What we’re about
Welcome to the PNW Software Quality Professionals Meetup group, hosted by the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC)! This group is for anyone in the software engineering field who loves talking about quality assurance (QA) and wants to connect with like-minded professionals in the Pacific Northwest region. We host monthly hybrid events, with in-person meetups in Portland, OR and Seattle, WA. Whether you're a manual tester, automation engineer, director of QA, or software development engineer in test (SDET), this is the perfect space to learn, grow, and share your knowledge.
Our meetups focus on:
- Presentations from industry experts on cutting-edge QA practices and emerging automation tools and technologies
- Hands-on workshops to sharpen your testing skills
- Networking opportunities to connect with like-minded professionals
Recent meetups have included:
- Test Automation Deep Dive - An open discussion on the current tools in the industry for automating tests (Playwright, Postman, etc.) and how to boost your skills with them
- AI Prompts - An informal presentation on how Artifical Intelligence via products like ChatGPT has grown in usage, and how we as software quality professionals can take advantage of this technology
- Quality Jam - A quickfire round of 6 presenters, each with 10 minutes to talk about something they're passionate about in the industry and deliver a key takeaway to the audience
We aim to foster a supportive and collaborative community where you can exchange ideas, discuss best practices, and keep up with the ever-evolving world of software quality. Whether you’re just starting or have years of experience, this group will help you stay ahead in the fast-paced tech landscape. Join us as we build a strong network of Software Quality Professionals right here in the Pacific Northwest!
The Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) is a 501(c)(3), Oregon-based nonprofit with a mission of spreading knowledge and ideas about software quality, strengthening the software field, and helping members of the community advance their professional objectives. PNSQC has consistently attracted over 300 quality professionals across the United States and internationally for the past few years. Our attendees represent testers, managers, developers, and thought leaders from the private, government, and educational sectors. Over half of our attendees are from organizations centered within the Pacific Northwest and along the West Coast. With over 100 companies and 11 countries represented, our conference has a broad reach to many within software development and IT. We're excited to be entering our 43rd year and hope you'll join us for one of our events! Visit our website at https://pnsqc.org to learn more about and register for our conference.
Upcoming events (2)
See all- Summer Networking for Tech Professionals with Rose City Techies!Cathedral Park - , Portland, OR
PNSQC is co-hosting an informal summer get-together at the St Johns Cathedral City Park in North Portland, alongside the Rose City Techies Meetup group! We're very excited to bring two amazing groups of professionals together with a variety of backgrounds and experiences in the tech space. This is a perfect time to ask fellow techies those career questions you just can’t figure out on your own, so come with ideas of things you’d like to learn about from others, or maybe your LinkedIn QR Code to exchange contact information for more conversations!
Let’s enjoy the beautiful Portland summer weather together at a happy hour-style picnic. This will be a potluck-style event, so please bring something to eat or drink—bonus points if you bring something to share! We’ll have a DJ, and the vibe will be casual. Feel free to bring your favorite lawn games, picnic blankets, or your pups to enjoy the day.
We’ll be in the lower, flatter part of the park closer to the Willamette River. Come and go whenever works for you!
- Observability & Performance: It’s a Match!Link visible for attendees
This month, our speaker is Leandro Melendez, who will be talking about the relationship between observability and performance testing!
Observability and performance testing are often underestimated… but together, they make the perfect pair! In this talk, you'll discover how to combine these two practices to improve both your system's performance and your testing efforts. We’ll explore what observability really means, dive into modern performance concepts, and show a live demo so you can see the match in action. You’ll walk away with actionable tips and real benefits for QA and your entire team. Expect humor, big hearts, and a lot of tech love. Don’t miss it!
Leandro loves to help his colleagues ramp up their observability, QA, and performance practices. He has over 20 years of experience in IT and over 15 years in performance testing, serving multiple S&P 500 customers all over the globe. He is also the author of the performance testing blog Señor Performo (www.srperf.com), where he curates a diverse set of learning materials for performance testers and engineers.
