[BSDCert] BSDA exam

[Dru]

I'm pleased to announce that the BSDA exam has finished its beta process 
and the psychometrician is setting the final format. This means the exam 
is almost "live".

For 2008, the exam will be offered at technical conferences across the 
globe, in English only, and paper-based. This will provide the time needed 
to finish developing and testing the software based exam delivery system 
as well as plan for translated versions of the exam.

SCALE in Los Angeles, FOSDEM in Brussels, and Linux-Tage in Chemnitz have 
already confirmed that the BSDA will be made available. We are working with
the organizers for LinuxTag in Berlin, BSDCan in Ottawa, and NYCBSDCon in 
NYC to offer the exam at those conferences. If you're aware of any other 
conferences in your geographic area where you'd like to take the exam, 
mention it on the list and we'll try to contact the organizers and 
arrange for a proctor.

The FOSDEM announcement is here:

http://fosdem.org/2008/bsda

The registration website for all BSDA exams is here:

https://register.bsdcertification.org/register/get-a-bsdcg-id

That site contains a calendar of upcoming events with details on each 
event. There is also a contact form should you wish to suggest an event.

Registration is a 3 step process: 1) get a BSDCG ID, 2) choose an exam 
location and time, and 3) pay for the exam.

Note that seats are limited at each exam location and time. As seats are 
filled, the associated time will be removed from the drop down menu of 
available locations.

Thanks to all who participated as beta testers, survey respondees, and 
subject matter experts for helping to make the BSDA a reality. Best of 
luck to all who take the exam.

Cheers,

Dru