Working Party:
Marketing Working Group
Mission
To provide a Global common look and feel to the ISTQB and National Board marketing initiaves. To Grow the ISTQB Brand image and to provide instant recognition to Software Testers using their Local and Global certifications.
Members
The following person (WP Chair) is responsible for preparing and delivering the expected WP results:
- Sharon Robson (Chair) - ANZTB (Australia & NZ) - sharonr"at"softed.com; sharonrobson"at"anztb.org
- Jerry Everett (Vice-Chair) - ASTQB (USA) - geverett"at"gvtc.com
The following persons are the working party members. They are actively involved in the working party activities
| Name | Board/Country | Contact Details |
| Sharon Robson (Chair) | ANZTB (Australia & NZ) | sharonr"at"softed.com |
| Jerry Everett (Vice-Chair) | ASTQB (USA) | geverett"at"gvtc.com |
| Susan Burgess | CSTB (Canada) | snburgess"at"hotmail.com |
| Matti Vuori | (Finland) | Matti.Vuori"at"plenware.fi |
| Gualtiero Bazzana | (Italy) | g.bazzana"at"onion.it |
| David Bassa | (Israel) | dudu"at"sela.co.il |
| Graham Babel | (UK) | grahambabel"at"towertest.com |
| Robert Dankanin | Czech & Slovak Testing Board | robert.dankanin"at"castb.org |
| Mastura Abu Samah | (Malaysia) | abu.samah"at"istqb.org |
| Andrew Pollner | (USA) | apollner"at"alpi.com |
| Stefan Ruff | (Switzerland) | stefan.ruff"at"infometis.ch |
| Alon Linetzki | (Israel) | alonl"at"sela.co.il |
| Emrah Yayici | (Arab Gulf) | emrah.yayici"at"gulfsoftwaretestingboard.org |
| Hui (Denise) | (China) | hui"at"imbus.cn |
| Kaspar | (Estonia) | Kaspar.Loog"at"knowit.ee |
| Mr Altaf | (Bangladesh) | smaltaf"at"gmail.com |
| Sera Seren | (Turkey) | sera.seren"at"turkishtestingboard.org |
| Alain Zeleznik | (Luxembourg) | alain.zeleznik"at"eureka-its.com |
| Eugene O'Laoire | (Ireland) | eoleary"at"eqn.ie |
| Erik Boelen | (Belgium & Netherlands Testing Board) | erik.boelen"at"qaconsult.eu |
| Klaus Zeuge | (Swedish Testing Board) | klaus.zeuge"at"sstb.se |
| Werner Henschelchen | (GASQ) | werner.henschelchen"at"gasq.org |
If any board is interested in having a local Marketing working party member please send your application for membership via email to the Working Party chair.
Review Board:
There is no Review Board for the Marketing Working Group
Status:
The RFP has been reworked and reviewed by all Member Boards, the response rate to the reviews was low. The RFP was released to all boards for forwarding to any Web Site Development company that they wished. As at 12th Feb, no responses have been received from any development company.
The RFP processes and evaluation form will be sent to all Member Boards in February.
Please note that we have had to change the dates for responses and evaluation of the web site due to the new RFP processes that have been developed.
The new timetable is below:
- 24th October – 28th November 2008 - Collect additional suggested changes from all National Boards – this was passed out to ISTQB General Assembly (GA) via email, only 1 response was received, and one national board asking for more time. As the GA has known about this request since the India meeting we have asked that all responses and proposed changed were sent through by 28th November – this time has expired. – Done!
- 28th November – 5th December 2008 - Identify the expected benefit from each suggested change and prioritize the change list based on documented highest priority/most beneficial changes and their expected implementation costs. – Done!
- 6th December – 19th December 2008 - Adopted a phased approach to the RFP. Select the top 10 to 15 most beneficial changes to pursue for a Phase I RFP. Save the remaining list for a Phase II RFP after we've addressed the most critical website marketing issues first. We believe this prioritized list of suggested changes is the only way we can transparently address the outcry for cost containment from the General Assembly. Done!
- 5th – 9th January 2009 - Apply the "top 10 (or 15)" most beneficial changes to the RFP text and circulate the revised version among all the WSWG for concurrence. Done!
- 12th January2009 – Feedback completed by all WSWG members and RPF Updated. – Done!
- 14th – 28th January 2009 - release the revised Phase I RFP along with our "Top 10" Phase I change list and our Phase II change list of changes to all National Boards for review and "sign-off". Done!
- 1st February 2009 – release RFP to National Boards for release to vendors.- Done!
- 15th March (was 1st March) 2009 – all responses from Vendors to the WSWG.
- 5th April (was 14th March) 2009 – all responses evaluated and Vendor selected.
- 21st April (was 24th March) 2009 – all vendors notified, Winning Vendor contacted to discuss delivery timeline and approach. Contract decided and signed.
Given this approach we cannot commit to a date for the Web Site to be deployed, however we can be confident that we will have progress clearly reported and the new approach well underway by the next GA meeting in Sydney in March.
At the Meeting in March we will discuss the responses we have recieved and the next steps to move through the RFP and Web Site Process.
Guidelines
The Marketing Working Group (MWG) released a series of guidelines for all member boards for use in July – these guidelines were:
- Marketing Guidelines
- Naming Conventions
- Website Guidelines
- Certificate Guidelines.
Any member board wanting a copy of these guidelines, including new boards, please contact the Marketing Working Group.
Documents
The MWG has put together a package of documentation that member boards can use as a “common” basis for their communications. These documents will have a common look and feel and will incorporate the ISTQB Logo as well as the Member board logos and details. This package has been recently updated and is available to all boards. Any member board wanting this package please contact Sharon Robson or Jerry Everett.
Member Board Web Sites
Since July 2008 a full audit of all member board websites has been conducted. Each board will be contacted with the review results and notes of any changes that are recommended to be made to enhance the common look and feel of ISTQB member boards. These recommendations will be sent to each of the member boards individually.
Marketing Collateral
The MWG is also moving towards having centralised and common marketing collateral available for member boards.
Member boards are invited to identify the types of collateral that they would like produced and details of how it would be used and the amount of collateral required.
Wikipedia
The ISTQB Wikipedia entries have been monitored and updated to ensure currency and accuracy. Ongoing reviews and updates will continue.
Marketing Plan
The ISTQB central marketing plan is now well developed. The key point under discussion is the metrics that can be used to ensure accurate assessment of the marketing approach and successes. The Marketing Plan is currently under review by the exec, with plans to have it distributed to the General Assembly in either March or the subsequent meeting for review and agreement.
Work plan:
Next milestones
- Monitor and administer the ongoing development of the Web Site.
- Finalisation of the ISTQB Marketing Plan.
- Ongoing Monitoring of the Member Boards Websites.
- Ongoing updates to the ISTQB Wikipedia entries.
- Ongoing development of the library of Marketing Collateral.
Links:
There are no links for the Marketing Working Group.