RailsConf 2023 CFP

All accepted Speakers must comply with our Conference Policies and Speaker Agreement. Please read our policies all the way through before submitting a proposal.

Session Formats

We offer two session formats to choose from, talks and workshops. All session formats will be given live at RailsConf 2023. We will not have a pre-recorded or live-stream option. 

• Talks are 30-45-minute lecture-style slots. To look at previously accepted topics, you can check out last year's talks.
• Workshops are 2-hour interactive slots with one 15-minute break. Participants learn practice skills through a mix of presentation materials and hands-on exercises. Workshops are not recorded.

What We're Looking For

RailsConf fully embraces both new and experienced speakers. We place a strong value on featuring a diverse, creative line-up of speakers from different backgrounds with a wealth of different experiences to share with our attendees. We're looking for technical and non-technical talks covering a broad range of topics in the Ruby ecosystem. We want a mix of beginner, intermediate, and advanced-level material. Overall, we are looking for talks of interest to Ruby developers, and we take a broad view of what that means. If it's interesting to you, we'd love to see it.

First-Time Speakers

We love first-time speakers and are happy to help you out! If you want to learn more about improving your talk submission, check out our blog “5 Reasons To Turn That Idea Into A RubyConf 2022 Talk” posts. Disregard the conference date because the content is STILL relevant and can apply across the board! 

Session Tracks

This year's prospective tracks include:

Tech Skills:
Sample CFP ideas in this category could include but are not limited to:

• Getting started
• Scaling and performance tuning
• Maintenance for sustainability
• New Features
• Bug Fix Horror Stories
• Your Amazing Idea!

People Skills:
Sample CFP ideas in this category could include but are not limited to:

• Culture and interpersonal skills for all levels
• Managing up
• Agile Management
• Leading from behind
• Servant leadership
• Distributed Teams
• Your Amazing Idea!

Community:
Sample CFP ideas in this category could include but are not limited to:

• Building a local Rails Community
• How to participate in the Ruby on Rails Community
• Mentorship in the greater Rails Community
• How Mastodon is changing how the community connects
• Your Amazing Idea!

Career:
Sample CFP ideas in this category could include but are not limited to:

• Early-stage, mid-stage, late-stage, and entrepreneurship
• Progressing from X to Y
• Skills in X-stage company
• Management for Y-stage
• Going out on your own
  Running an agency in a crowded market
  Your Amazing Idea!

Inside the Review Process

Our Program Committee is made up of hardworking volunteers representing a variety of experience levels. Our first round of review is anonymous, meaning reviewers will not see your name or biographical information, only the title, description, notes, and track. Please keep any potentially identifying information out of these fields.

Speaker Benefits

If your proposal is selected, you will receive the following:

• A complimentary ticket to to RailsConf 2023
• For a talk (Honorarium): A $500 USD honorarium
• For a workshop (Honorarium): A $1,000 USD honorarium
• The opportunity to be paired with a speaker mentor to help you with talk prep. Mentors are granted upon request but highly recommended, especially for new speakers.

Note: for sessions with more than one speaker, the honorarium will be split among all participants at the CFP submitter's discretion.

If your session is accepted, you will have time to get a hotel room in our block - the room block discount deadline is March 30th, 2023. We expect to have acceptances out well before that.

If you have questions about the CFP application, contact us at railsconf@rubycentral.org.

Thanks for submitting a proposal, and good luck!

The RailsConf Program Committee

+ Honorarium