Speaker Expenses Policy

At Ministry of Testing, we host several software testing conferences and events each year both online and in-person.

We don’t believe any speaker or workshop facilitator should have to pay to speak at a commercial conference, we feel such policies act as barriers to hearing from new and diverse voices in our profession. We're long-term supporters of first-time speakers, many of who would struggle to get any kind of financial support from their employers. We feel very strongly about this and we believe our speaker policy reflects this. We are always looking to improve it and push the boundaries when it comes to speaker support. We’ve supported speakers from our very first TestBash.

Here is the short version of what TestBash offers:

  • This shouldn’t need listing, but of course, it includes entry to the conference.
  • Pay all reasonable travel costs. Including flights, buses, trains, taxis, ferries, car mileage, parking and accommodation. No matter where you are in the world, our expense policy is not capped.
  • We will allow you to book your own flights to collect your own points and expense this back to us or we can book them on your behalf too.
  • We provide a preferred hotel, you just need to let us know the dates you wish to stay, and the charge comes directly to us.
  • If you wish to book your own travel and accommodation, you can do so. We will reimburse before or after the conference upon proof of the costs via a digital copy of receipts/invoices. This will need to be communicated before we book anything.
  • We aim to reimburse you within two weeks of getting your receipts.

The above applies to all speakers, hosts and contributors, so if doing a paired session, both speakers would be entitled to the above.

We’ve expanded on each of the covered costs below.

Flights

Reasonable can mean many things but our view, when it comes to flights, is economy tickets. Unless you can justify to us why you require a higher class. You're more than welcome to upgrade your ticket, but we will only pay the equivalent of an economy ticket.

We are also flexible when it comes to which dates you fly out or back on. If you have friends/family at the location or just want to do some sight-seeing, and you want to stay a week after the event, as long as the flights are not more expensive, go for it!

Accommodation

Ministry of Testing will cover your hotel from the night before TestBash, up to and including the night of the final day of TestBash.

We like to give speakers flexibility and choice in places to stay, however, we have started block-booking rooms at a decent hotel, we feel this will benefit Ministry of Testing and help us control some costs and make it much easier for speakers. You'll be contacted by our events team to ask which nights you'd like to book. However, it's not mandatory you stay there if you prefer some other accommodation that is a similar place we'd be happy to let you book that and reimburse you. We would also be happy to refund AirBnbs/Apartments if their cost is similar to the recommended hotels.

Ministry of Testing will provide a list of nearby hotels and will arrange fixed rates with nearby hotels that we feel are reasonable.

Public Transport (Trains, Buses, Ferries etc)

Same approach as with flights about travelling a few days earlier or later than the TestBash. Economy tickets, unless you can snag a first-class ticket much cheaper in advance than a standard fare. Or you require a higher class that you can justify.
You're more than welcome to upgrade your ticket, but we will only pay the equivalent of an economy or standard ticket.

Cars and Taxis

Some speakers will be able to drive to a TestBash, if this is the case we will cover your mileage at the agreed government rate for that country. In the UK, this is currently 0.45p per mile. 

Parking. If driving to a TestBash, we will cover any parking costs you incur. 

Any Taxis related to getting to and from a TestBash event will be reimbursed by Ministry of Testing.

*We'll track the exchange rates and make changes to these if they start to drift too far apart

Please direct any questions to hello@ministryoftesting.com
Updated 12th January 2024

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