[socal-piggies] We need more PyCon US 2013 submissions!

[Daniel Greenfeld]

The PyCon US 2013 call for papers (CFP) ends tomorrow, September 28th,
2012. We need more talk and tutorial submissions. Talks are 30 or 45
minute efforts in front of the PyCon audience and are recorded for
posterity. Tutorials are three hours long and are given to attendees
who have paid an additional fee in order to slurp in knowledge from
the masters.

On the 3 hour tutorial side of things, we especially need more Intro
to Python level submission. That means getting beginners up to speed
on basic Python techniques, so they can then exploit the other
tutorials, conference, and sprints to their full advantage.

Now onto some questions...

1. I would like to give a tutorial but it's so much work to put
together 3 hours of quality content.

The organizers of PyCon recognize that putting together a quality
tutorial is an amazing amount of work. Which is why tutorial
presenters are compensated for their effort.

2. What is the most likely length talk to be accepted? 30 minutes or 45 minutes?

The vast majority of PyCon sessions are 30 minutes long, so 45 minute
slots are rare and valuable commodities. So if your talk needs to be
45 minutes long your proposal has to really speak to the PyCon talk
reviewers.

Not only that, if reviewers send you information requests for any
duration talk or tutorial, you dramatically increase your odds of talk
acceptance with timely responses.

And, as said before, PyCon really needs more introductory level Python
tutorial submissions.

3. I would like to present a talk or tutorial but I can't afford to
come to PyCon.

PyCon's financial aid program is said to favor accepted speakers to
PyCon. They really want you to come!

4. I would like to present but I can't come up with a good idea!

I had this problem as well! Then I looked at the Suggested Tutorial
Topics and got some ideas.

5. Ack! I've got a talk idea but it's going to take me too much time
to put it together!

Submit the talk anyway before the talk and in fields you aren't ready
to fill in, simply put 'TBD'. Then over the course of the next few
days replace TBD with real material. Don't wait too long though to fix
those TBDs, no more than a week!

6. I'm a beginner/nobody in the community, is there any chance my
proposal will get accepted.

Absolutely!

The PyCon talk/tutorial reviewers love to see new people present.
While experienced/proven speakers have an edge, good talk/tutorial
proposals from promising candidates can make it into the conference.
Carefully double-check your submission, be responsive to reviewers,
and stay positive. I'm not saying you will get in, but I am saying
it's worth the effort.

Good luck!

PyCon 2013 is going to be bigger and better than any previous year.
That's because we pull together as a community to run an amazing event
that is known to jumpstart careers and cause amazing life changes. We
can't do this without you, so hurry up on your PyCon US 2013
submissions!

https://us.pycon.org/2013/speaking/cfp/

-- 
'Knowledge is Power'
Daniel Greenfeld
http://pydanny.com