### Proposal submissions for North Bay Python 2019 are open! There's information and resources below that you should read, but in case you've already read it and want to dive in now:
Submit a Proposal
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! ## Dates + **July 1**: Proposal submissions open + **August 8**: Proposal submissions close + **Week of August 23**: Acceptance notifications sent + **Week of September 9**: Speaker confirmations due; program finalized and announced + **November 2–3**: Conference happens! ## Speaker Benefits **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.** ## Speakers North Bay Python is dedicated to featuring a diverse and inclusive speaker lineup. **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. ## Audience We anticipate 200-300 attendees at our 2019 conference. In 2017, we had 230 attendees from California and beyond, including: + 78% from the San Francisco Bay Area, including 25% from Sonoma County + 5% from elsewhere in California + 17% from other US states, and internationally 30% of attendees were women or non-binary. 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. ## Talk Formats **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! ## Topics **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)! + The Python community + Python fundamentals + Useful libraries and tools + Testing in Python + Deploying, operating, or scaling Python + Organization and communication skills for software development + What Python can learn from other communities + Accessibility in Python (and other) software + Unexpected places Python gets used (Embedded systems! Health science!) + ... and anything else we might not have thought of! ## Resources 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. ### Office Hours and Mentorship 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. We're happy to help with any of the following: + Exploring and brainstorming your interests to help you identify hidden things that would make great talks + Connecting you with experienced speakers to help build your proposal and talk + Reviewing your outline, slide deck, or presenter notes + Connecting you with rehearsal audiences or even just watching you present over a video conference as practice + Anything else that'd help you be at ease and excited about bringing your ideas to our audience! ## Submitting To help us evaluate proposals and build our program, we would like as much detail as you can provide on your talk. At a minimum this should include: + A brief description (~400 characters) suitable for inclusion in a schedule page + A brief prose abstract (intended as the content for a talk detail page on the program site) + Optionally, a rough outline of the structure including estimated timings for each section of your talk 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!
Submit a Proposal
## How to Write Your Proposal If you want to speak, here's a very rough process of what you should do next: + Brainstorm or [mind map](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map) to expand upon your ideas or knowledge in search of a general topic + Write a paragraph or two, or some bullet points, to outline the core concepts you want to communicate and what people might learn from your talk + Get someone you trust to read your notes and tell you what they think they'd learn + Attend our office hours to get help building up your submission + Submit your proposal + Practice! ## Plans Changed and Need to Decline? 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.