So you’re applying or confirmed to speak at a Lesbian Who Tech & Allies Summit? High fives!
Here are some #pro-tips for submitting content:
We are a tech conference first — not a women’s conference, not a lesbian conference, not a diversity conference. Think SXSW, TED, or TechCrunch and where the speakers and attendees simply reflect the people who live in this country.
We need technical content that will help techies: Our community has asked for more tech-forward content (i.
e. lessons on how techies can sharpen their skills or be exposed to ideas that are more relevant in their day-to-day. The content can be high-level, but think about how this will benefit someone who is technical. Content that could improve skills, knowledge, etc for techies is what we really need.
We are not a diversity conference. We are a tech conference where the speakers represent the people who live in this country. Please do not submit “how to be a woman in tech,” “my journey coming out,” or “why diverse teams are better teams.” These are topics that connect our community at the conference because we have so many shared experiences, but not where we want to focus from a content perspective.
We love industry trends and big ideas from topics that have huge impactions in our sector: We’d love to see more high-level content centered around industry trends, or potential applications for a wider market within areas like machine learning, AI, blockchain, cryptocurrency, cloud, cybersecurity and privacy. We’re open to other trends too.
We love leadership and career growth content: If you submit anything related to career growth or leadership, make it very clear what the attendee will learn through your talk title. This is the most competitive area, so if you submit topics in this area, make them good and feel free to submit more than one idea.
We love creative talk titles: If you submit three creative talk titles, that will often do better than a long description of the talk. Attendees need to know what to expect based off of the talk title.
Social good content: We do highlight some social good content, but it’s a very small percentage of our overall content. If you do go this route, please make it clear what lessons the attendee can learn outside of how technology can impact an issue.