Proposal Tips

Learn more about the call for proposals and submit today! The session submission deadline is December 4th 11:59 pm CT (UTC -6). Send questions about DrupalCon (session submission process, logistics, etc.) to Bethany Lister. Get tips and request proposal feedback from the DrupalCon program committee anytime in the #session-help Slack channel.

A note from our fabulous DrupalCon Minneapolis program committee:

The session submission window for DrupalCon Minneapolis is upon us, and with that comes the session proposal process! The DrupalCon program committee is committed to supporting the community throughout the run-up to the conference. One key support task is answering community questions in the Drupal Slack channel #session-help, alongside hosting regularly scheduled office hours. So far, these conversations have revealed some important session proposal hints, tips and pointers that we’d like to share!
 

Preparing Your Proposal

The proposal is a key component to a selected session—it’s your ‘elevator pitch’ to the committee for selection into the program, as well as to conference attendees to explain why they should attend your session. 

Here are some key tips for preparing your proposal:
 

The Title

Your session title is both the first “hook” to interest people in your session on the schedule, and the text shown on the displays at the conference itself. Make sure your title is clear about the subject matter you’re presenting, while being concise and to the point. While many of us enjoy wordplay, having a title that is too “cute” can obscure the actual subject of your session. People should be able to understand what your session is about without having to click through to read the entire proposal.
 

The Session Description

The substance of your proposal will be the session description. While there are many resources on the internet for writing good session proposals, here are tips we recommend:

  • Present to the reader the questions your session is trying to answer, or specific problems you were trying to solve.

  • Include the value proposition for the attendee, being specific about what you expect attendees to take away from your session.

  • Be as concise as possible, while still being clear about the subject. This isn’t your slide deck, but a summary.
     

Track and Tags

Properly categorizing your session proposal with the correct track and tags is vitally important for getting your proposal in front of the session team with the right background and skillset to evaluate your proposal. It’s also crucial because it helps attendees find the sessions that appeal to them and meet their needs. We recognize that the subject matter of your session might seem to cross over multiple tracks, so use session tags to help give your session more specific categorization. If you are unsure about which track is the best fit for your session, we encourage you to reach out to the session committee, whose members can help you find the right track for your session.
 

Skill Level and Prerequisites

A key point of your proposal is the intended audience for your session. One of the most frequently asked questions for the committee is what skill/experience levels actually mean. Committee member @chadhester provided an excellent summary of the different experience levels:

  • Beginner: Someone who knows very little about a topic and has no notable experience with it.
  • Intermediate: Someone who has studied a subject and may have some experience.
  • Advanced: Someone who has experience in an area and may even be considered a master. 

We are excited about our new Prerequisites field! This will let presenters state any specific knowledge they expect the attendees to have in order to get the most out of the session. We encourage you to give this field thought in order to assess the ideal target audience for your session. This can also help inform the way you present the summary.
 

Presentation Tips

An important part of the evaluation process is focused on your skills as a presenter. For many, public speaking and giving technical talks are skills to be developed, which is intimidating. The session committee is here to help you with this as well! 

Along with your session proposal, you should be able to provide a demo video showcasing yourself and your skills as a presenter. The best source for a demo video for many is sharing a recording of a talk or session that has been previously been given at another conference or camp. It can even be helpful if the presentation is the same as the one that you are submitting for DrupalCon, but not necessary. The committee wants to see a general level of comfort when presenting to an audience. You should be able to show that you can communicate your topic well, avoiding lapses into monotone speaking or freezing up during your presentation.

If you’ve not given a presentation that has a publicly shareable recording, there are other options as well! If there is a local user group or meetup, you may be able to record yourself giving a “lightning talk” to that group. Alternately, you could record giving your presentation to a group of coworkers. A final option if you aren’t yet prepared to give the session itself is to record a short video of yourself describing your session, how you are going to present the subject matter and why you want to give it. This can help show the committee not only some examples of your speaking skills, but also helps the reviewers hear your passion for the topic.

Bear in mind that production values are not nearly as important for this video as its ability to show your speaking skills. A recording from Zoom, Google Meet, or even a smartphone is perfectly fine, as long as your presentation is clear, audible and showcases your skills. 

While you are preparing your demo, consider having a friend, mentor or co-worker review the video with you, offer feedback, and help work on areas such as content and delivery.
 

Submit Today

We hope these tips help you prepare your session submission in advance of the December 4th deadline! Please keep in mind that the program committee is here to help you make your submission the best that it can be! If you have further questions, join us for our office hour chats, all in the #session-help channel on Slack. Coming soon from the committee are additional blog posts, including one diving deeper into the topic of speaker support!  
 

Contributed by Jeremy Dickens, Eric Sembrat, Brenda Boggs, and Aubrey Sambor.