The Call For Participation for CAST 2013 is out and includes

We would like to hear your experiences, stories, thoughts, observations, demonstrations around the lessons that you have learned in Software Testing, as well as how these could influence the way that we approach testing in the future.

And I expect a lot of interesting experience reports from interesting people (it is CAST after all). But how much really, really, new stuff will be added to the craft. I’ll be my normal cynical self and suggest that it is likely not as much as one would hope.

What I would love to see is a CFP that looks something like this.
We would like to hear your experiences, stories, thoughts, observations, demonstrations around the lessons that you have learned outside of Software Testing, as well as how these could influence the way that we approach testing in the future.

My talks a couple years ago all fell into this form. Kids in Armor and Testing Inspiration When You Least Expect It are both examples of what I want to hear people talk about. I want to hear Alan Page discuss how Orchestra composition helps him test better, how Ben Kelly tests better due to years of thwacking people in the head with bamboo, etc.

I also want non-testers to be brought in as the keynotes. Sure, I enjoy listening to James, Michael, Cem, Matt and company, but if you are keynote-ing, you are up against an astronaut in my ranking scheme (Keynote vs. Track). Now I am a baseball fan so opinions are skewed but I think the Garfoose or Shawn Green could also be great. Though they likely cost more since its an actual speaking gig rather than just the prime audience grabbing moment. Or Mary Robinette Kowal about puppetry. Or a Buddhist monk about meditation and breathing. Or. Or. Or.

That there is a speaking circuit where one can recycle topics is a smell I think …

… and another smell is that I essentially wrote this same post back in April including some of the same speaker suggestions; The ‘Un-Testing Conf’. That’s just silly. I should do some work…