LRITA to Host Annual Conference in April

Lima Regional Information Technology Alliance hosting annual conference with special presentations on CyberSecurity and Software Testing.

​Lima Regional Information Technology Alliance (LRITA) will hold their annual technology conference on Thursday, April 14, 2016 at the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center in downtown Lima, Ohio. This is the only technology conference of this scale in Northwest Ohio.

LRITA will host keynote presenter: Damian Synadinos. Damian began testing software—on purpose, and for money, in 1993. Since then, he has helped build better software and build software better using various methods and tools in numerous roles at many companies in diverse industries. In addition, he is very active in his local testing community, and speaks about testing and more at conferences worldwide.  During the past ten years, Damian has focused primarily on teaching and leading testers and improving processes. Currently, he is the enterprise quality lead of metrics and reporting at a large Midwestern bank, helping to answer questions and tell stories about quality with data.

"Our hope is that this event will continue to promote the professional growth and development of our peers within the IT industry. Each year we bring in informative keynote speakers, and host a variety of educational sessions."

Nicholas Moore, LRITA Chairman

Talk Title & Summary: Improv(e) Your Testing! Tips & Tricks from Jester to Tester
Improvisational comedy—sometimes called improv—is a form of theater in which the performance is created in the moment. Successful improv involves learning and using a variety of skills and techniques which allow performers to quickly adapt to a constantly changing environment and new information. Now reread the previous sentence, but replace the word improv with testing. In many ways, improv is a great analogy for testing. As both an experienced improviser and tester, Damian Synadinos presents some of the many similarities between improv and testing.  After setting expectations, Damian takes a closer look at the definitions of improv and testing to better understand their purpose and value.  He then thoroughly explains and demonstrates numerous improv tips and tricks with help from the audience, and shows how the very same ideas can be useful in a testing context. Using creative metaphors and critical analysis, old ideas about testing are reframed in novel and notable ways. Whether novice or experienced, you will laugh, learn, and leave with ways to help improv(e) your testing.

Last year’s event attracted more than 30 vendor booths, and approximately 235 participants. Current sponsors and vendors include: Uptime Solutions Associates, Scale Computing, Tegile Systems, Nimble Storage, Revolabs, Superior Credit Union, PotashCorp, CorpComm Group, ITsavvy, Time Warner Cable Business Class, Saint Rita's Medical Center, Site InSight, Fort Amanda Specialties, Cisco, Meraki, Lenovo, Netech, TSC, Virtual Technologies Group, Dell SonicWALL, CentraComm, Toledo Infragard, Northwestern Ohio Security Systems, and Independents Fiber Network.  We will continue to accept registrations for vendors and sponsors until early March.

As a new addition to the conference this year, LRITA will be hosting a special closing presentation on cyber security. The presentation will be presented by the FBI in partnership with the Toledo Infragard Members Alliance. During this presentation, attendees will learn how and why businesses are targeted. Early bird registration for attendees is $10 for LRITA members, and $20 for non-members. The price will increase by $10 after March 13, 2016. Registration includes breakfast, lunch, drinks and snacks throughout the day with catering by The Old Barn Outback. More information and on-line registration form available on the LRITA website.

About LRITA
Lima Regional Information Technology Alliance (LRITA) is a nonprofit, professional organization comprised of information technology professionals and others who recognize that technology is the driving force behind modern business. Our membership is diverse, spanning small to large organizations, for-profit and non-profit corporations, and enterprises that are local, regional, and international.