Call for Speakers
DevConf 2025
27 May 2025
29 May 2025
South Africa: Day 1 in Johannesburg & Day 2 in Cape Town
devconf.co.za
DevConf is a community-driven, professional software developer-focused, one-day conference, hosted annually in South Africa. It is the largest community-run event in southern Africa and for 2025, it will return for its 9th year! For 2025 the event is one day in Johannesburg (27th May 2025) and then repeated, two days later in Cape Town (29th May 2025).
DevConf aims to provide professional software developers with vendor-neutral and technology-agnostic content on tools, practices and principles applicable to tackling current and future challenges faced by software developers in South Africa.
DevConf is an event where attendees can learn, network and be inspired regardless of their specific technology stack and programming language of choice.
Style of Talk 👩🏫
We have a single style of talk: a 40-minute presentation style session i.e. stand on stage, a big screen to show your slides, video and code, and the audience sitting in cinema-style seating. The 40 minutes is the TOTAL time for everything, including Q&A.
The DevConf audience collectively covers various skill levels, from junior developers to senior management. We encourage talk submissions from everyone from hobbyists to professional developers, students, non-developers and first-time speakers. We have a goal to make DevConf an inclusive and diverse haven for all speakers and attendees. There is no specific tech or vendor association with DevConf - we welcome all technology and tools!
The majority of attendees are professional software engineers. Hence, we find that talks that help them in their careers and focus on exploring tech or solving problems are well received.
Java, JavaScript and .NET are very popular in South Africa but we would love presentations about other technologies too. Security talks have been consistently rated highly.
Talks that share experience and soft skills are highly valued and we have dedicated slots for these talks.
We also have a small number of slots for more entertainment-focused content that is still relevant to developers. These are great for sharing knowledge and experiences that are not so work-related. For example, flying a drone with VR, machine learning and brewing beer, or integrating hardware to Kerbal using JavaScript are all great talks.
Please see our YouTube channel to understand the content from previous years better.
Note: DevConf is an in-person event and we are not accepting remote/virtual presentations.
When 📆
DevConf will take place over two days, Johannesburg on the 27th of May 2025, and then we all travel to Cape Town to do it again on the 29th of May 2025.
All speakers will be selected to speak at both events.
If you are only able to attend one of the events, please let us know so we can plan correctly (the notes field is great for this).
Accepted Proposals 🌟
All selected speakers to DevConf receive a pass for the events where they'll present, and an invitation to the speakers-only dinner.
Travel and accommodation will also be included for presenters.
International Speakers 🛫
We welcome international speakers to submit talks for DevConf 2025 🎉 We do cover flights and accommodation for international speakers too!
We are a non-profit event so the budget for international speakers is small, thus there is a limited number of slots for international speakers.
If you can assist with your travel costs, please place that in the notes as it significantly helps.
Process ✅
- We are accepting papers from 1st November 2024 at 0:00 SAST
- We will close the call for speakers on 30th November 2024 at 23:59 SAST
- Every talk will be scored by a diverse panel of reviewers.
- Based on the scoring, a proposed agenda will be drafted in February.
- Selected speakers will be emailed by 1st February 2025 (please make sure you check your spam folder).
- Speakers are to confirm, by email by 7th February 2025. Any speaker who does not confirm will forfeit their slot.
Additional events for speakers 🍽
In addition to the presentation on the days of the event, we will have additional functions for speakers which we believe add massive value:
- The day before each event we will have a tech check at the conference venue from 4 pm. It should take no longer than an hour.
- The night before and after the events we will have a speaker's dinner near the venue and we would love for you to attend and meet the other speakers.
Important: These are highly valuable but we can work with you if you cannot attend them. Do not let this stop you from submitting!
Call for Speakers
01 Nov 2024
30 Nov 2024
What type of content are we looking for? 🔎
Anything relevant to developers, be it about code, platforms, technology, methodologies, how to work with people or just cool things. We want transparent and real experiences - this isn’t a place for a sales pitch. We want all types of speakers - first-timers or experienced! We have an opportunity for all to speak.
Non-developers are especially welcome to present topics that are relevant to the audience. Talks relating to security, database, UI and other technical experts sharing information developers should know are often fantastically well attended and rated highly.
We have a track record of helping new speakers and helping make all speakers have the best experience!
Talks we love? 😁
- You can bring a diverse view to a subject
- You do not need to be a developer - we adore hearing diverse views, which includes hearing from non-developers as we all have amazing content to share and things to learn
- Content focused on the South African 🇿🇦 audience is preferred
- You present your own experiences from the field
- Live demos over just slides (if you have a technical talk)
- We do often get multiple talks on the same topic, so add something that makes your talk stand out from other talks. Infuse it with your unique take and experience!
- We do not penalise talks that have been presented elsewhere, so if you have a talk you've done at work or your user group and you ♥️ it, then submit it!
Have a look at talks from previous years to get inspired for the content
Talks we shy away from 😢
- Topics that have been covered often - unless there is a twist or deep experience.
- Marketing or sales pitches - rather get a client to share their experience using the tech!
- Please note the style of talk is a 40min presentation. Workshops will, unfortunately, be declined as we cannot accommodate them.
Anonymous Review 👻
This is an anonymous review process so please do not enter personally identifying info in the description or notes.
This includes information about where you have presented this content before or links to YouTube videos. Please use the dedicated field for this information, if you choose to share it.
How are talks ranked? 🥅
We encourage each reviewer to use their own experience and knowledge to rank each talk. We use the Sessionize ranking system, which you can see (and play with) in the test event.
Hints for submission 💡
- Please use normal text in the fields, unfortunately, markdown or HTML is not supported.
- You only need your talk ready next year and you can adjust before then if you are selected.
- The notes field is meant for any special requirements or information which doesn't fit into the description of your talk. Please do not put personal information in that section.
- The track and level fields are used as an aid for the planning, pick which you feel your talk fits best; it won't impact your selection.
- At DevConf 2023 we had a panel discussion about how to get accepted and you can watch, and get all the tips from the experts at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwCnBeZ4oQM
- The outline field should be a set of bullet points of the content you will be presenting.
Important Notes 📜
- By submitting a CFP, you will be added to our mailing list. This is so we can keep in touch with you, especially if our direct emails end up in your spam. You can always unsubscribe from a link in the emails (although this is discouraged if you are selected, as we use the same platform to communicate important speaker information leading up to and post the event).
- You are allowed to submit at most two talks.
- Please ensure you complete your speaker bio in the 3rd person-- speaker bios written in the first or second person will cause the submission to be penalised and may cause your talk to not be selected.
- Please ensure your description is written for the audience. Your notes and outline will only be seen by the speaker review panel.
- We are not accepting talks with multiple speakers.
travel
accommodation
event fee
We cover the full expenses for travel and accommodation for speakers. If you can assist with costs, please let us know as we are a non-profit and every bit helps.
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