This call for speaker is CURATED.

That means that at the end of each week the content team will go through all the submission and perhaps pick some if they're the "perfect fit". So don't wait for the last second because there might not be any empty slots.

If your doesn't get picked at the end of the week in which you've submitted that doesn't mean it's been declined, it just means it didn't cause "love at first sight", and that might happen for various reasons - one of the most common ones being that we've received multiple submissions about your topic.

We'll only send out "thank you" e-mails after we've filled all the slots for this year.

Considering Above Clouds conference is a "culmination" of monthly meetups, we'll keep in mind who submitted what and even if you don't get picked for the conference, we will be inviting people to our meetups. Sure, it's not a conference on the top of the mountain, but we'll make sure you have a great time while you're here.

The reason for the curated call for speakers is that we understand Above Clouds is a small conference in a country which is amazing to visit, but not really tempting to do business for foreign speakers. So out of appreciation and consideration for everyone who submits, we'll do our best not to waste your time.


The technical part :)

There are 20 slots spread around 3 tracks + keynote. The keynote is already taken ;)

Track "We've built a cool cloud solution" contains 45 minutes long talks.

Talks that will be accepted for this track should tell a story how you or your team built something cool on the cloud.

Track "Tools that can help you build cool cloud solutions" contains 45 minutes long talks.

Talks that will be accepted for this track should educate attendees on how to use something, be it a software tool/service, a mental technique, a methodology, etc, which can help attendees build their own cloud solutions.

You're free to talk about your product, or your employers product as long as you're educating attendees and giving them something useful, instead of giving them a sales pitch or a quick demo that's already available online.

Track "#IRL" contains 20 minutes long talks.

This track is really tricky, and perhaps the most useful one. Talks presented on this track will cover topics from our real life (hence #IRL - in real life) which have nothing to do with a certain piece of software. We'll discuss work-life balance, mental health, impostor syndrome, being able to talk to clients/other people, etc, etc.

Basically, aim for topics which don't contain all the popular buzzwords and mimic an action movie, but topics from which the attendees will be able to take something home and improve.

The logistics part :)

We'll meet & greet you at the airport or at least the taxi driver is :)
We'll host you and show you some really cool things about Zagreb on the day before the conference.

We'll also organize an out of the ordinary touristic tour on the day after the conference, on our way down from the mountain (don't worry... we'll be taking a bus).

Every speaker will get a room with a king sized bed. Some of them will have an extra single bed.

If you want to bring someone with you, there's no additional cost. If you want to bring more than 1-2 persons we have apartments for 4-7 persons available in an apartment house near the hotel. Do note that there's some driving or hiking required to get to the conference from the apartment house, but we'll be there for you.

So... if you get picked for the conference, just let us know in which room do you want to stay.

We're covering two nights at that hotel or apartment house.

If you'll be arriving before the 8th of May or departing after the 10th of May, please let us know and we'll organize your stay in Zagreb because there's not that much to do on the mountain before and after the conference :)

We're not covering travel expense. Sorry... we don't have the budget, and honestly, no hard feelings, but we're trying to raise as much money as possible to donate to three NGOs:
- SOS child village which is taking care of kids without parental care

- Red noses which is cheering up really ill hospitalized kids

- A shelter for women

So if you can't pay for your travel, I'm really sorry, perhaps we'll be able to cover it next year, but this year we've set our priorities.

Regardless of everything, thanks for being here and hope to see you somewhere, sometime <3

2 nights covered in the mountain hotel where the conference is held (feel free to bring someone with you). If you'll be arriving before May 8th 2020, and/or leaving after May 10th 2020 just add a note and we'll see how to accommodate you.