Michelle: So can you tell us what you plan to talk about at the show?

Rochelle: Well, my topic will involve the benefits of validation pilots or validation studies. And this topic was inspired by one of my hobbies, which is long distance running. And back in the summer, there was a pilot run for an upcoming half marathon, actually marathon half marathon that was to be held later in the year. And the running group who was sponsoring and executing the race they decided to do a pilot run. So it was open to a select few running groups in the area, one of them being mine. And it came with all of the actual processes. You had to register. The only difference was it was free. It was not a paid run, but you did have to register. You just couldn't show up. And they had the start times, they even had bibs amenities that a typical race would have. And so the whole point was for them to have actual runners, people who are already engaged in the sport of running, to participate in, they wanted to get feedback on all aspects of that day from the time you were invited to participate until the time you crossed the line.

And even post race, they had refreshments and things of that nature. And so I just thought that was so responsible. Number one, I appreciated it because I was like, wow, what a good idea to make sure that all of the aspects of the race have been planned out properly and what way to check on that, then a validation test. In this case, it was a validation run. They didn't call it that, but that's what I called it.

And so, one of the key metrics is the accuracy of the course. Because again, if you're an avid runner, one thing that is not welcome is if a half marathon is 13.1 miles and you actually find that the course takes you further or shorter, you'll have some dissatisfied customers, especially if folks have target times or they're trying to reach a performance best or PR. So that is what inspired the topic is, wow, how great would it be if organizations really embraced the benefits of validation testing as a precursor to rolling out changes in their organization and really take it seriously as this running route did. And so that's what inspired the topic.