TALK WITH US:

When in doubt, or you do not agree with something we have put on here, reach out to the organising team for more information! We are all human beings , so there is nothing we can't have a civil conversation about. At the end of the day, this is ran by volunteers trying to bring together people with a shared passion for data. 
Seriously, talk with us.

ABOUT THIS CALL FOR SPEAKERS:

There are a number of optional fields in this Call for Speakers, any context you can provide to help us make an informed decision is greatly appreciated. You can only fill in the required ones, if you think this provides enough information. Feel free to use the notes section liberally!

CODE OF CONDUCT:

https://datamindsconnect.be/code-of-conduct/

All people involved in our event, are required to adhere to our Code of Conduct. We want this be an event where everyone should feel welcome and accepted, regardless of their background or characteristics. There will be options to confide in different persons in case of reporting incidents and violations. Any person breaching the Code of Conduct, will potentially be removed from the event, regardless of their role of engagement. 

NEW SPEAKERS:

We wholeheartedly encourage all new speakers to submit a proposal as a Newcomer. To be clear, new speakers are considered to be people who have not yet spoken at a (technical) conference or larger event. User Group sessions, webinars and client/team presentations are not taken into account for this categorization. 

Each new speaker will be paired up with a buddy/mentor, who will provide them with highly valuable tips & tricks. Even more so, we'll provide new speakers with all assistance they need and want whilst preparing for their debut.

Submitting as a new speaker, means you agree to meet with your buddy/mentor and collaborate on your session. 

P.S. We verify the validity for people that submit as new speakers, so we can make sure to keep those spots for actual new speakers. 

GENERAL SESSIONS:

Open for all sessions related to the Microsoft Data & AI Platform, in all possible flavours. Going from your more traditional DBA and BI topics, to modern data topics like Data Lakehouses, Data Virtualization or Generative AI using LLM. If it's related to the Microsoft Data & AI Platform, we want it!

Non-tech sessions, contributing to a better and more diverse community, are welcomed with open arms. Think Mental Health for IT Pros, Imposter Syndrome, Amplifying Diversity & Inclusion, Career & Personal Growth, ...

All conference sessions will be 60 minutes (including at least 5 minutes of Q&A), and allocated to a track by the organising team.

PRECON SESSIONS:

Proposals for precon sessions (full day workshops) are very welcomed, but bear in mind that we're also searching for good fits on our own. It may be possible that certain slots will already be booked. 

We will be closing the Call for Precon sessions 2 weeks earlier (Thursday May 1st 2025). The session selection for the precon sessions will be shortly after, so we can inform those that selected at that point. Should you want to withdraw after this selection, that is perfectly fine.

A precon session (full day workshop) will be compensated by using our proposed payment scheme. A flat fee of 2.500€ (excl. VAT) is used as a default payment, regardless of the attendees that register. For every attendee following the 30th person, we'll add another 40€ (excl. VAT) to the grand total. 

This compensation is per session, in the case of multiple speakers they have to agree how to divide the sum. Microsoft FTEs are barred from this type of compensation, where alternative options will be discussed. 

EXPERT SESSIONS (400+, blow out some brains):

To continue our good tradition to specifically plan expert level sessions (400+), we're specifically looking for deep-dive sessions on advanced, complex topics. When submitting a session like this, please make sure you clearly outline any prerequisites the attendees should have. We're aiming at enough level 400-500 (or higher) sessions, to offer a wide variety of sessions and topics.

TARGET AUDIENCE:

Our target audience can best be described as a majority of technical people (practitioners), in a variety of data-facing roles. Whilst most of our attendees are not budget holders or decision-makers, they will have significant influence in the decision-making process. Their experience will vary between people just starting out in their current role, trying to absorb all the knowledge they can, to well-experienced people just there to broaden their range with some extra use cases. 

For example, these are job titles that come back in our post-event evaluation: Database Administration, Database Developer, BI Analyst, BI Engineer, Data Scientist, Data Engineer, Data Architect, Data Analytics Engineer, Azure Data Administrator, Prompt Engineer, ...

As dataMinds Connect, we also work together with some colleges and universities in Belgium and allow final year students to attend. 

ABOUT THE TEAM:

dataMinds Connect is organized by a group of volunteers in their spare time. If you want to know more about these people, you can find more details on our webpage. 

DISCLAIMER:

Speakers will be asked to travel to Belgium for the event, and any exceptions should be discussed with the organising team.

We're moving forward with an in-person event, keeping a close eye on safety and health recommendations. If need be, we will be prepared to cancel at any given time to safeguard the well-being of every person involved.  

TIMELINE:

• Thursday February 20th 2025: Call for Speakers open
• Thursday May 1st 2025: Call for Precon Speakers close
• Thursday May 15th 2025: Call for Speakers close
• Thursday May 22th 2025: Session selection process
• Friday May 23th 2025: Session selection feedback
• Monday May 19th 2025: Blind Bird Ticket Sales open (Limited tickets)
• Monday June 2nd 2025: General Ticket Sales open and Schedule announcement to public (Precon & Regular Sessions)
• Monday October 6th 2025: Precon Day
• Tuesday October 7th 2025: Conference Day
• Wednesday October 8th 2025: Conference Day

We'll be offering booked accommodation for 1 night at one of the selected hotels.