Introduction:

The WOPR coordinators would like to encourage each workshop participant to prepare a presentation on either (a) an experiential project report, (b) a problem-solving, decision-making opportunity, (c) research findings and results, or (d) a white paper or position paper related to the theme of the workshop. Presentations are generally preceded by papers on the same topic. While papers are not mandatory, we anticipate most people will submit one. The submitted materials may be used as a basis for selection of participants and in most cases preference is given to experience reports. Papers and presentations should not blatantly advertise or attempt to sell products or services provided by you, your company, or your partners.

We anticipate between 6 and 10 presentations will be given at this workshop, but the actual number of presentations is based on how much time the group decides to spend on each one. Previous workshops of this type have had several experience reports or none at all.

Guidelines for papers and presentations are located below.

Paper Style:

We do not want you to approach writing a paper as a burdensome chore. The paper has two main purposes: (1) help you organize your thoughts for your presentation, which is informal, and (2) provide a record which may be published with your permission. While formality and academic rigor such as providing citations is not unwelcome, we prefer a more casual, lighthearted approach. Learn from the reflections on your experience, consider how best to share it, and have fun with telling your story.

Experience Reports:

A good experience report has the following attributes. Attributes marked with an asterisk (*) are particularly important. Click here for examples from previous WOPRs.

• Describes an experience that you had first hand (not one you heard about, not about work the other team members did, and not an idea you only thought about). (You will be expected to answer detailed questions about the experience from experts like yourself – without guessing, speculation, or “tap dancing.
• * You feel strongly about the experience, the lessons you took from it (good or bad) and you want to share with an expert audience.
• * The experience report is about a single experience, not a collection of related experiences.
• The experience report describes the aspects of the experience that are relevant to the learning, such as:
  • technologies involved
  • business environment
  • people and their attributes
  • equipment and tools
  • details of the product or system
  • documents
  • data collection, results and analysis
  • sequences of events
  • relationship to the rest of the project
  • decisions made, why and when;
• so that other people...
  • can compare it meaningfully with their own experience(s)
  • can evaluate your experience
  • receive enough information to suggest alternative choices you could have made in that situation.

Innovation Reports:

We also encourage Innovation reports (IRs), which focus on what you are thinking of doing next - for real - before you have actually started doing it, or are in the process of trying it. 

This type of presentation can lead to lively discussion and gives participants a chance to speak about what is currently on their white boards. This category does not include theoretical ideas that you are unlikely ever to implement. It does include practical stuff that you would love to discuss with your WOPR peers, but have not started implementing yet.

Innovation Reports are presentations of work in progress that can cover any facet of performance testing. Because they have a later deadline (up to 3 weeks after ERs  and other submissions are due), they allow their authors to:

• Report on work that may or may not be complete.
• Speculate and brainstorm on how to resolve issues.
• Introduce new ideas to the community.
• State positions on controversial issues.

As such, they provide an excellent opportunity to present new work and receive early feedback from the community. We particularly encourage submissions from WOPR participants who would not otherwise present their work at the conference.

Problem-Solving Opportunities:

You can bring a specific problem for the group to work on and assist you with at WOPR. While the main focus of WOPR is sharing the lessons learned from experience, not all interests fit within the experience report format. Experience reports are necessarily backwards looking, and some issues will not be addressed if nobody in the group has previously encountered them. Much problem solving already happens on-line and off-line during the other WOPR sessions, but these sessions provide a concentrated and facilitated brainstorming of your problem by the group. The sessions tackle common new challenges which group members are likely to encounter.

• What your problem is.
• Why this is a problem – what the risks and adverse consequences are.
• What background information you need to provide for the group to fully understand the problem.
• Why it is relevant and significant to the WOPR group.
• What decisions are needed and when.
• What options or alternatives you have considered.
• What your success criteria are.
• What constraints an effective solution must comply with.
• What progress if any you have already made.

Research Reports:

A good research report has the following attributes. Attributes marked with an asterisk (*) are particularly important.

• * Describes original research that you conducted or significantly participated in.
• * Includes original data so other participants can draw conclusions or can check your conclusions.
• Provides the details of how the research was conducted. The report should provide enough detail that readers could reproduce your results if given the same research environment. Specific details may include:
  • the starting hypothesis
  • methods used to collect data
  • data verification methods
  • technologies involved
  • equipment and tools
  • actual data, results and analysis
  • sequences of events
  • decisions made, why and when;
• so that other people...
  • can compare it meaningfully with their own experience(s)
  • can evaluate your research
  • receive enough information to suggest follow-up research.

Position Papers:

A good position paper has the following attributes. Attributes marked with an asterisk (*) are particularly important.

• * Describes a position that you feel strongly about.
• * Supported by research and/or experience (yours and/or others) that you have the ability to share with the audience.
• Provides enough information for the audience to understand the basis of your opinion.
• Presents your viewpoint as objectively as possible.
• Likely to spark a lively discussion when presented. Lively discussions are permitted as long as they remain professional and relate to the position, not the presenter.
• Be prepared (and able) to articulate why you have the view you do.

Other Paper Attributes:

The following are the guidelines for the preparation of papers in general, regardless of the type of paper (experience report, research report, or position paper). Guidelines marked with an asterisk (*) are particularly important.

• * Final papers are submitted as narrative text, not an outline or slideshow (drafts may be submitted in any format the reviewer can read).
• * Please do not include anything which requires a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or a security clearance, as WOPR attendees will not be requested to have a clearance or sign an NDA of any kind.
• Papers need not be written in the first person, but first person is preferred.
• Most papers will be in the range of four to ten pages, though there are no upper and lower limits -- simply write enough to tell your story.
• Include or attach graphs and spreadsheets of test data as appropriate, test network topology diagrams, etc.
• The story should be told for an audience of intermediate-to-advanced level of performance testers.
• Do not assume that the audience knows your particular environment or tools.

Presentations:

(Normally presentations are based on submitted papers.)

The following are the guidelines for the presentation of a paper or report at a WOPR workshop. Guidelines marked with an asterisk (*) are particularly important.

• * We prefer oral presentations presented informally (not a PowerPoint presentation). However, if you have *graphics* such as graphs, diagrams, or photographs, you can project them if you like. Please avoid slides with bulleted text—we find that they distract people from the experience report and increase the time needed to communicate the same content. We have found that this kind of information is better presented in the position paper or research report.
• Presentations are delivered in the first person (i.e. “I did this…”, “I saw that…”) It is understood that you may not know everything about the project, but we request that you only speak of what you did and saw.
• Data, diagrams and graphics should be presented in their native program where possible (i.e. spreadsheets shown directly in Excel, not copied into PowerPoint)
• Data, diagrams and graphs may be discussed in detail.
• If possible, be prepared to manipulate data and charts on the fly (i.e. “Can we make that a line chart instead of a bar chart so we can see if…”)

Peer Review Process:

Each submitted paper will be anonymously reviewed by at least three knowledgeable peers. Feedback from these reviews will be provided to the authors to incorporate into the final versions of their papers as they see fit. Since each author is ultimately responsible for his or her own work, authors may elect to make changes or not at their discretion.

Publication of Papers:

Prior to a WOPR session, all accepted papers will be circulated to the other WOPRattendees but not outside this group.

With the permission of each author, after each WOPR session we may publish selected papers on the WOPR web site.

For Further Information:

Need help in developing your paper? Contact the organizers and we will be happy to answer your questions.