The 2017 SeaGL CFP closes soon!
The SeaGL CFP closes at 23:59:59 PT on August 6th!
Less than one week remains to submit your talk proposals to the SeaGL Call For Proposals, which means it’s time to stop procrastinating and put on your favorite thinking cap.
CFP by the numbers
In 2016 we received 149 talk proposals for a total of 50 talk slots.
So far this year we’ve received 50 talk proposals. We don’t know how many slots there’ll be since we’ve added a new 20 minute talk type. The number of talk slots will depend on the number of short and long talks we receive.
We’re really excited at the progress so far. Despite being open for much less time than in 2016, we’ve already received 1/3 of the number of proposals as we did last year. Most proposals always come in during the last week (the last day, really), so we’re well on track to receive a record breaking number of proposals in 2017.
THANK YOU! The more talks you propose, the more interesting our schedule. Please keep them coming!
Topic gaps
As we skim over the proposals received so far, we notice that there are some topics which could use more love. Maybe you’re the one to provide it for one (or more!) of these?
- Programming languages: We’re surprisingly light on language content. PHP? Perl? Python? Javascript? Rust? Swift? Go? Ruby? Scala? C/C++? Whatever your language of choice, we’d love to see a proposal from you about it.
- Cloud, containers, & virtualization: We didn’t see this coming: a relative lack of cloudy-containery-type proposals. We have a few but as you know these are huge topics so we could always use more.
- Design, UI, UX: Making software usable is hard! Not just web or desktop interfaces, either. APIs, CLIs, and even hardware all have interfaces as well. Will you be the one to introduce us to the design/UI/UX concepts which will improve what we create?
- Document Document Document: The recent GitHub Open Source Survey highlighted the effects poor or lacking documentation have on free and open source software projects. Documentarians, please propose talks to help the rest of us learn more about the importance of docs and how we can do them better.
- People: The hardest part of software isn’t the coding or the infrastructure. The hardest part of software is learning how to work together. Project management, people management, community management, time management… How can we create together through open, inclusive, and welcoming teams?
These are just a few of the many different topics. If you don’t see anything inspiring here, check out the #cfpideas hashtag on Twitter for dozens and dozens of potential talk ideas.
New speakers welcome!
SeaGL is a friendly, low-stress, low-pressure environment. A large percent of our attendees are community college students, just starting their software dev and free/open source software journeys.
While we love all of our experienced speakers, SeaGL is a great place for new speakers to dip their toes into the conference pool. You have knowledge to share and a story to tell. Tell it to us!
- We offer skilled support to help you craft your proposals.
- You only need a proposal now, not an entire talk (low barrier to entry!).
- The 20 minute talk type is a great option if you want to start small.
Extended CFP office hours this week
As this is the final week of the CFP, not only will we be doing our regular Wednesday afternoon office hours, we’ll also be adding extra time on the weekend to help you with any and all questions relating to the CFP. Our office hours this week will be:
- Wednesday, 2-3PM PT
- Saturday, 11-12PM PT
- Sunday, 12PM-??? (we’ll try to be available most of the afternoon/evening if possible)
All office hours are held in the #seagl IRC channel on Freenode IRC. Don’t worry if you’re not familiar with IRC. Just click here for the webchat, choose a nickname, and you’re good to go!
Assistance via email
If you can’t make it to CFP office hours in IRC, or if you feel more comfortable with a less public venue, you can email the SeaGL program committee with any questions about the CFP or for help with your proposal.
Just drop us a line at s-p-e-a-k-e-r-s (remove the dashes) at seagl.org. We’re excited to help you and to answer your questions!
Target dates
Here’s our target timeline for proposal review, notification, and schedule publication:
- CFP Opens: June 19th, 2017
- CFP Closes: August 6th, 2017 - Midnight PDT
- Speaker Notifications: August 28th 2017
- Schedule Published: September 4th, 2017
Speaker travel support
As SeaGL is a free to attend community-organized conference, we regret that at this time we are unable to help with the cost of travel and accommodation for speakers.
Code of Conduct
All speakers and attendees of SeaGL must agree and adhere to the Code of Conduct for the safety and enjoyment of all organizers, volunteers, speakers, and attendees. We ask that all prospective speakers review and confirm their willingness to abide by the Code of Conduct terms and expectations when interacting within SeaGL community spaces.
Propose today!
So what are you waiting for? Propose a talk today and join our flock in October!
This post is copyright VM Brasseur and licensed CC BY-SA.