Submit a talk to PyConZA 2021 (Archived)

How to submit a proposal

  1. Create a PyConZA 2021 account (or login if you already have one) by clicking on the Create Account/login button on the top right.
  2. On your profile page, click Edit User and fill in your name if you didn't do so during account creation.
  3. On your profile page, click Edit Profile and fill in a contact number. Contact numbers are never displayed on the site but organizers need them in case they need to contact speakers urgently (e.g. shortly before or during the conference).
  4. On your profile page, click Submit talk proposal on the right.
  5. Fill in the title and abstract for your talk and select the appropriate speaker (or speakers).
  6. Select the appropriate talk type for your proposal.
  7. Select the appropriate talk track for the proposal. If you're unsure, just use Other.
  8. Done!

What happens next?

After you've submitted a talk, we'll email you to let you know that we've received your talk proposal. We'll ask questions if we're unsure of anything and help you make your abstract as shiny as possible.

Then there'll be a long wait while other proposals to come in.

We'll start accepting talks at the end of August. If it's important for you to know before then, let us know and we'll work something out.

When do talks need to be submitted by?

We'd love to have talk submissions in by 16 August 2021, but submissions after this deadline are also welcome.

What if I'm new to speaking?

If you're new to speaking and would like assistance preparing your talk, email team@za.pycon.org with a rough draft of your talk proposal and we'll find a suitably experienced speaker to act as a mentor.

Talk types and topics

What kinds of proposals are we accepting?

  • Keynote: A 30-45 minute talk on a broad topic that should be of interest to almost all of the attendees.
  • Talk: A conference talk. Talk slots are 30 minutes long, with an additional 10 minutes for discussion at the end. Shared sessions are also possible. Presentations must be in English.

What topics are we accepting?

We are interested in a wide variety of talk topics. The only hard requirement is that your talk must be related to Python.

If you are keen to talk but you are struggling to come up with a topic, here is some food for thought:

  • is there a tool that you want to geek out about?
  • are you building something interesting for work or fun?
  • maybe you have some strong and/or novel opinions about some part of the Python ecosystem or community that you would like to share
  • maybe you think you can put together a panel discussion or some other thing that isn't exactly a presentation
  • maybe ... something else entirely. We are very keen to allow speakers to test out new ways of presenting their ideas

If you would like to see what kinds of talks have been presented before, you can browse videos from past PyConZAs. You are also welcome to revisit topics from past PyConZAs so long as there is something new to say.

Talk tracks

To simplify scheduling, and help reviewers, this year we are dividing the submissions into a number of tracks.

See the tracks details page for more information.

FAQ

What platform will be used to stream the talks?

We are still researching the best option for PyConZA 2021. Currently we are considering StreamYard, but if you have any experience with the various options, we would love to hear your opinion. Please contact team@za.pycon.org.

How do I edit my talk submission?

Your talk submissions will be listed on your profile page. If you go to the individual proposal page by clicking on the talk title, you should see an "Edit" button to the right of the title. Note that you can only edit the proposal while it's under consideration. Once a final decision has been made, it can no longer be edited. If you need to add or edit something after a proposal has been accepted, please contact the talk committee with the details.

Can I submit multiple talks?

You can submit multiple Talk and Keynote proposals, but, to encourage speaker diversity, we will generally only accept one of your proposals. If you do submit multiple proposals, please let us know which proposal you would most like to present, so we can use that as a potential tie-breaker.

If I am a speaker, do I have to buy a ticket?

Like many community Python conferences, we apply an "everyone pays" policy: we ask everyone, including speakers and even organisers, to buy a ticket. However, we offer a financial aid program, and welcome anyone who would be excluded by this policy to request a ticket. Please mention that you are an accepted speaker if you make a financial aid ticket request.

You can buy a ticket here and apply for financial assistance here.

Where are the tutorials and other options?

We are still looking at options for hosting tutorials for this year, so that may become an option later, but only if we feel we have a good method for running these.