Speak at elm-conf

elm-conf's call for speakers is now closed. We accepted proposals from April 9 through May 19, 2019. Stay tuned for announcements about the lineup!

Just the facts, please

We invite speakers of all levels to submit 30-minute talk proposals from April 9 to May 19.
We will give direct feedback on all proposals submitted by May 12.
All proposals will be evaluated anonymously, and we intend to notify selected speakers no later than May 24.
You can submit as many talks as you like.

If you would like feedback on a talk idea before you submit it, please email us at [email protected].

What's in an elm-conf talk?

All talks submitted through the call for speakers will be 30 minutes long. Talks will be recorded, but you will have the final say before we publish.

The best elm-conf talks are a mix of "how" and "why", and we'll be really happy if your proposal includes both. That said, we want to see whatever you come up with! Here are some prompts to get you started brainstorming your talk:

What mistake did you keep making until you learned X?
What could people do if they just knew about Y?
What have you learned about recently that has improved your life or someone else's?
What are you working on that excites you, or brings you joy?
How has working with Elm made your life better?
How has working with Elm made other people's lives better?
What do you wish you had known when you started working with Elm?

And again, if you would like feedback on your idea before submitting, or would like to work through the brainstorming process with someone, please email us! [email protected]

What do accepted speakers receive?

A conference can't happen without speakers, so we want to do right by you. If we accept your proposal, we will:

Give you a ticket to elm-conf and Strange Loop
Fly you to St. Louis
Book you a hotel room close to the venue for the duration of the conference
Work with you to make a great talk with optional practice sessions and feedback from prior years' speakers
Invite you to a dinner prior to the conference

We also want to make sure we're representing you well, so you will get the final say on your bio, photo, and talk information. All talks will be recorded, but publication is opt-in and we will always respect your wishes regarding the release of your talk recording after the conference.

We are looking for first-time speakers

We reserve speaking slots for first-time speakers. Our community gets stronger the more new and diverse voices there are, so we want to hear from you! If you are comfortable being identified as a new speaker when we're evaluating your proposal, please indicate that. If you're not comfortable with sharing that information, this is not required.

As an accepted speaker, we will help you take your first conference talk from idea to polished final talk. This includes practice sessions, a session with a professional speaking coach, and pairing with a more experienced speaker to workshop your talk. We will also make sure you get a chance to become familiar with the venue before the audience is there—this helps calm jitters more than you'd think.

You will also be invited to the speaker dinner. We encourage you to attend this; it's a nice time to get to know your fellow speakers better. You're likely to find out that they're just as nervous as you are!

If you are new to writing conference proposals and would like to work with a more experienced speaker to get feedback prior to submitting, please email us at [email protected] or contact @brianhicks or @luke on the Elm Slack.

On anonymous proposals

The first pass of talk evaluation is done anonymously by a group of Elm community members and external observers. We do this to give everyone the fairest shot possible at being accepted, whether newcomer or veteran.

That said, we recognize that any process involving humans will be imperfect. The Elm community is small and sometimes it's impossible to avoid putting identifying information like a project name or description in a proposal. If you find yourself in that situation, focus on making a high-quality proposal over an anonymized one. We lean on the committee members outside the Elm community here; they can give these proposals a fair review.