Speaker FAQ and Resources
This FAQ is a guide for those interested in presenting and voting for sessions at DrupalCon Denver 2012. It is intended to provide potential speakers and attendees with an understanding of what will be expected of this year’s speakers, as well as an overview of the session selection process. We ask that anyone interested in presenting read this FAQ to ensure that they fully understand the responsibilities that come with speaking at DrupalCon Denver. All speakers and attendees of DrupalCon are expected to follow the Drupal Code of Conduct. This page will be updated often, so please check back for the latest speaker information.
- When are important dates I need to be aware of?
- What’s the process and timeline for session selection?
- Who will be making decisions about which sessions get picked?
- Do I get paid or compensated for presenting at DrupalCon?
- What should I keep in mind when submitting a session for DrupalCon Denver?
- What are the expectations around language?
- Speaker Training
- Speaker Presentation Slides
- What are some tips I should follow for creating slides?
When are important dates I need to be aware of?
What’s the process and timeline for session selection?
Sessions proposals can be submitted by anyone, starting August 8th. Session proposals are due by October 26th. By November 17, the DrupalCon Denver team will announce 80% of selected sessions. A preliminary schedule will be posted on December 7th. The final session selection will be announced January 11th and the final schedule will be available January 25th.
Who will be making decisions about which sessions get picked?
Sessions for each track will be evaluated and selected by 2 track chairs per track. These track chairs will work in coordination with each other as well as the Denver team leads and DrupalCon Organizing Group to make the final decisions regarding session selection and scheduling.
The track chairs for DrupalCon Denver are:- Commerce: Greg Knaddison "greggles" & Michael Meyers
- Site building: Lindsay Odgen "lindsayo", Carl Weidemann "c4rl" & Allie Micka "Allie Micka"
- Coding and development: Kevin Bridges "cyberswat" & Larry Garfield "crell"
- Design and user experience: Ken Woodworth "kenwoodworth", John Ferris "pixelwhip" & Roy Scholten "yoroy"
- Drupal community: Karyn Cassio "techgirlgeek" & Greg Dunlap "heyrocker"
- Business and strategy: Justin Toupin "justin2pin" & Michael Meyers "michaelemeyers"
- Mobile: Scott Reynen "sreynen" & Todd Nienkerk "toddross"
- Nonprofit, Government & Education: Brian Hiatt "civicpixel" & Matt Cheney "populist"
Do I get paid or compensated for presenting at DrupalCon?
Tickets for speakers giving a full session at DrupalCon Denver will be free of charge. If there are two speakers, i.e. one co-presenter, only the main speaker will get free admission. Please note that this does not apply to panelists or lightning talks. Panelists and speakers of lightning talks may purchase their tickets at an Early Bird price until February 21, 2012 (23:59:59 UTC/GMT -7).
- The primary speaker in a 2 person session gets a free ticket
- The moderator in a panel discussion gets a free ticket.
What should I keep in mind when submitting a session for DrupalCon Denver?
While we understand that it’s not always possible to know exactly what you’ll be talking about months in advance of a conference presentation, especially when dealing with fast-moving technologies like Drupal, we do ask that speakers think carefully about their intended audience and what they want attendees to take away from their session when formulating their proposals.
The best panels and presentations are the ones where the presenter devotes a significant amount of time to the process of developing their session. You should be prepared to spend a significant amount of time during preparing for your session (and communicating with any co-presenters).
In order to give speakers the ability to focus on developing the highest quality sessions possible, we will be limiting the number of sessions that any single speaker can participate in to no more than one solo presentation and one panel presentation (if a speaker does not present a solo session, he or she may participate in up to two panel presentations). Panels will be limited to no more than three participants plus a moderator. Dual sessions (those with two presenters) are considered panels.
When making your submission, be sure to identify a single point of contact for your session. If you end up not being able to attend, we may cancel your session and replace it with another, even if you are able to find a substitute presenter.
You may be asked if you are willing to work together and/or combine your session with another presenter.
We may check in with you in the weeks leading up to the conference to make sure that your session preparation is going well and you have everything you need.
You will be asked to sign an agreement if your session is selected for DrupalCon. This agreement will give the conference the right to use your name and image in DrupalCon promotional material (such as the conference website and printed program) and provide the conference with a Creative Commons license to any recordings made of your session so they can be distributed on places like archive.org.
If your session is selected for DrupalCon, you will be asked to check in at the Green Room at least a half-hour before your session. The Green Room is a special speakers-only room that provides a place for presenters to go over their slides and make any final preparations before the start of their session.
You will need to provide your own laptop for your presentation. Presenters will be provided with projector specifications and slide templates in a variety of commonly-used formats. Even if you do not use the provided templates, presenters are asked to use special opening and closing slides to assist in the creation of session videos and enable audiences to submit feedback.
What are the expectations around language?
Presenters should keep in mind that DrupalCon is an international event that attracts diverse people from a wide variety of ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Speakers should avoid humor that occurs at the expense of any individual or group of individuals or that relies on stereotypes about culture, religion, race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. Speakers should strive to use professional language and avoid profanities.