Developer Advocacy CFPs

CFP Resources

Event call for paper submission forms differ: Some require 1000 character abstracts, others prefer shorter biographies, or require you to fill in the talk learning goals. The Developer Advocacy team uses Google docs for maintaining CFP abstracts, @dnsmichi also uses a doc for the biography and headshot URLs as SSoT.

• CFP template Google doc.
• Biography template Google doc

How we manage CFPs (Call for Proposals)

Our events list

Every year, developer advocacy prioritizes key events in our ecosystem for which we run the conference proposal (CFP) process. The event engagement with lightning talks, CFP submissions, etc. is organized in issues which are linked and summarized in a yearly strategy epic. You can also find a calendar view of our events below:

CFP Library

Past submissions for CFPs are stored in the CFP Library.

Requesting a Developer Advocate to submit a CFP

To request that a Developer Advocate submits a CFP to your event, please:

1. Open a new issue
2. Ensure you use the developer-advocate-request template, and fill out the External Request section.
3. Label the issue with the CFP label.

CFP Management

For every CFP process we are participating in, a CFP issue is created with details about the event, requirements for CFP submissions and any other relevant information that might be useful to potential speakers. The issue template contains guide on the necessary steps needed to ensure we keep track of all the submissions for each CFP.

Once a submission has been submitted, the author should add it to the CFP Library. This will allow us to repurpose CFPs efficiently.

Issue Workflow

All submissions, accepted talks, feedback and other result tracking happens in the CFP issue. The CFP workflow uses scoped labels to transition the issues through different stages. Please follow the CFP workflow handbook to apply required labels accordingly.

All issues with the CFP label appear on the dedicated CFP Issue board.

Tips for CFP submissions

Writing good conference proposals is both an art and a science. The science is the details of the technical content. The art is presenting it in a way that appeals to the audience - the conference committee.

Here are some steps to go through when writing a CFP:

1. Research the event: Read through the event website in detail, especially the talk proposal pages. As you go through, notice the key topics and reoccurring themes throughout the material.
2. Familiarize yourself with the suggested topics: If an event suggests themes or topics, your best bet will be to align your talk proposal with that.
3. Learn about the conference committee: The people are just as essential as the online materials. Look up the committee and see if you can find out their own passion-topics. You should also research folks who may be past speakers or are otherwise involved with the conference to help understand what topics or speakers they are really looking for.
4. Write out a placeholder title, thesis, and outline: Starting with a placeholder title will help overcome the blank page syndrome. From there, brainstorm on your thesis. What are you trying to teach? If you had one line to explain the SCQA (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer) of the story, what would it be. Then fill out an SCQA outline.
5. Ask for help: Have a friend or colleague who is familiar with the subject matter review your proposal. Rework, rinse, repeat and submit!

Helpful links

1. Lachie’s 7 step guide to writing a winning tech conference CFP
2. Make me an offer I can’t refuse – Writing an abstracts for a CFP