In an email last week, I jokingly referred to myself as a "Card carrying member of the Association for Software Testing."
I got a membership card in the mail the same day. Number 137, to be exact.
The cards are black-and-white with the grasshopper logo, and a "member since" date.
Oddly enough, in 1996 I founded an honor society for cadet officers called the "Ira C. Eaker Association", or ICEA. We had membership cards too; you can see one on-line here.
Sadly, the ICEA has been out of business for several years now. CadetStuff.org basically fulfills the purpose we set out for ICEA, and, actually, has pretty much the same people on staff.
Ok, Ok, maybe the AST doesn't need a color membership card - although the ICEA ones were nice. Maybe a challenge coin instead? :-)
Here's the serious part, folks: All of those little things are sign of profession. That is to say, a professional tester is someone who says out loud (professes) that "tester = me."
Do you profess to be a tester? How would other people know?
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
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2 comments:
I'm #10, buddy! And I can't wait until I'm old, gray, walk with a cane and get invited to CAST50 to accept my "lifetime achievement in testing award" and some young whippersnapper sits next to me at lunch and I show her my membership card with "Founding Member" and "#10" on it and watch her say...
"God! You ARE old! I didn't know they actually *had* software back then!"
:)
--
Scott Barber
Chief Technologist, PerfTestPlus, Inc.
Executive Director, Association for Software Testing
"If you can see it in your mind...
you will find it in your life."
I am a tester. My AST card says I'm member #124, but my last name is missing from the card. :(
I guess my card won't help prove anything. ... except that I have tested the card and found a bug.
:)
Ben
QualityFrog.com
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