devopsdays Wellington - Propose

Call for proposals opens Saturday, Jun 16, 2018.
Call for proposals closes Friday, Aug 3, 2018.
Selected proposals will be announced on Monday, Aug 20, 2018.

To submit a presentation visit our Papercall site.

Conference Theme

Our theme this year is the DevOps retrospective. “What new things are you doing? Why did you stop? Is DevOps giving you a new era of belonging or are you entering the trough of disillusionment? Is your team truly cross functional or are you still in a Ops team; DevOps by name only? Is SRE the same as DevOps? Can you keep up with all the new DevOps tooling? Are you more T shaped or more I shaped? Is DevOps working?

Presentations can reflect stories of change, stories of how things work or have never worked, how you had to adapt, or technology & tooling decisions that have produced great or not so great outcomes and how this represents the current state of your DevOps journey.

You are also welcome to submit proposals that you feel fall outside this theme.

Equal Opportunity

DevOpsDays Wellington 2018 is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to invite people of all backgrounds and profiles to submit presentation proposals. All potential speakers will receive consideration without regard to race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, ability or age.

We also encourage those who have not presented before and can offer support to anyone who would like to submit a proposal. Please email us [email protected] with any questions. Even better, just submit your proposal and let us know it’s your first presentation. We can offer support that includes review of your CFP content, speaking and presentation coaching/tips, travel, and accommodation assistance.

Proposals

There are three ways to propose a session:

A plenary presentation during the conference part : these are 30 minute slots that will have the full attention of all attendees, as everybody will be in that one room.
An Ignite talk that will be presented during the Ignite Talks. These are 5 minute slots with slides changing every 15 seconds (20 slides total) which are also presented to all attendees in one room
Workshop - Technical Presentation - Tutorial These run during the open spaces slots and have an optional and fixed attendance. These can range in length from 30-60 mins, with participants following along on their own laptop. You will need to submit a prerequisites list so participants can come prepared. We cannot not guarantee any conference wifi, so if your sessions requires internet connection, plan to use an alternative connection and make sure you articulate this in your prerequisites list.

Dependent on submissions, we may or may not run all these types of session at the conference

Choosing talks is part art, part science; here are some factors we consider when trying to assemble the best possible program for our local audience:

Broad appeal: How will your talk play out in a room of people with a variety of backgrounds? Technical deep dives need more levels to provide value for the whole room, some of whom might not use your specific tool.
New local presenters: You are the only one who can tell your story. We are very interested in the challenges and successes being experienced in our local area. We are happy to provide guidance/coaching for new speakers upon request.
Under-represented voices: We want to hear all voices, including those that may speak less frequently at similar events. Whether you're in a field not typically thought of as a technology field, you're in a large, traditional organization, or you're the only person at your organization with your background, we are interested in your unique experience.
Original content: We prefer talks not already presented at another event, especially another one in the local area or one available in recorded form.
No third-party submissions: If a PR firm or your marketing department is proposing the talk, you've already shown that as a speaker you're distant from the process. This is a small community-driven event, and speakers need to be directly engaged with the organizers and attendees.
No vendor pitches: As much as we value vendors and sponsors, we are not going to accept a talk that appears to be a pitch for your product.

Submit

To submit a presentation visit our Papercall site.

Be specific. We aren't mind readers (a description of about 20 lines is about right)
Detail is good, but not as important as explaining why your proposal would be interesting
Multiple proposals are welcome. Just respect the other rules

There are three ways to propose a topic at DevOpsDays Wellington:

A 30-minute talk presented during the conference, usually in the mornings.
An Ignite talk presented during the Ignite sessions (scheduling varies). These are 5 minutes slots with slides changing every 15 seconds (20 slides total).
Open Space: If you'd like to lead a group discussion during the attendee-suggested Open Space breakout sessions, it is not necessary to propose it ahead of time. Those topics are suggested in person at the conference. If you'd like to demo your product or service, you should sponsor the event and demo it at your table.