Propose, Prepare, Present

Foreword

I did the math recently, and I’ve probably reviewed well over 10,000 conference submissions in my life. Each track I run gets 300 to 600 submissions a year, and I run at least four events each year. I’ve been at this for more than a decade.

On the one hand, that’s a lot of terrible proposals that I’ve mined in search of a few nuggets of content. However, I’ve also been able to watch a variety of conferences go from nascent topics to prominent parts of the technology landscape, launching sold-out events that connect people year after year.

What’s not obvious to outsiders is the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes: massaging content, shepherding speakers, wrangling slides, adjusting mics, tweaking websites, fixing registration SNAFUs, scouting venues, and marketing the events.

Running a conference is only slightly more complicated than planning a land invasion, and the people who make it run smoothly are the unsung heroes with whom I’ve been fortunate enough to work over the past decade. None of these events would happen if it weren’t for them, and you’ll make their jobs much easier if you suggest awesome content, follow through on your commitments, and invest time in surprising and delighting your audience.

TL;DR: Twenty Things to Remember

This book goes into a lot of detail. You may not have time to read it all, and you may not care how conferences are run or what their processes involve. You’re more likely to be chosen if you read all of the material contained within this book, but if you’re really in a rush, the part you must absolutely read is Chapter 3. It lists ten things you should include, and ten things you should avoid, to maximize your chances of acceptance.

Ten Things to Include

• An inside recommendation from someone the organizers trust

• Sample videos and reviews showing how awesome you’ve been in the past

• A speaker who’s a minority, all else being equal

• A clear explanation of who should attend and what they’ll get out of it

• Alignment with the narrative the organizer is trying to create

• Indications that you’ll be entertaining as well as informative

• An understanding of big trends without a platitude-laden presentation

• Personal stories from end users that humanize the content

• A willingness to adjust your format and topic to create something awesome

• Making it about something else tangentially related to the theme

• Opening the kimono and disclosing some secrets

Ten Things to Avoid

• Vendor salesmanship and proposals that suggest you’ll pitch

• Incomplete submissions or forms riddled with errors

• Not including a speaker’s coordinates; using PR as an obstacle

• Jargon that won’t be easy for readers to grasp

• Sounding like SkyMall, with outsized claims of uniqueness

• Trying to change content or speakers at the last minute

• Expecting to be paid or have travel paid for

• Proposing a subject too narrow to capture an audience’s attention

• Bad spelling, formatting, and punctuation in your submission

• Submitting a book rather than a simple outline

• A bad past experience