---
layout: post
title: 'The 2017 SeaGL CFP is open for business!'
status: publish
type: post
published: true
categories: news
tags: '2017'
---

**Calling all speakers or speakers-to-be! Our 2017 Call for Participation is open!**

SeaGL is dedicated to supporting newer local Seattle speakers! We welcome speakers of **all backgrounds and levels of experience** – even if you’ve never spoken at a technical conference. If you’re excited about Free/Libre/Open technologies or communities, then we want to hear from you!

[Click here to propose a talk.](https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2017/program/proposals)

### Target dates

* CFP Opens: June 19th, 2017
* CFP Closes: August 6th, 2017 - Midnight PDT
* Speaker Notifications: August 28th 2017
* Schedule Published: September 4th, 2017

### Talk formats

This year SeaGL is looking for talks in two formats:

* **20 minutes**: Introduce the audience to a new technology, concept, or just recap an older idea which you think is really neat.
* **50 minutes**: Go more in depth! Do a demo! This is your chance to really educate the audience about something you enjoy.

Both of these time slots **include the Q&A time**. Please time your presentations accordingly. We suggest aiming for a 15 minute presentation for the 20 minute time slot and for 40-45 minutes for the 50 minute time slot, but as the speaker the final presentation time is up to you (as long as you don't exceed your time slot).

[Click here to propose a talk.](https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2017/program/proposals)

### Topic ideas

Not sure what to propose? Here are some ideas!

* How to get involved in free and open source software
* DevOps, system administration, infrastructure
* Career tips and strategies
* Web development tools and techniques
* Policy and licensing affecting free and open source software use or development
* Hardware, embedded Linux, or the Internet of Things
* The cloud and other distributed services
* Building free and open source communities
* Using free software at home, work, or school
* Security and privacy online
* Free and open software on non-GNU/Linux platforms (Windows, macOS)
* Anything else that you think would be interesting to new or seasoned Free/Libre/Open source fans!

[Click here to propose a talk.](https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2017/program/proposals)

### Proposal and public speaking resources

Never presented at a conference or meetup before? Presented but still not feeling confident? It's OK, even the most experienced conference presenters aren't necessarily confident at this stuff.

The [Public_Speaking](https://github.com/vmbrasseur/Public_Speaking) repository has collected a lot of resources to help you level up in your conference presenting.

Pay particular attention to the [Proposing talks](https://github.com/vmbrasseur/Public_Speaking#proposing-talks) section of this page. Follow these tips and your talk proposals will stand a better chance of being selected.

**PLEASE NOTE**: Whether your talk is accepted or not often doesn't have as much to do with how great your proposal is as it does with how many speaking slots the conference has available and the balance of the program the organisers need to craft. It's nothing personal: we just don't have enough time to accept all the great talk proposals we receive.

Don't let that stop you from proposing! You can't win a race you don't even run, so [click here to propose a talk.](https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2017/program/proposals)

### CFP office hours

Want to propose a talk but want feedback on your idea, proposal wording, talk title or just on how to deal with nerves? The speaker committee is running weekly office hours during the CFP. We'll do everything possible to help you be successful with your proposal and presentation. Office hour times:

* 2-3 PM Pacific Time, every Wednesday until August 6th.

All office hours are held in the `#seagl` IRC channel on Freenode IRC. Don't worry if you're not familiar with IRC. Just [click here for the webchat](https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=%23seagl), choose a nickname, and you're good to go!

### Speaker travel support

As SeaGL is a **free to attend community-oriented conference**, we regret that we are unable to help with the cost of travel and accommodation for speakers at this time.

### Code of Conduct

All speakers and attendees of SeaGL must agree and adhere to the [Code of Conduct](/code_of_conduct) for the safety and enjoyment of all organizers, volunteers, speakers, and attendees. We ask that all prospective speakers review and confirm their willingness to abide by the Code of Conduct terms and expectations when interacting within SeaGL community spaces.

[No, really, click here to propose a talk. Please. We want to hear from you!](https://osem.seagl.org/conferences/seagl2017/program/proposals)

> This post is copyright VM Brasseur and licensed [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
