We would love to have you speak at this year’s RubyConf in Chicago! We are looking for both talks and workshops this year that cater to different levels of experience. We plan to accept more technical talks than we have in the past, leaving room for fewer non-technical presentations. 

We welcome new speakers and provide the opportunity to work with a Speaker Coach. We also have a wealth of experience amongst the Chairs, Program Committee and Ruby Central organization who’re willing to spend time with you to help you succeed and perform at your best. So if in doubt, submit. If you want some hints on creating a compelling CFP submission we have a blog post for that.

We will be hosting three CFP coaching sessions during the active CFP period. These will be held on June 24th at 9:00AM EST, June 25th at 12:00PM EST, and June 26th at 4:00PM EST.
To register for a coaching session, follow this link.

If selected as a speaker, you will also have a speaker liaison assigned to you who will ensure your speaking experience goes smoothly during the conference.

We have a few themes that we are looking for this year, but please submit anything that relates to Ruby. It can be a non-technical talk as well. The themes are as follows:

• Performance and Scale
• Ruby on the Web
• Ruby in AI, Data Science and Machine Learning
• Weird Ruby
• Your Great Idea!

Formats

Talks are no longer than 30 minutes, with the opportunity (but no obligation) for a few minutes of Q&A. There’s no shame in coming in under that timing because it’s hard for folks to concentrate for much longer than that in a standard lecture-style. 

We also have the opportunity for multiple two hour workshops, with short “comfort” breaks. These are typically hands-on sessions where attendees bring their own apps to work on, or are walked through exercises on their own laptops. Think more structured, focused training on specific topics. Workshops will be scheduled on the second day of the conference and not “against” talks.

All accepted Speakers must comply with our Conference Policies (EDIT:: JUNE 18, 2024) and Speaker Agreement (EDIT:: JUNE 18, 2024). Please read our policies all the way through before submitting a proposal.

How We Decide

Our Program Committee is made up of a diverse group of Rubyists who are passionate about the Ruby language and Ruby community. 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 omit potentially identifying information from those fields.

Speaker Benefits

You get a free ticket to the event and Ruby Central will cover your hotel stay in the conference hotel for three (3) nights (~$700 USD value) for all individual speakers. If your talk has more than one speaker, this benefit will have to be shared between them.

You will also have the opportunity to be paired with a Speaker Coach to help you with talk prep. Mentors are granted upon request but highly recommended, especially for new speakers. During the conference, you will be paired with a Speaker Liaison to ensure that your needs are met.

Timeline

CFP closes on July 22nd, 2024.

All notifications regardless of status will be sent by August 13th, 2024.

For CFP-specific questions, contact cfp@rubycentral.org. Otherwise, reach out to rubyconf@rubycentral.org. Good luck!

Stay for 1 speaker for three (3) nights at the conference hotel