I thought it would be a rage talk, but then I found out it was actually a mindfulness session. Quite interesting šŸ™‚

  1. What are your new learnings and takeaways? 

Do you know that feeling when youā€™ve learnt a lot of things suddenly and need time to reflect and process it? This is happening to me right now haha. Iā€™d like to watch the talks again but something I can mention so far is:

  • Now I want to read the book ā€œBullshit Jobsā€.
  • I want to go deeper into Agile concepts
  • Iā€™ve enjoyed this conference so much that now I want to start preparing my own talks.
  1. A last word for the global testing community

Good people make good communities, and this one is simply awesome. Hope we can keep in touch for years šŸ™‚

#6 Butel Benjamin(@BenjaminButel) from France 

  1. Tell us about your background and from where you joined Testbash home?

I have been a tester for more than 15 years and have experienced several professional contexts: medical, energy, military, telecommunications.

Today, I like to put my experience at the service of the product. I think I can define myself as a Question Asker which is surely the best definition I’ve ever seen (Thanks to Peter Walen for this term and Lisa Crispin and Janet Gregory for sharing it in their books).

I try to contribute at my level by hosting the Ministry of Testing Rennes and France, co-organizing the Paris Test Conf 2021, writing articles in the french blog ‘La Taverne du testeur‘ but also by participating in french podcasts.

For the Bash Home Test, I was at home in Rennes, a small town in western France where life is good.

  1. What did you expect from this online conference and why did you want to be part of it?

I participated in the 2020 edition and I loved the energy that came out of it. I was so inspired that I had written a french article.

For this year, I expected the same energy. I also hope to be able to discover new people to follow to inspire me, discover the evolution of our profession and quite simply have a good time.

This type of conference is also a way for me to practice English.

  1. Did you enjoy the remote mode although interactions between speakers and attendees are just via screen ?

Of course I liked it. It is obvious that the online mode is different from face-to-face and discussion is different but I really enjoyed it.

I also enjoyed being able to have one-to-one conversations with other attendees.

And the hosts just have crazy energy. I haven’t seen them all, but clearly Vernon, Bart, and Gwen are just huge. I loved them !

  1. What was your favorite moment? 

Overall, I liked everything I saw. I confess that I did not stay for 24 hours. I have some talks to watch when they are available.

I particularly liked:

I also really enjoyed discovering the short videos of the various MoT organizers around the world. Including the one I participated in for France, what a great accent I have šŸ™‚

Finally, for the record, I was surprised by Gwen Diagram who quotes my name at one point (following these famous videos) and it is right on the point when I do not listen because a colleague asks me a question. And there, panic! what did she say, what did she say? Do I have to talk ? Is she waiting for an answer? Phew, I guess not. Thank you Gwen for answering me afterwards on why you quoted me šŸ˜‰

  1. What are your new learnings and takeaways? 

I would say itā€™s a whole. Like last year, I came out of this Test Bash Home with crazy energy.

All the messages that are shared allow me to continually take a step back and question myself. Itā€™s beneficial, I find it to always offer the best of myself to my team but also get the best out of them.

  1. A last word for the global testing community

If you’ve never been to a Test Bash (online or face-to-face), then don’t hesitate for next time. It’s just crazy energy, inspiring people and connections.

This is how I got to know Emna and since then we have made some great collaborations. Same thing with Lisa Crispin, Ileana Herrera, Nithin, Lucie Duchemin and Mike Lyles who had done us the honor to tell us about their Test Bash Home 2020.

Finally, don’t hesitate to get closer to local meetups, which are also a source of inspiration and meeting places.

#7 Andrea Jensen(@AgentAJay) from Flensburg-Germany

  1. Tell us about your background and from where you joined Testbash home?

I fell into testing a year after I graduated from university and I stayed. Today, I am a Software Quality Engineer in a development team. I joined TestBash Home for some parts from my current WFH desk and the Friday afternoon on our little balcony while enjoying the talks.

  1. What did you expect from this online conference and why did you want to be part of it?

    It was my first TestBash so I was not sure what to expect. Mainly I was curious to join and to check it out. And the lineup was just amazing, brilliant people and topics.
    I took it as a chance to spend some time outside of my so well known testing realm and pick new ideas and wisdom from the community. 
  2. Did you enjoy the remote mode although interactions between speakers and attendees are just via screen ?

Definitely, I did. However an in-person event feels very different. I was busy juggling work tasks and TestBash talks and preventing collisions. I donā€™t have this for on-site events. But with that said, I would probably not be able to join TestBash if it was not remote.   

  1. What are your new learnings and takeaways?
    – Deadlines are just sadlines (unless you work in the medical sector)
    – I have to read the book ā€˜Bullshit Jobsā€™
    – And that I had a strong FOMO feeling while working during the Friday (and put a lot of talks on my list to be watched)
  2. A last word for the global testing community
    The community is, simply put, brilliant.

#8 Belinda_Goodman(@lindybee86) from Atlanta-Georgia 

  1. Tell us about your background and from where you joined Testbash home?
    I am a Lead Quality Assurance Engineer for a SASS company based in Atlanta Georgia. I am also one of the organizers of the Atlanta Ministry of Testing Chapter. I love all types of testing, learning new things, and connecting with fellow testers. I joined this year in my PJā€™s on my couch! 
  2. What did you expect from this online conference and why did you want to be part of it?
    This was my first Test Bash, so I didnā€™t know what to expect and I am sad I hadnā€™t made it one sooner. I was just hoping to connect with fellow testers, learn some new things, and find out more about these 99 second talks. It delivered and was such an incredible experience.
  3. Did you enjoy the remote mode although interactions between speakers and attendees are just via screen ?
    Yes. Controversial thought here, I actually really like the on-line conferences. I am able to connect and meet with people that I wouldnā€™t have otherwise and think it makes the conference more accessible to people that might not be able to go in person. Now donā€™t get me wrong I still love in person conferences and being part of an on-line conference does take more work to stay engaged but you are able to control how active you are in chat or what activities you choose to do or not do. Great for introverts. 
  4. What was your favorite moment?
    There were so many amazing moments and its hard to pick just one. I guess if I had to think of something that really stuck out to me it was Maaikeā€™s session on bullshit! It was entertaining and memorable with lots of great practical advice.
  5. What are your new learnings and takeaways?
    I am so excited that the talks are already back up so I can go watch them again bc I am sure that I missed just as much as I learned.
    • Sketch notes, I knew about them but I am empowered to give it a try and share my knowledge with my teammates through sketch notes.
    • Two words Test Cases. The panel on the future test cases really challenged my views. I love documentation (useful documentation of course) but was fascinated about saying bye to test cases as I know them. So many great ideas and resources were mentioned that I am already making my way through.
    • So many great practical tips, resources, and tools and addons. I am so excited to introduce the rest of my team to the accessibility resources mentioned during the conference since this is something we have been wanting to get more into.
  6. A last word for the global testing community
    This community is amazing and there isnā€™t a single problem we canā€™t solve together.

#9 Laveena Ramchandani(@Laveena_18) from London

  1. Tell us about your background and from where you joined Testbash home?

I am a geeky tester, who is super keen about testing tools and skills. I love testing and also sharing my learnings with the community. I have been testing for 9 years and actually fell into testing! It was for sure a good fall. I have experience of testing in various industries and have learnt so much from it all. 

  1. What did you expect from this online conference and why did you want to be part of it?

I expected a big audience. I did see over 400 people attend my session, which is big for me. I have recently come out of my box as a speaker/blogger/podcast. I was overly happy about it. I wanted to be part of testbash home as I am more than happy to share all my learnings with such a great community. 

  1. Did you enjoy the remote mode although interactions between speakers and attendees are just via screen ?

Yes, I was comfortable with it to be very honest. I know being live on stage is an ecstatic feeling and I will try and be part of that some day too.

  1. What was your favorite moment? 

My favourite moment was when Heather messaged me asking if I had seen my inbox? I had been sent a talk approval email and I just started jumping! I love MOT TestBash and It’s been an honour to be part of it 2 years in a row. 

  1. What are your new learnings and takeaways? 

Useful sketchnotes as they really do help me understand things better. I was not able to stay throughout the event but I will most certainly catch up on all of it soon!

I had been asked some really interesting questions which again would be more like a learning as those will be answered soon on the Dojo. 

  1. A last word for the global testing community

A big thank you and keep testing and sharing. 

Last word, @emna__ayadi joining from Sfax, Tunisia

Thank you everyone for being part of this “interview with participants blog” ! I enjoyed having all of you and looking forward to meeting you in future community events.

The amazing Bruce did a fantastic job, drawing all speakers while talking

and she even draw a global picture to all 99-sec speakers during their talks

I personally couldn’t stay awake the whole 24H. And of course the tweets I saw the following day give me already an overview about the talks I missed.
Fortunately, all the talks were recorded and there is even thread in the club to discuss the remaining Q/A with the speakers.

More tweets:

We finished the 24H event playing a fantastic game “Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego” not directly related to testing but you need that tester/traveller mindset to enjoy it. I was part of team 1, Special thanks to @jrosaproenca for his efforts in our team and the great investigation he made.

And would like to say congratulation to team2 for being the winners !

This game was done when many of us have low battery after the whole 24H but all of us managed to take the exercice with all the focus.