5 ms·

Show HN: Call to Speakers – Find, track and apply to speak at tech conferences

43 points by conroy 12y ago

conroy 12y ago
Hi HN, last time I posted about Call to Speakers, I got great feedback. Since then, I've added talk submission (directly from the website), filtering and search to the homepage, and customizable email notifications about new conferences. I'll be here in the comments if you have any questions.
- andlarry 12y ago
  Hi, really neat idea (didn't see it last time). Just browsing the homepage, LDAPCon has the wrong country in summary view.
  - conroy 12y ago
    Thanks! All fixed.
egonschiele 12y ago
Very useful! I'd like to see "Ruby" in the topics list.
- conroy 12y ago
  Looks like it was being accidentally filtered out. You should now see it in the topics list.
metasean 12y ago
Cool idea! I'd love it if there were also (a) a way to submit requests for presentations and (b) a way to vote on presentations.
- conroy 12y ago
  Thanks for the feedback. If you're running a conference, we can host your CFP on Call to Speakers. See https://calltospeakers.com/hosted https://calltospeakers.com/hosted for more info. If you just know about a conference and would like it added to the list, fill out the form at the bottom of the homepage (I just added this, so don't worry if you didn't see it before). As for b), that will be up to the conference organizers. Most use a selection committee instead of letting the crowd decide.
  - metasean 12y ago
    Have you considered other applications of the underlying system? For example, in our area we have several meetup groups that have constant calls out for presenters, but there are also requests for certain topics to be covered. So, a "rolling" version would be really useful (e.g. the possible presenters that were not selected this month, are automatically kept in queue for next month).
    - conroy 12y ago
      Yep, we'd love to support meetups. If you know of any specific meetups that would like to use Call to Speakers, shoot me an email at contact@calltospeakers.com.
WhitneyLand 12y ago
Search for mobile yields 0 results. Do you need more content in this area, or have all the important mobile focussed events collapsed into just WWDC and I/O?
jongalloway2 12y ago
The footer is overlapping the header in IE11 because #content flex-basis is somehow being set to 0. I'm not sure if IE is being more pedantic on the flexbox spec or what. This change in prefix-style.css seems to fix it: #content { -webkit-box-flex: 1; -webkit-flex: 1; -ms-flex: 1 1 auto; flex: 1 1 auto; }
whitingx 12y ago
A very useful site - I've been following and promoting it for a while now :) Could the 'Topics' filter be set to filter by UX events?
AustinDizzy 12y ago
Looks like a really useful site for enabling speakers! A few months ago, I was emailed and asked to speak at two different conferences but didn't respond to either request because I wasn't sure if travel expenses would be covered or not. I could've just asked them straight up, but I didn't want to seem like I was only interested in compensation. I'm also still full-time student, so I believe I would've been justified if I asked but I guess I was just too busy at the time to worry about it. So, HN, are speakers at tech conferences typically reimbursed for travel expenses or receive compensation to pay for travel + lodging?

43 points by conroy 12y ago

Hi HN, last time I posted about Call to Speakers, I got great feedback. Since then, I've added talk submission (directly from the website), filtering and search to the homepage, and customizable email notifications about new conferences. I'll be here in the comments if you have any questions.

andlarry 12y ago
Hi, really neat idea (didn't see it last time). Just browsing the homepage, LDAPCon has the wrong country in summary view.
- conroy 12y ago
  Thanks! All fixed.

egonschiele 12y ago

Very useful! I'd like to see "Ruby" in the topics list.

conroy 12y ago
Looks like it was being accidentally filtered out. You should now see it in the topics list.

metasean 12y ago

Cool idea! I'd love it if there were also (a) a way to submit requests for presentations and (b) a way to vote on presentations.

conroy 12y ago
Thanks for the feedback. If you're running a conference, we can host your CFP on Call to Speakers. See https://calltospeakers.com/hosted https://calltospeakers.com/hosted for more info. If you just know about a conference and would like it added to the list, fill out the form at the bottom of the homepage (I just added this, so don't worry if you didn't see it before). As for b), that will be up to the conference organizers. Most use a selection committee instead of letting the crowd decide.
- metasean 12y ago
  Have you considered other applications of the underlying system? For example, in our area we have several meetup groups that have constant calls out for presenters, but there are also requests for certain topics to be covered. So, a "rolling" version would be really useful (e.g. the possible presenters that were not selected this month, are automatically kept in queue for next month).
  - conroy 12y ago
    Yep, we'd love to support meetups. If you know of any specific meetups that would like to use Call to Speakers, shoot me an email at contact@calltospeakers.com.

WhitneyLand 12y ago

Search for mobile yields 0 results. Do you need more content in this area, or have all the important mobile focussed events collapsed into just WWDC and I/O?

jongalloway2 12y ago

The footer is overlapping the header in IE11 because #content flex-basis is somehow being set to 0. I'm not sure if IE is being more pedantic on the flexbox spec or what. This change in prefix-style.css seems to fix it: #content { -webkit-box-flex: 1; -webkit-flex: 1; -ms-flex: 1 1 auto; flex: 1 1 auto; }

whitingx 12y ago

A very useful site - I've been following and promoting it for a while now :) Could the 'Topics' filter be set to filter by UX events?

AustinDizzy 12y ago

Looks like a really useful site for enabling speakers! A few months ago, I was emailed and asked to speak at two different conferences but didn't respond to either request because I wasn't sure if travel expenses would be covered or not. I could've just asked them straight up, but I didn't want to seem like I was only interested in compensation. I'm also still full-time student, so I believe I would've been justified if I asked but I guess I was just too busy at the time to worry about it. So, HN, are speakers at tech conferences typically reimbursed for travel expenses or receive compensation to pay for travel + lodging?