Guidelines for Proposals

• We only accept 25-minute talks which should present big ideas of general interest to the entire attendee base. The audience will be comprised of Go programmers of all experience levels. 

• We do not allow Q & A time, so don't plan for that as part of your time allotment.

• We do not allow partner presentations. If your project involves a team, one team member should present on behalf of everyone.

• All presentations will be recorded and published on Gopher Academy's YouTube channel after the conference.

Important Considerations

Content: If the content of your proposal is not related to Go, it will immediately be removed from the review process. Do not waste your time!

Speaker Selection: GopherCon values diverse voices in the Go community; this impacts how we choose the final speaker lineup. We highly encourage first-time speakers, neurodivergent presenters, and new Go community members to submit a proposal. When presented with multiple proposals of equal quality, priority will be given to diverse community members and/or new content that has not been presented previously. We will, at our discretion, fill some speaking slots from outside the Call for Speakers with invited speakers to make the overall content more interesting, inclusive, and engaging for all of our attendees.

Talk Outline: The reviewers need to know that you’ve thought about how you’ll present the material. One of the best ways to show that is by including an outline of your talk. Please include an outline with your submission with approximate timing for each section. Talks with thoughtful outlines are given favorable consideration.

Personally Identifiable Information: Please do not link or provide any information in your proposal that will disclose your identity. Our review process is double-blind, and we strive to make our Call for Speakers process impartial. Submissions that disclose identifying information will, at our discretion, be disqualified or asked to make immediate changes before the review process begins.

If you mention an open-source library in your submission, please provide a link, unless doing so would de-anonymize your proposal. If so, mention that you can provide the information if you are shortlisted for the program.

Mentoring: We work closely with all of our speakers to ensure a high-quality, comfortable speaking experience. This includes mentoring potential speakers through the proposal process and providing accommodations for those who require a modified speaking environment. Please email info@gopheracademy.com for more information.

Recommended Reading 

• Gopher Academy's "Storytelling on Stage" blog series

• Submit a Talk to GopherCon! (Carolyn Van Slyck)

• How to write a successful conference proposal (Karolina Szczur)

• How to write a successful conference proposal (Dave Cheney)

• Talking Tech: Getting Your Proposal Through the Door (Russ Olsen)
  

Gopher Academy offers hotel accommodations and travel assistance for speakers who will not have those expenses covered by their company. If you will not need travel and/or accommodations, we will contribute your portion of our budget to the scholarship fund. All speakers will receive one general admission ticket to the conference.