Austin Workshop on Test Automation AWTA 2009
Survey Results

Total Responses: 16

Collated by Alister Scott



Had you been to AWTA before 2009?
Yes: more than once
2 13%
Yes: once
2 13%
No
12 75%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What did you think of the location of AWTA 2009?
Great: suits me
12 75%
I'd rather somewhere else in the USA
2 13%
How about Australia?
2 13%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What did you think of the venue for AWTA 2009?
Great: suits me
14 88%
Okay: but could be better
1 6%
Terrible
1 6%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What did you think of the time of year for AWTA 2009?
Great: suits me: it's probably warmer in Texas anyway
15 94%
Okay: but could be better
1 6%
Terrible
0 0%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What did you think of the length of AWTA 2009?
Too long
0 0%
Just right
14 88%
Too short
2 13%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What did you think of the cost of AWTA 2009?
Too expensive
1 6%
Just right
13 81%
Could justify more
2 13%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What did you think of the number of people at AWTA 2009?
Too many
0 0%
Just right
14 88%
Too few
2 13%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What did you think of the technical level at AWTA 2009?
Too technical
1 6%
Just right
13 81%
Not technical enough
2 13%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What did you think of the speed of the program at AWTA 2009?
Too fast
0 0%
Just right
14 88%
Not fast enough
2 13%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What did you think of the formality of the program at AWTA 2009?
Too formal
1 6%
Just right
14 88%
Not formal enough
1 6%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What were you favourite styles of content?
Open discussion
10 63%
Formal presentation
8 50%
Informal presentation
8 50%
Work groups
5 31%
Lightning Talks
11 69%
Experience sharing (each person)
8 50%
Other
0 0%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What topics did you find most interesting?
General frameworks
9 56%
Cucumber
9 56%
RSpec
6 38%
Watirloo
11 69%
Watircraft
7 44%
Lightning Talks
8 50%
Rasta/Data Driven
8 50%
Cross Browser
6 38%
Opera
4 25%
Social
5 31%
Other
4 25%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
How interesting did you find the general content?
Very interesting
12 75%
Alright
3 19%
zzzzzzzzzzz (sleeping)
1 6%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
How interesting did you find the lightning talk content?
Very interesting
9 56%
Alright
7 44%
zzzzzzzzzzz (sleeping)
0 0%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
What social technologies did you find useful this year at AWTA?
Watir Podcast
9 56%
Mailing List
8 50%
IRC
1 6%
Wiki
10 63%
Twitter
13 81%
Blogs
5 31%
Face to face
14 88%
Honkey Tonks
3 19%
Pen and paper
4 25%
Other
0 0%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
How much fun did you have at AWTA 2009?
Bucketfuls
6 38%
Quite a bit
10 63%
So so
0 0%
Not much
0 0%
I'd rather die
0 0%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
Would you attend another AWTA?
For sure
10 63%
Hopefully: it depends on things
6 38%
Maybe
0 0%
No
0 0%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.
Man, I love TimTams®
Yes: if it weren't so far away I would move to the place in Australia where they manufacture them
10 63%
No: I don't have functioning taste buds
1 6%
N/A: They were all eaten by the time I got there
2 13%
Other
3 19%
People may select more than one checkbox, so percentages may add up to more than 100%.

What did you really love about AWTA 2009?
Some comments included:
  • Inspiration, from frameworks I didn't know about before, to charitywatir and gapminding.org.
  • Meeting new people I am happy to know.
  • Eating TimTams.
  • That a lot of people who care about doing a good job with testing.
  • i loved the enthusiasm of people, learning new ideas and sharing things i've done
  • Most importantly, it was great to hear about the different types of frameworks people used and common problems that people have overcome - not exactly all the same solution.
  • I also enjoyed learning about Cucumber, Watirloo, and Taza.
  • Seeing people with common interests jam.
  • My favorite part was really getting to know the industry leaders in test automation.
  • Outside of that, I took away lots of ideas which will make me a better test developer.
  • It is especially nice to see working code in a working framework. Also, I found some projects where I feel I can jump in and contribute.
  • The mix of experiences and perspectives of the attendees; visiting the honky tonks.
  • social time. face to face conversations. sharing experiences.
  • I liked the opportunity for networking and meeting people who have the same interests and listening to new ideas.
  • Some of the talks went a little quick but it was a good way to hear a lot of different things.
  • I really haven't been at this format before but really enjoyed the variety of learning.
  • It was a great opportunity to learn how other people test.
  • Also, got to finally meet in person a lot of people I knew for years only on-line.
  • Austin and Texas were very interesting to explore.
  • I loved the face to face conversations and the ability to huddle around a computer and hack away (would have liked more opportunities to do this).
  • I loved meeting people I've been talking to for the last year and I loved seeing that what I'm doing is not altogether different from what everyone else is doing.
  • Framework discussions and talking with other people who were working on similar problems.
  • Meeting the giant Australian, the audio obsessed Croatian, the linguistic Polish Texan and other good people.
  • Meeting all the great people there.  It was nice to meet people I had dealt with by email, etc in person.
  • Being able to meet all the people I have met online over the last couple of years.
  • Being able to experience Texan culture.

What could have been done better?

Some comments included:
  • It was pretty much all oriented towards Watir and framework/tool developers, which is fine, but that's not me. At times, I wondered what I was doing there. If I had know it was only for developers, I wouldn't have gone.
  • As this is officially my first open discussion workshop, I cannot say what could have been done better. I think it was an overall satisfying experience and I hope to attend next year's AWTA on the right foot.
  • It was difficult for a new person who had never attended AWTA to prepare. I was told not to worry about slides, but then I found out that slides were a welcome addition to a presentation. I think posting a "loose" agenda might help folks know how to package their contributions.
  • Would have liked the open space part to be a bit better managed/organized.
  • More 15 minute presentations and more 5 min lightning talks
  • One thing would have been to force a mix up every morning in where we sat to give people a better chance to meet and talk with different people. When our name tags were still in the same place, I felt obligated to keep it up.
  • Maybe if every person that was talking to the whole group had to talk to a microphone so everybody could hear, because there was times when I just did not hear what somebody said.
  • I think overall the conference was very good so the following observations would be minor tweaks:
  • 1) might be good to have more people.  I know this is a delicate balance but I could influence my organization more if I could bring some of my coworkers.
  • 2) more time to hack on code: I know the primary intent of the conference wasn't a tutorial, but some of us need that.  If you could have time to work through some examples on your own laptop then it might be better.  I would try to do this after hours though.
  • A list of fun things to do/places to go or semi-planned activities during the downtime (not that working on Watir code over beers isn't fun).
  • Probably a bit less rigid, but it is hard to balance this.
  • Maybe invite some more people, but again, don't want it to be too big.

General Comments

  • Overall I enjoyed it and will try out some new frameworks I learned about.
  • Please bring more vegemite next year*, Alister! *if you attend next year's AWTA
  • I'm just upset that nobody called me to meet at the 'Spoke on Friday or downtown on Saturday. I always think the social events are be the most interesting part of any conference. Plus, it's really fun to get Aussies drunk!
  • Enjoyed it and learned a lot. 
  • I love it
  • Thanks Bret for doing a great job of hosting.
  • I just hope to see you all again soon.
  • I've always thought that Watir's success was not only because it's a great tool, but also because of the really nice, super smart people that support it.
  • Meeting some of those people and others that use Watir only reinforced this belief.  I hope I get the opportunity to attend again!
  • Thanks to the committee for the work in organizing the workshop.