Here are some tips for increasing your odds of being selected. Following these tips will not guarantee your selection, but may improve your chances.

This can be the most challenging aspect of the entire process.  You need to consider:

1. Your expertise. If you are well versed in the topic to be addressed and equally skilled at presenting. You need to ask yourself if you can be considered an expert on this topic by your organization and professional peers. If the answer is yes, this is a potential topic. If not, keep searching.

       

2. Relevance of the chosen topic for the Conference. Next match your expertise and preferred topic with one of the tracks. Read the track descriptions carefully and select the one that best fits your preferred topic.  If it’s a stretch to fit into any track, it’s probably best to reconsider your topic.

3. Timeliness of the topic. Is this a topic of current importance to Conference attendees?  Is it one their organizations and/or clients are struggling to get their arms around?  If it is a topic that was of major importance in past Conferences, you may need a fresh angle (or a different topic) to drive interest for this year’s Conference.

4. Technical level of the topic. Over 50% of our audience has more than 10 years experience in the field. This group is looking for highly technical and high level strategic information and demonstrations. Similarly, roughly one third of our audience has fewer than 5 years of experience. Although they are not as experienced, they still want detailed technical information. Review the session classification choices carefully, and consider creating a proposal that is technical in nature, including technology demos, architectural discussions, and code-level examples and explanations with developer tracks.

5. Educational value of the topic. This is of utmost importance. The main reason that sessions are not selected is that the Program Committee believes that the topic is a thinly disguised sales pitch. Be objective in considering whether a potential attendee might believe that your session is about marketing or selling your company’s products or services. Additionally, attendees respond very positively to detailed case studies and real implementation stories - both domestically and internationally. Attendees like to leave the conference equipped with “lessons learned”, especially as they relate to new technology deployments. Finally, considering and specifying the size of business that would most benefit from the topic is encouraged.

 

Bear in mind that your professional peers may be submitting their proposals on a similar topic.  Evaluate how to make your proposed topic stand-out from the crowd. We encourage real-world experiences and case studies in a co-speaker or panel discussion format as a strategy.