{"id":22295,"date":"2016-02-05T11:57:46","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T17:57:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/?p=22295"},"modified":"2021-12-15T00:15:26","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T05:15:26","slug":"columbus-qa-or-the-highway-conference-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/blog\/columbus-qa-or-the-highway-conference-story\/","title":{"rendered":"QA or the Highway Columbus: From Dream to Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

He wanted to\u00a0attend an affordable, one-day conference on QA and testing – for professional development and networking. So he created one.<\/em><\/h2>\n

For just about any profession, continuing education and building relationships are the most valuable resources\u00a0to boost career growth and advancement.<\/p>\n

One way to network and learn from peers is to attend conferences and seminars. But what if you can’t because most are too far, too\u00a0pricey, or too long?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re Centric Consulting\u2019s Joseph Ours<\/a>,\u00a0you start your own.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was nothing in the Midwest,\u201d he\u00a0said. So he decided to plan\u00a0a one-day professional development conference himself.<\/p>\n

The result? The annual QA or the Highway Conference<\/a>, which takes place in Columbus, OH. Check our events page<\/a> for the most recent events!<\/p>\n

Taking on the Challenge<\/h3>\n

As the National Lead for Software Quality Assurance & Testing Services<\/a>, Ours wanted something that professionals like himself would be more likely to attend. It should be local \u2013 or at least, no more than a few hours\u2019 drive \u2013 reasonably priced and should last only a day.<\/p>\n

In the beginning, Ours handled all the\u00a0publicity, along with securing speakers, swag and signage. He even shouldered the cost to ensure the conference\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started with me being willing to pay to get this conference off the ground,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The first conference was held in Dublin, a suburb north of Columbus. The venue held a maximum of 250 people, and the conference sold out \u2013 so much so, that 100 people were on a waitlist.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat first year there were 16 talks: 4 tracks with 4 talks each,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The response continues to be overwhelmingly positive.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite moving to larger venues every year, the conference continues to sell out,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

In the second year of the conference a non-profit board, Central Ohio Software Quality Assurance Management (COSQAM), was formed to manage the conference, of which Ours is currently president.<\/p>\n

Building on Success<\/h3>\n

Today, the conference attracts attendees not only from the Columbus and surrounding areas but other states, as well. Ours has even had attendees from Canada.<\/p>\n

Interest in speaker participation has grown, as well, with the conference receiving twice as many submissions as available slots. With only 20 spots available competition can be tough. Ours strives to provide not only diversity in the content of the presentations but on speaker opportunity, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to balance content people are interested in versus speakers,\u201d he said. \u201cGenerally speaker selection is based on topic; whether the speaker is an experienced one versus a new speaker; the technology being presented; and giving women and other underrepresented groups a chance to present.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to content, the audience tends to be split between automation and professional development, he noted; these are the talks that get the most attention.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople attend talks that apply to their jobs or apply to their lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, talks on cutting-edge trends are not as popular. Ours says that’s because\u00a0Columbus is not overly mobile-oriented when it comes to development.<\/p>\n

Looking Towards the Future<\/h3>\n

Ours, who has spoken at national conferences, noted that attendance for QA or the Highway<\/a> has been higher than at national testing conferences, a validation of the fact that people are hungry for continuing education, at a reasonable price and for only a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to continue to be able to provide some great content, and make it as affordable for attendees as it can be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The success of the conference has inspired Ours to look beyond the Columbus area. Going forward, he\u2019d like to take the concept and introduce it to other Midwest cities, as well, such as St. Louis, Chicago \u2013 even Atlanta \u2013 locations that are six hours apart, so that attendance is never more than a three-hour drive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lots of people out there who want to be better at what they do. They are passionate and eager to be better,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In fact, it\u2019s what Ours loves most about organizing the event: the networking the conference provides.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a giant brainstorming session,\u201d he said, a great way to bounce ideas off of other professionals.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s not ready to abandon Columbus yet \u2013 if ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to keep it a tradition,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s important to build a community in our location.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Learn about Joseph Ours’ vision for QA or the Highway, an affordable, one-day conference for Columbus area professionals in QA and testing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":15468,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2024-07-31 20:23:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22295\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22295"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centricconsulting.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=22295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}