Global Diversity Call for Proposals Day
Rebecca Waters
Chairperson
Photo by Hack Capital (opens in a new tab) on Unsplash (opens in a new tab)
February 3rd, 2018: Global Diversity Call for Proposals (CFP) Day (opens in a new tab). Around the globe, over 50 cities across 23 countries participated by running CFP workshops.
Global Diversity CFP on Twitter
The workshops were aimed at first time would-be speakers, from any field (technology focus not required). Mentors were available to help with proposals, provide speaking advice and share their enthusiasm to get newcomers up on stage.
Workshops were held in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney in Australia, by some of the most vocal supporters of diversity in technology in the country.
Fenders on Twitter
In Perth, Fenders (opens in a new tab) and DDD Perth run proposal writing workshops to help reduce the barrier to submitting, and so it made sense for us to join in this February fun and encourage a whole new group of conference potentials to get up and share their knowledge!
The workshop in Perth was well attended with participants from different backgrounds, both personally and professionally, coming together to work on their proposals. Mentors from Fenders and DDD Perth brought their children down and the entire building at Meerkats was filled with excitement (and snacks!).
DDD Perth on Twitter
A special mention goes to the company who provided the space, Meerkats (opens in a new tab); complete with breakout rooms and comfy couches, our supportive DDD Dad was able to entertain the children easily and the workshop participants could move around the space and find a quiet corner to work in when the workshop required.
Personally, I can’t wait to see the 13 proposals that were written get accepted at local user groups, conferences and maybe further afield.
Amy 👩💻🐺🏖️ on Twitter
Mark Lockett (opens in a new tab)’s open source software talk captured my interest (and not just me, I’m sure). Rosemary Lynch (opens in a new tab)’s experience with online publishing for organisations is eye opening, and Amy Kapernick (opens in a new tab)’s take on failure is sure to be a hit in the future.
Rosemary Lynch on Twitter
If these topics sound interesting, be sure to follow these people and lend your support for their first foray into speaking in the WA community!
If you missed this workshop, be sure to follow DDD Perth on Twitter (opens in a new tab) or join our mailing list (opens in a new tab) as we will be holding more workshops throughout the year to help aspiring speakers on their way!