Become a Speaker

Are you ready to answer the call? 

WordCamp Miami is proud to have hosted hundreds of speakers over the years. Some as young as 10, some joining us from across the world. Some have spoken dozens of times, many have spoken with us for the first time. All have been essential to making our event unique and powerful. We’re glad you want to be one of them!

WCMIA has a solid history of providing a diverse speaking and programming experience in the past. We are actively looking for a mix of voices, folks who come from different backgrounds, who have different journeys, and who don’t all look alike. That being said, we encourage everyone to submit talk proposals, including groups that may not feel represented traditionally well at tech conferences. Please reach out to us privately at miami@wordcamp.org if you have any questions.

We have a ton of new things to share with you, so please make sure to read this entire page, even if you’ve applied to speak at a WordCamp a hundred times before!

Our speaker application will close on December 15th, 2019.

SPEAKER APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED FOR WORDCAMP MIAMI 2020!

First time? No problem!

If this is the first time you’re applying to speak at WCMIA, we’re so glad to have you! Here is a checklist of things we would ask for you to do once you apply. 

  • If you are considering applying to speak at WCMIA for the first time, it’s highly recommended that you contact us so that you have the opportunity to speak at a local meetup first, if you are from the area. This is a great opportunity to get some practice in, to get feedback on your talk, and meet some people who will be at WordCamp Miami
  • Also we encourage you to watch some videos of past talks at WordCamp Miami. Notice how the talks are casual, given by knowledgeable people, and don’t include self-promotion.
  • If you’re feeling uncertain about any aspect of your talk, you can opt-in to be paired up with a mentor! This will be someone who has spoken a few times and can answer any questions you may have.
  • We ask all speakers to spend 30-40 minutes after your talk in the Happiness Bar. This is where you can answer questions about your talk and help others with topics you may know a bit about. It’s a great opportunity for some casual networking, too.

Things we are always looking for in every speaker:

  • A story to tell
  • Knowledge to share
  • Enthusiasm and passion
  • Kindness and professionalism

Not sure what to talk about? 

As long as there is a connection to WordPress in some way, we welcome proposals from talks of all topics. 

The WordPress community is a diverse group and we want WordCamp Miami to reflect that – we are eager to hear your voice! 

Here are some suggestions when thinking of a topic. 

  • We are looking for diverse topics. Talks on SEO, marketing, and common business subjects are popular. We recommend sending in more than one talk submission if you want to touch on these topics. 
  • With the release of WordPress 5.3 and (along with changes to Gutenberg) our community has expressed interest in it in terms of how to use it effectively, blocks, and other general users topics. We do not know yet if there will be a single Gutenberg user topic or more than one.
  • As always we welcome submissions from a wide variety of topics. This is a short (but not complete) list of topics we’ve covered in the past:
    • Community Building/Diversity 
    • Content Creation (SEO, Blogging Strategy)
    • Security
    • Accessibility
    • Mental Health/Work Life Balance
    • Freelancing / Business Topics (Dealing w/ Clients, Best Practices, Hiring Developers, etc.)
    • Web Design / Theme Design 
    • UI and UX
    • PHP, JavaScript, HTML
    • Advanced WordPress Development Topics (Coding Themes, Plugins)
    • Case Studies (“What We Did Wrong”)
    • BuddyPress/bbPress

Important things you should know

  • This year, all speakers are asked to spend 30-40 minutes after their talk in the Happiness Bar. 
  • We want to know that you know your stuff and that your talk is valuable to our attendees. In your speaker submission, let us know how your talk can relate to WordPress or the WordCamp Miami audience.
  • Your session is not meant to promote your own product or business. If your session is to detail how you used WordPress code to build some really great aspect of your theme, plugin or business, and you’d like to present that as a sort of case study, go ahead and submit your session, but know that we’re not going to allow for a sales pitch at any point.
  • You have to know how to spell WordPress. And respect the WordPress logo/trademarks.
  • You can submit multiple speaker submissions for different topics. 
  • Please be prepared to submit speaker slides or review your presentation with a WCMIA organizer PRIOR to the event. 

The Happiness Bar! It’s kind of a big deal.

All speakers (with the exception of speakers that speak last or right before lunch) are asked after their talk to proceed to the Happiness Bar. This is where you can answer post-talk questions and assist other attendees with problems they may have related to your topic. This is an essential part of being a speaker at WordCamp Miami. If you are accepted, we will follow up with you afterwards to make sure we find time to put you on the schedule that works for you.

Welcome, kids of all ages!

It’s likely we will have our 5th annual “Kid’s Panel”! If you know someone who blogs, codes, works with WordPress, below the age of 18 – please wait for our speaker call for this. In the meantime, check out our Kids Camp.

How long should your talk be?

Standard talk times will be approximately 45 minutes. Lightning talks are usually 15 minutes. When practicing your talk, please remember to build in some time for questions. 

How do we select talks?

All selections and submissions are collectively reviewed by our committee. We cannot accept all submissions, and in fact the majority are NOT selected. Factors we look for in presentations are:

  • How unique the topic and your approach to it is
  • The popularity of the topic and how we think it will impact the community
  • Hometown of speaker (we try to keep a certain percentage of speakers local)
  • The speaker qualifications and experience (past speaking experience is not required though, since we do have first-time speakers at WordCamp Miami)

If your submission is not accepted we will notify you although we might not be able to personally respond to each submission or applicant.

Before applying, please review our Code of Conduct. All attendees should be familiar with the behavior that is and is not acceptable at a WordCamp and how to react should you need to report a violation. Your safety and comfort is our top priority. 

NOW YOU ARE READY TO ANSWER THE CALL FOR SPEAKERS:

You can also view this form in a separate tab if you wish.

SPEAKER APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED FOR WORDCAMP MIAMI 2020!