I'm officially a mentor

I am proud to have become a mentor on the Speak Easy program.

Over the years I have spent a bit of my spare time to coach and consult with primarily younger testers from around the world, and I have enjoyed that immensely. When I found the Speak-Easy program. I simply thought: this is for me, this is what I do. 

One of the best project managers I ever worked with had a saying, that there is only one thing in the world that can give you five years worth of experience, and that is 5 years of experience. You cannot cheat on this, you have to work your way through. Well, that was many years ago now, and I have an addition to make: you also need a push once in a while. I'm here for you to do just that. 

I know how frightening it is to get up on the stage at a conference and how insecure it feels: do I have a message anyone even bothers to listen to? Will there be anyone left when I finish? Will they ask nasty questions or laugh? 

Well, I intend to be the friend I needed back when I found myself writing proposals, doubting their worth myself, and then suddenly found myself with a ticket to a major conference. I was so nervous despite having rehearsed and rehearsed in my hotel room at least twenty times that last evening and morning. My heart was pounding when I got down to the room and partly disappointed and partly relieved that there were only a few people there. But once I had ensured myself that my slide deck was in place and had the microphone wrapped around my ears I turned around and saw that it was a packed room. I nearly died of nerves and I remember hearing my voice stutter and break up a bit on the first words. Then it calmed down somehow magically and I got through it, and the rest of the conference was a celebration.

I belong to a community where discussion matters and where opinions need to be defended. That becomes boring when only a few voices are present. The more diverse views and the more ideas that are brought into the debates - and conferences are a great place for that - the better. I'd like to do my bit for that.