UPDATE:
The Calls for Speakers and Workshops are now closed.
We hope you’ll join us at WCEU 2020 as an attendee, and apply to speak or organize a workshop next year!
We’ve compiled loads of useful information to help you complete the application process to talk at WordCamp Europe in Porto in June 2020.
Tips and advice for your submission
We’re happy to report that since we opened the Call for Speakers and the Call for Workshops, we have received many applications on many different topics, from many different countries, but we’re not done yet: we need more and we want to help you with your application!
The deadline for applications is 6 January 2020, after which the selection process will start, and the Organising Team will focus on designing a programme that features great content!
For WCEU 2019, we received 453 applications from 267 different speakers. The talks and workshops scored high marks on the attendee satisfaction survey, thanks to the hundreds of people who submitted their proposals. Will you join us in creating the best WCEU ever by submitting to speak in 2020?
We want to help you with your submission in an effort to attract more applications than ever before, and from an even broader range of presenters; we’ve outlined our plans to increase diversity representation at WCEU.
New for WCEU Porto, you will have the opportunity to send three different proposals, which can be talks or workshops, or both, as you prefer.
Items to include in your talk or workshop proposal
The application has four sections you must complete:
a) Proposal: Here you can provide information on the subject of your talk, including title, description, key takeaway and other notes you feel are important.
b) Format: Indicate the talk format (lightning talk, talk, workshop), category and level of complexity.
c) Previous delivery: Tell us if you have previously presented this talk or workshop at other WordCamps or events.
d) The speaker: Here, you tell us about yourself and your experience as a speaker.
Each section is important and helps us understand what you offer our attendees. When evaluating your proposal, we’ll take each factor into account as part of the speaker and workshop selection process.
More details
Here is a more detailed description of the four sections, to help you prepare a high-quality proposal for WCEU 2020, and hopefully increase your odds of having your proposal selected. Let’s go!
1. Proposal
a) Title: The title defines the topic you’re presenting, and reflects your style. It is very important that it stays consistent with the summary and key takeaway. There are many websites where you can find tips on how to write good titles for your talk.
b) Description: Here, you can explain the structure and content of your talk or workshop. Your description should include the main points you will cover, and acknowledge how technical or complex it will be so we can determine the target audience.
c) Key takeaway: This is one of the most important points of your application. The main point of talks and workshops at WordCamp Europe is to educate, so knowing what people are going to learn is quite important to us. Be clear and concise about your goals and expectations.
d) Other notes: This is an open field to share. For example, you can tell us whether you will lead with assistance from other people, if the submission could be delivered in various formats (long talk, lightning talk or workshop), or any other info you think is relevant.
The first three fields are related and a good balance between them can make your proposal unbeatable.
2. Format
a) Type of proposal: Your talk or workshop requires a specific duration to be explored with enough detail. Please make sure that your content and what is explained at the summary, is proportional with the talk or workshop’s format you choose. If you think your submission could be delivered in several formats (long talk, lightning talk or workshop), please indicate this in the ‘Other Notes’ section.
Long talks are typically 40 minutes in duration, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. Lightning talks are much shorter, usually around 10 minutes and don’t have Q&A time. Workshops are flexible in their timing, as it depends on the content being presented, but can be up to 3 hours in length.
b) Category: If your talk or workshop doesn’t fit into the categories we’ve provided, or is a mixture of several, that is fine. Leave a comment in ‘Other Notes’, and the Content Team will categorise the talk after reading through your application.
c) Experience: We love receiving talks and workshop applications from people with all levels of speaking experience, so go ahead and apply! If you have speaking experience, tell us about it and give us some details about it.
3. Previous delivery of your proposal
Is this a talk or workshop you gave elsewhere? If so, please reference the WordCamp or event and include a link, slides or a video.
4. The speaker
Whether you are an experienced speaker or not, let us know. Share any videos from WordPress.tv or another platform that show you delivering talks or workshops, or tell us more about your speaking experience.
Can you see yourself on stage at WCEU 2020? Don’t wait any longer and apply today! We are eager to hear from you and interested in knowing what you want to present as a talk or workshop.
Don’t see your question answered here? Attend an Ask Me Anything session!
Good luck from the WCEU Organising Team!