If you've never presented at a conference before and think you might like to try it, *we want to hear from you!* The program committee encourages and supports new speakers. We can provide detailed feedback and work with you to develop your proposal and talk content so you can give the best talk possible.
Curious about how we choose talks? You can read about our [selection process](/program/selection-process).
Portions of this page were drawn from ideas seen on [DjangoCon EU](https://djangocon.eu), [SeaGL](https://seagl.org), [Fog City Ruby](http://www.fogcityruby.com/speak/), and others. Thanks to all for their inspiration and permission to borrow!
**All accepted speakers receive complimentary tickets to the conference. Financial assistance for travel and lodging is considered on a case-by-case basis independent of each proposal's merits.**
**All speakers are expected to read and adhere to the [Code of Conduct](/code-of-conduct). In particular for speakers: slide contents and spoken material should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate, and neither are language or imagery that denigrate or demean people based on race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, physical appearance, disability, or body size.**
We will make every effort to accommodate speakers and attendees with disabilities—all we ask is that you let us know so we can prepare accordingly.
North Bay Python is a conference in support of the local programmer community outside of the core San Francisco Bay Area tech scene. We aim to feature a mix of local and non-local speakers to offer a program with broad appeal.
Our attendees range in experience from students and new graduates, through to career professionals with more than 30 years in the industry. Our professional attendees work in many roles, including software engineers, CTO-level executives, DevOps engineers, data scientists, front-end engineers, and mobile developers.
48% of our attendees had never attended a Python-focused conference before North Bay Python. 15% of our attendees made North Bay Python their first tech conference.
**Most of the talk slots will be short**—approximately 30 minutes. If your ideas would benefit from a longer slot, please explain in your submission how you would use the additional time.
**North Bay Python will not be facilitating audience Q&A during scheduled talk slots, in favor of attendees asking questions during breaks.** If you're used to ending a 30-minute talk at 25 minutes and using 5 for Q&A, please plan instead on speaking all the way to 30 minutes, and think of it as an opportunity to toss in a few bonus details for the audience!
**This is a single track conference, so your talk needs to hold the attention of both beginners and experienced developers. That *doesn't* mean every talk needs to be a beginner-level talk.**
If you're talking about advanced concepts, people who are new to Python or your library should come away excited about the possibilities, and be aware of the concepts they need to learn to get there.
Here are just a few topics we think might go well in the North Bay Python program. If you have a talk idea on a subject not listed here and you think it fits well with our community and mission, we would love to [hear about it](mailto:program@northbaypython.org)!
This [public speaking](https://github.com/vmbrasseur/Public_Speaking) repository, maintained by [VM Brasseur](https://twitter.com/vmbrasseur), has many useful resources to help you prepare a proposal and polish your talk.
First time speakers are welcomed and we want to help! We offer mentorship, feedback, and host live drop-in workshops online. Above all we want you to be successful and have a good time telling other attendees about your ideas!
You can [contact the program committee](mailto:program@northbaypython.org) via email or drop by [#nbpy on the Freenode IRC network](https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=%23nbpy) anytime to connect with a mentor and get help.
Our office hours will be held twice every week **Wednesday at 7pm** and **Friday at 3pm** Pacific Time starting July 11 and finishing August 10. We'll be holding them on IRC, a chat protocol, in the #nbpy channel on the Freenode network. New to IRC? You can use [this web client](https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=%23nbpy) to connect.
If you've given the talk before, links to video or slides would be excellent. If you've blogged about this topic links to your posts would be useful, too.
Your speaker profile includes a space for you to describe your prior experience giving talks—this is your chance to talk yourself up and explain how you're qualified to share your ideas, so take advantage of it!
## Plans Changed and Need to Decline?<a name="need-to-decline"></a>
We understand that life is unpredictable and you may not be able to speak at North Bay Python even if we accept your proposal. That's OK!
If we accept your talk, you have the option to confirm or decline. Already confirmed but something came up? That's OK, too, we just need you to let us know as soon as possible! We always have backups.
Please email us at [program@northbaypython.org](mailto:program@northbaypython.org) to let us know if you have a change of plans.
