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Why you should submit a proposal to CSSConf Australia

5 years ago from

Hey there!

I'm one of the curators of CSSConf here in Australia. We're a not for profit conference that is centred around CSS, design and the web in general.

This year is our second year as a conference, and we're the first CSSConf to expand to a two day event — we're super excited because not only do we get to invite our heroes to come speak, but we're able to accept a wider gamut of talks from the community!

We're running a call for proposals that closes this week — our process is simple: You submit a proposal (or as many as you like) before the deadline. Someone from our team nominates themselves to remove all personal details (think: name, sex, location, company names… anything identifiable — this year, that person is me.) The rest of the team will vote on topics in two rounds until we've come to a consensus.

From there, we'll reach out and see if you're able to come. We'll cover your travel to Australia, local airport<—>hotel transfers, up to a week of accommodation in Melbourne!

The conference is last year was pretty great (2014.cssconf.com.au/news/thank-you/), and we're working super hard to make it even better this time around.

So, over to you — If you're passionate about design, data, graphing, research, project experiences, CSS?!, the web or anything in between, then we'd love to see a proposal from you. If you've never given a talk before… that doesn't matter, we can help!

Everything you need from here can be found at http://2015.cssconf.com.au

Can't wait to see your proposals ! :-)

13 comments

  • Clay MacTavishClay MacTavish, 5 years ago

    Skip the conference and go build something difficult.

    4 points
    • Clark WimberlyClark Wimberly, 5 years ago

      Building something difficult so you can finally afford that trip to Australia. Oh wait....

      4 points
  • Cade D, 5 years ago

    Ben's pretty much summed it up. CSSConf last year was incredible. To be honest, this year looks so amazing I'm beginning to regret being on the organising committee instead of putting in a talk of my own.

    You really should get a proposal in. It's going to be amazing.

    1 point
  • Clark WimberlyClark Wimberly, 5 years ago

    How long are the slots? Any particular format you guys are looking for? (walkthroughs, case study, roundtable chat)

    1 point
    • Ben SchwarzBen Schwarz, 5 years ago

      Good question, I totally missed that — The talk slots are 30 minutes. We don't do question time, instead we ask that people attend our fringe events and spend time with other speakers and attendees. (I mean, its more fun that way anyway!)

      In terms of format, walkthroughs, case studies, live demos, fun, formal, its entirely up to you. Everyone loves a good story — it doesn't have to be technical either.

      0 points
  • Abhishek SureshAbhishek Suresh, 5 years ago

    Why is it so expensive?

    0 points
    • Ben SchwarzBen Schwarz, 5 years ago

      Australia is not a cheap country — CSSConf is a not for profit organisation and we rely on our really generous sponsors to make everything work financially.

      If we were exposing the real costs of running this event (and paying ourselves for the 4 months of work we put into it), then the costs would be even higher.

      2 points
      • Abhishek SureshAbhishek Suresh, 5 years ago

        Hey Ben, thanks for answering. Fair Enough. I live in Melbourne too (a year so far), I know what you are talking about. Pardon the brevity of my question. I was trying to understand the reason behind expensive tickets - Is it normal for events to have this kind of a price tag or was it to attract/block a specific crowd or are you giving away lot of swag, etc.

        I have organized a lot of large scale events in the past but not with this price tag and I was quite intrigued. Also are you looking for volunteers? I would be more than glad to be a volunteer for the event.

        0 points
        • Ben SchwarzBen Schwarz, 5 years ago

          No sweat — we spend every dollar on the conference and we're pretty lucky to be able to have it all work; Its by no mistake, but by an insane amount of work by the whole team here.

          When you consider that the first of our announced speakers are all international, you can start to appreciate that we're flying them around the world, and making sure that they're looked after while they're here. That adds up quickly cost wise — and for many people, travelling elsewhere in the world to attend conferences to see these people speak is impossible! (and far, far more expensive).

          We run CSSConf because its the kind of event that we'd want to go to. I've spent a lot of time attending conferences around the world over the last few years, and I really want to be apart of an event that we can be proud of here in Melbourne.

          Right now, we've reached out to a bunch of volunteers and have a full staff of people to help out. Of course, if you want to drop me an email, I'll add you to the next spot in line. You never know when you'll need an extra pair of hands :-)

          0 points
  • Kyle BavenderKyle Bavender, 5 years ago

    Thank you for inviting proposals here, Ben!

    Looking through your post, the conference site, and reading the links you provided a spark — I realized that I want to speak at a conference some day. It's up my alley — deep knowledge, speaking, teaching — and I want to give back to the community, even this year.

    CSSConf is too much a stretch for me, I think — I just don't have the time to craft a strong presentation let alone a quality proposal due to an overwhelming amount of full time + freelance commitments this season.

    But you have definitely stirred me from dormant dreaming in to motion. I signed up for Meetup.com and am looking forward to joining my local community — or starting my own meetup.

    So, a bit of a personal thanks, but I am grateful for you post! Hope CSSConf Australia is a blast!

    0 points
    • Ben SchwarzBen Schwarz, 5 years ago

      Thanks Kyle, that was a really nice thing to say. You made the whole team grin from ear to ear.

      Perhaps this year isn't the year for you, but I must urge you to start practicing writing conference proposals—you might get knocked back a few times, and you'll just need to get better and better at explaining yourself. Try to imagine and articulate what would excite you, then pop it into a few proposals… if you get turned down, make sure that you ask for feedback.

      It can be really hard for a team to give you feedback, because they will likely receive hundreds of proposals… but you never know what you might learn to change that'll make a huge difference for next time.

      Also, it can't hurt to try speaking at a local meet up or do guest lecturing at a local university. Both will really help you become more confident in front of an audience.

      All the best, hope you get a proposal in somewhere, soon.

      1 point
  • Dwayne CharringtonDwayne Charrington, 5 years ago (edited 5 years ago )

    Hi Ben,

    Big fan of your work and Calibre. I might be able to come up with something for a proposal shortly. I am pretty busy, but have always wanted to speak at a conference (I am just in Brisbane, so not far to travel), so I'll see how time goes.

    Would love to come to the conference regardless, but the $750 is a little too high for me considering I am getting married later this year and have a child on the way.

    Either way, all the best mate. This looks great. Nice lineup so far as well.

    0 points
    • Ben SchwarzBen Schwarz, 5 years ago

      Hey Dwanye,

      Thanks so much! Please do your best to get a proposal in before Saturday. You've got until 5pm AEST :-)

      I totally understand, financing travel and conferences yourself is a really tough deal… you must pick and choose.

      Good luck with everything, hopefully we can have you here for CSSConf one way or another soon.

      0 points