Talks submitted should be max 30 minutes long, and there is space for 24 talks in the agenda, including 4 invited keynote spots. 

What kind of talks are we looking for? 

Today Rails is stronger than ever thanks to continued progress in both core frameworks, like Active Record and Action Mailbox, as well as associated tools and frameworks, like Hotwire, Kredis, and Propshaft. 

The upcoming Rails 8.0 release is going to push the bar even further.

We will especially be on the lookout for original talks that fall into a few specific themes:

• Support for the features coming in Rails 8
• Rails as the One Person Framework
• And on the other end of the spectrum: Rails at Scale
• The competitive advantage of Rails, whether that is the ease of building with the leanest of teams, its stability over time, or simply the joy and fun of working with it on creative side projects

Your talk might also align Rails with emerging or important current trends in our industry right now, such as security, PWAs, observability, monitoring, accessibility, LLMs, or the move from microservices back to monoliths, to name a few.

Other suggestions could fall under:

• Case studies of successful Rails projects: What problems or challenges did you overcome?
• Best practices for Rails development, including testing, deployment, and performance optimization: What works for you or your team?
• The state of Rails and its role in the broader tech industry: What are potential areas for growth and innovation?

We encourage you to submit proposals that challenge the status quo, showcase forward-thinking ideas, and push the boundaries of what’s possible with Rails. 

Selection process

A committee will review all proposals and make a final selection based on the technical content of the proposal, and its potential to inspire attendees with forward-thinking ideas and insights. 

Please note: preference will go to:

• Highly technical talks with key takeaways
• Talks that have not been given before Rails World 2024

Selection criteria

At Rails World, we believe that diverse voices and perspectives are critical to driving innovation and advancing the tech industry as a whole, and so our ideal lineup would showcase a diverse range of speakers.

With that said, we want to be transparent about our selection process. We recognize that, despite our best efforts, our strict commitment to selecting talks based on the content of the sessions might limit the diversity of our speaker lineup. To mitigate this issue, we will strive to share this CFP with as broad an audience as possible, and we encourage all presenters, regardless of their background or experience, to submit proposals that showcase their technical expertise and their ability to push the boundaries of what's possible with Ruby on Rails. 

"We need disagreement. We need dialects. We need diversity of thought and people. It’s in this melting pot of ideas we’ll get the best commons for all to share. Lots of people chipping in their two cents, in code or considered argument." - Rails doctrine

Thank you for helping us spread the word about this CFP as far as possible.

Speaker benefits

We want the experience of speaking at Rails World to be one of the best and most inviting in the industry. If you are chosen as a speaker, here is what is included:

• Free admission to the conference, naturally.
• Accommodation: The Rails Foundation will cover 3 nights hotel accommodation for each speaker in the speaker hotel (Sept 25-28). It is not required that you stay in this hotel, but the offer only extends to the hotel of our choosing. It is not transferable to another hotel.
• Stipend: We are proud to announce that Rails World sponsor Fullscript has committed to supporting our speakers with a $400 travel stipend to offset the cost of individual travel.
• Speaker dinner: Speakers will be invited to a private dinner hosted by Rails Foundation Core & Contributing members on Sept 26.
• A speaker gift

Code of Conduct

Rails, the Rails Foundation, and Rails World organizers are committed to fostering a welcoming community. We abide by, and expect all community members both online and in person to abide by the Rails Code of Conduct.

We reserve the right to remove or refuse entry to any attendee, speaker or sponsor from the event for violating the Code of Conduct, without refund or compensation.

Max $400 travel stipend per talk thanks to Fullscript, 3 nights accommodation in the Speaker hotel, Speaker dinner invite, Speaker gift