We’ve been receiving amazing speaker applications for WordCamp Dublin 2017 so far! And there are still 6 days left to pitch your idea (deadline: September 7th): https://2017.dublin.wordcamp.org/speakers/.
Remember, WordCamp Dublin aims at showcasing the best of WordPress and the WordPress Community. We’re particularly interested in technical, non-technical, business and lifestyle presentations. Need inspiration? Check the suggested topics table here.
Speaker selection process
We believe “content” is what makes a WordCamp excellent. Of course, there is the networking. The party. The craic. The PEOPLE. But content quality is very important to us.
We want to pack the two conference days with amazing speakers, actionable presentations, helpful tips. We want to appeal to techs and businesses.
So, you might wonder, how do we select the speakers?
Round 1: Topic Title Selection
We’re populating an Excel spreadsheet with all the speaker applications: name, contact details, topic title, topic description, audience.
However, the first round will ONLY consider the topic title.
Once again, it’s the content that matters. If the title is catchy enough, and the topic itself is relevant to our goals (track 1: WP tech, track 2: business tips), then it’s a good fit.
This is no matter who the speaker is. During our speaker selection we will in fact hide all the Excel columns that contain “personal data” and focus exclusively on topic title.
We believe in quality. There is no attachment to speaker name, gender, experience, company. We will vote based on the title and description of each talk.
WordCamp Dublin organisers (5 people) will each rank the topics from “1” (favourite) to “n”, where “n” is the total number of speaker applications. All the topics are therefore sorted by cumulative votes.
Round 2: Speaker Selection
We already got speakers submitting multiple talks – the more topics the more likely they’ll be selected (there is a limit of 3 applications per speaker by the way).
So, we have to be fair. In round 2 we will unhide the Excel columns with the speaker names to check no one is speaking twice.
When we have a speaker with two or three talks voted for, the second and third-ranked topic are rejected.
Round 3: Contacting the Speakers & Schedule
We’ll contact all applicants to let them know whether they’ve been successful or not this year. Remember, if you haven’t made it to the list of speakers, there will be lightning talks on the day and we encourage you to take part. We may also contact you to submit again in the event that another speaker drops out.
If you’ve been selected, we will first make sure you can make it to WordCamp Dublin 2017. If yes, we will move on and start working on the Saturday & Sunday schedule. We want both days to be packed with great content and speakers!
Before the big day, all speakers will be invited to our free “Thank you” dinner. We look forward to introducing you to our team, our sponsors, our volunteers and cheers all together to the upcoming event!
Well, don’t forget you might still be on time to pitch your idea.
Got a story to tell? Submit your talk now