Updates and improvements to the 2021 CFP

2 files changed, 122 insertions, 116 deletions

diff --git a/2021/cfp.md b/2021/cfp.md
index e854b338..26b9f380 100644
--- a/2021/cfp.md
+++ b/2021/cfp.md
@@ -1,15 +1,12 @@
-[[!meta title="Call for Proposals - DRAFT"]]
+[[!meta title="Call for Proposals"]]
 [[!meta copyright="Copyright &copy; 2020 Amin Bandali, Sacha Chua, David Bremner<br />
-Copyright &copy; 2021 Amin Bandali, Sacha Chua, Leo Vivier"]]
-
-**This document is a draft.**
+Copyright &copy; 2021 Amin Bandali, Sacha Chua, Leo Vivier, Sebastian Crane"]]
 
 **EmacsConf 2021 | November 27 and 28, 2021 | Online Conference**
 
 [[EmacsConf 2021|2021]] will be a virtual conference on **November 27
-and 28, 2021 (Sat-Sun)**.  If you wold like to present at the
-conference, please [[submit your proposal|cfp]] by **September 30,
-2021**.
+and 28, 2021 (Sat-Sun)**.  If you'd like to present at the conference,
+please [[submit your proposal|cfp]] by **September 30, 2021**.
 
 EmacsConf 2021 is about the joy of [Emacs][emacs] and Emacs Lisp.
 Come share your experiments and adventures with the Emacs text editor
@@ -17,31 +14,29 @@ Come share your experiments and adventures with the Emacs text editor
 backgrounds** and **all levels of experience**, including newcomers
 giving their first talk.  What have you found exciting about Emacs
 lately?  What do you wish someone had told you when you were starting
-out or learning more?  What part of your workflow might inspire
-someone to get into Emacs or go deeper?
+out?  What part of your workflow might inspire someone to get into
+Emacs or go deeper?
 
 A great way to get started with writing a proposal is to start by
 exploring the programs from previous years: [[2020|2020/schedule]],
 [[2019|2019/schedule]], [[2015|2015/schedule]], [[2013|2013#program]].
 You might also find some neat ideas on the [[ideas]] page.  Feel free
-to add yours there too!  If you are still not sure, come by our IRC
+to add yours there too!  If you're still not sure, come by our IRC
 channel `#emacsconf` on `irc.libera.chat` and say hi.  You can join
 the chat using [your favourite IRC client][libera-emacsconf], or by
-pointing your web browser to [chat.emacsconf.org][chat] which runs our
-self-hosted instance of [The Lounge][thelounge] free software web IRC
-client.
+visiting [chat.emacsconf.org][chat] in your web browser.
 
 All kinds of people use Emacs for all kinds of things.  We would love
 it if EmacsConf 2021 could highlight interesting perspectives and
 reflect the diversity of our community.  If you know someone who might
 have a good idea for a talk, please reach out to them and encourage
 them to submit a proposal.  Many people (especially from
-underrepresented groups such as women, people of colour, and
-non-developers) might not consider themselves expert enough to share
-their thoughts.  If you let them know that you value their knowledge
-and maybe even suggest something that you think others would like to
-hear more about, they may realize that they have something worth
-sharing and that we would love to hear from them.
+underrepresented groups such as women, people of colour,
+non-developers, etc.) might not consider themselves expert enough to
+share their thoughts.  If you let them know that you value their
+knowledge and maybe even suggest something that you think others would
+like to hear more about, they may realize that they have something
+worth sharing and that we would love to hear from them.
 
 ## Important dates
 
@@ -53,7 +48,7 @@ availability, it might be two half-days.
 <tbody>
 <tr>
 <td colspan="2" align="left">CFP opens</td>
-<td colspan="2" align="right">August 4, 2021</td>
+<td colspan="2" align="right">August 5, 2021</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td colspan="2" align="left">CFP closes</td>
@@ -75,11 +70,11 @@ availability, it might be two half-days.
 </table>
 
 If you are not available during the conference itself but you have a
-neat idea that you would like to share, please propose it anyway!
-You can always handle questions after the conference, and we might
-even be able to coordinate with other Emacs meetups for regional
-events (if you're an Emacs meetup organizer and would like to make
-this happen please get in touch with us!).
+neat idea that you'd like to share, please propose it anyway!  You can
+always handle questions after the conference, and we might even be
+able to coordinate with other Emacs meetups for regional events (if
+you're an Emacs meetup organizer and would like to make this happen
+please get in touch with us!).
 
 Please note that although we will try our best to stick to the above
 dates in the coming months, given the current state of the world, we
@@ -89,7 +84,7 @@ Thank you for your patience and understanding.
 <a name="formats"></a>
 ## Talk formats
 
-We would like EmacsConf 2021 to inspire lots of different people to
+We'd like EmacsConf 2021 to inspire lots of different people to
 explore lots of different things in Emacs.  We hope to put together a
 stream of quick ideas followed by lots of conversation over IRC and/or
 Q&A sessions, with occasional deep dives into topics that many people
@@ -101,7 +96,7 @@ As you think about your talk, consider what you can share in:
   people to do or remember?  You can show just enough to get people
   interested and then point them to where they can learn more
   afterwards.  You can answer questions over IRC, the pad, or the
-  wiki, and there is no limit to how long that conversation can go.
+  wiki, and there's no limit to how long that conversation can go.
 
 - **Up to 20 minutes total:** How would you flesh out some of the
   points from your 5-10 minute presentation?  How can you show the
@@ -110,41 +105,43 @@ As you think about your talk, consider what you can share in:
 - **Up to 40 minutes total:** What would benefit from a deep dive?
   How do you keep it engaging?
 
-When writing your proposal, please write an outline of what you would like to
-discuss if you had 5-10 minutes.  If you would like to propose a longer talk,
-please also provide outlines for the shorter formats to make it easier for us
-to schedule everything.
+When writing your proposal, please write an outline of what you plan
+to talk about if you have 5-10 minutes.  If you'd like to propose a
+longer talk, outline what you might include if you had more time to
+present (up to 40 minutes, including Q&A).
 
-Example for a 40-minute talk:
+Here's an example for a potentially 40-minute talk:
 
 - 5-10 minutes: quick demo of the abc package working together with
-  xyz package
-- 20 minutes: + some customization options to accommodate a different
-  workflow
-- 40 minutes: + modifying the behaviour of the package in order to add
-  something new
+  xyz package.
+- 20 minutes: same as above, with some customization options to
+  accommodate a different workflow.
+- 40 minutes: all of the above, including modifying the behaviour of
+  the package in order to add something new.
+
+This flexibility would help us in devising the conference schedule so
+that as many people as possible could get a chance to present their
+ideas, while still allowing for featuring longer deep dive talks.
 
 Other session formats such as tutorials, workshops, and hangouts are
-welcome as well, especially considering all that is going on around
-the world, in case you would find those other formats preferable to
-a traditional talk format.  If you are interested in these or other
+welcome as well, in case you would find those other formats preferable
+to a traditional talk format.  If you're interested in these or other
 session types, please get in touch with us publicly or privately.
-We will be happy to work something out with you.
+We'll be happy to work something out with you.
 
 ## Office hours
 
-We are aware that it can be a bit intimidating to submit a proposal to
-a conference, so we thought we would try and help!  This year, we are
+We're aware that it can be somewhat intimidating to submit a proposal
+to a conference, so we thought we'd try to help!  This year, we're
 opening up the doors of our virtual offices for you to come talk to us
 about your proposals with hopes of helping you with any hurdles you
 may be facing with preparing your proposal.
 
-We would like to publish a schedule of availabilities of volunteers
-for holding office hours.  Currently these volunteers consist of some
-of the EmacsConf organizers, but we would love to have the help of
-other members of the Emacs community as well.  If you are a more
-experienced Emacs user and would like to help with this, please get
-in touch!
+We'd like to publish a schedule of availabilities of volunteers for
+holding office hours.  Currently these volunteers consist of some of
+the EmacsConf organizers, but we'd love to have the help of other
+members of the Emacs community as well.  If you are a more experienced
+Emacs user and would like to help with this, please get in touch!
 
 Our first office hour this year is planned for Saturday, August 14,
 from 3pm to 4pm UTC with zaeph (Leo Vivier) at the following
@@ -161,27 +158,35 @@ submissions by a conference organizer who will not participate in
 talk selection.  The anonymized submissions will then be reviewed by
 a selection committee.
 
-If your talk is approved, we would love it if you could help us make
-sure the conference runs smoothly.  After we email you with the time
-alloted for your talk, we will ask you to:
+If your talk is approved, we'd love it if you could help us make sure
+the conference runs smoothly.  After we email you with the time
+alloted for your talk, we'll ask you to
 
-- prepare a prerecording of your talk, or record it with our help
-  if that would be easier for you; and
-- schedule a short tech-check if you would like to answer questions
-  in a live session.
+- prepare a prerecording of your talk, or record it with our help if
+  that'd be easier for you; and
+- schedule a short tech-check if you'd like to be able to answer
+  questions in a live session.
+
+Don't forget to subscribe to our main mailing list,
+[emacsconf-discuss][emacsconf-discuss], for discussion
+and announcements about the EmacsConf conference.
+
+We look forward to your ideas and submissions!
 
 ## Getting involved
 
 If you would like to help with the conference (planning the sessions,
 reviewing proposals, helping with infrastructure, making sessions more
-accessible, editing video transcripts, etc), see our [[planning]] page
-and come say hi to us at `#emacsconf-org` on `irc.libera.chat`.
-
+accessible, editing video transcripts, etc.), see our [[planning]]
+page and come say hi to us at `#emacsconf-org` on `irc.libera.chat`.
 
-Subscribe to our mailing list, [emacsconf-discuss][emacsconf-discuss],
-for discussion and announcements about the EmacsConf conference.
+In addition to the [emacsconf-discuss][emacsconf-discuss] list, feel
+free to subscribe to [emacsconf-org][emacsconf-org] as well, for
+discussions related to organizing the conference by the EmacsConf
+organizers and volunteers.
 
-We look forward to your ideas and submissions!
+We'd really appreciate your help in making EmacsConf 2021 the best one
+so far!
 
 
 ## Commitment to freedom
@@ -194,7 +199,6 @@ of [free software][freesw], much like previous EmacsConf conferences.
 [emacs]: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/
 [freesw]: https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
 [chat]: https://chat.emacsconf.org
-[thelounge]: https://thelounge.chat
 [libera-emacsconf]: ircs://irc.libera.chat:6697/emacsconf
 [emacsconf-discuss]: https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-discuss
 [emacsconf-org]: https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-org
diff --git a/2021/emacsconf-2021-cfp.org b/2021/emacsconf-2021-cfp.org
index 8665fbfb..5cf4e8f0 100644
--- a/2021/emacsconf-2021-cfp.org
+++ b/2021/emacsconf-2021-cfp.org
@@ -3,11 +3,9 @@
 #+date: November 27 and 28, 2021
 #+options: author:nil
 
-DRAFT
-
 [[https://emacsconf.org/2021/][EmacsConf 2021]] will be a virtual conference on *November 27 and 28,
-2021 (Sat-Sun)*.  If you wold like to present at the conference,
-please [[https://emacsconf.org/2021/cfp/][submit your proposal]] by *September 30, 2021*.
+2021 (Sat-Sun)*.  If you'd like to present at the conference, please
+[[https://emacsconf.org/2021/cfp/][submit your proposal]] by *September 30, 2021*.
 
 EmacsConf 2021 is about the joy of [[https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/][Emacs]] and Emacs Lisp.  Come share
 your experiments and adventures with the Emacs text editor / operating
@@ -20,11 +18,10 @@ your workflow might inspire someone to get into Emacs or go deeper?
 A great way to get started with writing a proposal is to start by
 exploring the programs from previous years: [[https://emacsconf.org/2020/schedule/][2020]], [[https://emacsconf.org/2019/schedule/][2019]], [[https://emacsconf.org/2015/schedule/][2015]], [[https://emacsconf.org/2013/#program][2013]].
 You might also find some neat ideas on the [[https://emacsconf.org/2021/ideas/][ideas]] page.  Feel free to
-add yours there too!  If you are still not sure, come by our IRC
+add yours there too!  If you're still not sure, come by our IRC
 channel =#emacsconf= on =irc.libera.chat= and say hi.  You can join
-the chat using [[ircs://irc.libera.chat:6697/emacsconf][your favourite IRC client]], or by pointing your web
-browser to [[https://chat.emacsconf.org][chat.emacsconf.org]] which runs our self-hosted instance of
-[[https://thelounge.chat][The Lounge]] free software web IRC client.
+the chat using [[ircs://irc.libera.chat:6697/emacsconf][your favourite IRC client]], or by visiting
+[[https://chat.emacsconf.org][chat.emacsconf.org]] in your web browser.
 
 All kinds of people use Emacs for all kinds of things.  We would love
 it if EmacsConf 2021 could highlight interesting perspectives and
@@ -44,18 +41,18 @@ For EmacsConf 2021, we are planning for 9am to 5pm Toronto/EST
 (2pm-10pm UTC) on November 27 and 28.  Depending on people's
 availability, it might be two half-days.
 
-| CFP opens             | August 4, 2021           |
+| CFP opens             | August 5, 2021           |
 | CFP closes            | September 30, 2021       |
 | Speaker notifications | October 15, 2021         |
 | Schedule published    | October 31, 2021         |
 | EmacsConf 2021!       | November 27 and 28, 2021 |
 
 If you are not available during the conference itself but you have a
-neat idea that you would like to share, please propose it anyway!
-You can always handle questions after the conference, and we might
-even be able to coordinate with other Emacs meetups for regional
-events (if you're an Emacs meetup organizer and would like to make
-this happen please get in touch with us!).
+neat idea that you'd like to share, please propose it anyway!  You can
+always handle questions after the conference, and we might even be
+able to coordinate with other Emacs meetups for regional events (if
+you're an Emacs meetup organizer and would like to make this happen
+please get in touch with us!).
 
 Please note that although we will try our best to stick to the above
 dates in the coming months, given the current state of the world, we
@@ -64,7 +61,7 @@ Thank you for your patience and understanding.
 
 * Talk formats
 
-We would like EmacsConf 2021 to inspire lots of different people to
+We'd like EmacsConf 2021 to inspire lots of different people to
 explore lots of different things in Emacs.  We hope to put together a
 stream of quick ideas followed by lots of conversation over IRC and/or
 Q&A sessions, with occasional deep dives into topics that many people
@@ -76,7 +73,7 @@ As you think about your talk, consider what you can share in:
   people to do or remember?  You can show just enough to get people
   interested and then point them to where they can learn more
   afterwards.  You can answer questions over IRC, the pad, or the
-  wiki, and there is no limit to how long that conversation can go.
+  wiki, and there's no limit to how long that conversation can go.
 
 - *Up to 20 minutes total:* How would you flesh out some of the points
   from your 5-10 minute presentation?  How can you show the pieces
@@ -85,41 +82,43 @@ As you think about your talk, consider what you can share in:
 - *Up to 40 minutes total:* What would benefit from a deep dive?
   How do you keep it engaging?
 
-When writing your proposal, please write an outline of what you would
-like to discuss if you had 5-10 minutes.  If you would like to propose
-a longer talk, please also provide outlines for the shorter formats to
-make it easier for us to schedule everything.
+When writing your proposal, please write an outline of what you plan
+to talk about if you have 5-10 minutes.  If you'd like to propose a
+longer talk, outline what you might include if you had more time to
+present (up to 40 minutes, including Q&A).
 
-Example for a 40-minute talk:
+Here's an example for a potentially 40-minute talk:
 
 - 5-10 minutes: quick demo of the abc package working together with
-  xyz package
-- 20 minutes: + some customization options to accommodate a different
-  workflow
-- 40 minutes: + modifying the behaviour of the package in order to add
-  something new
+  xyz package.
+- 20 minutes: same as above, with some customization options to
+  accommodate a different workflow.
+- 40 minutes: all of the above, including modifying the behaviour of
+  the package in order to add something new.
+
+This flexibility would help us in devising the conference schedule so
+that as many people as possible could get a chance to present their
+ideas, while still allowing for featuring longer deep dive talks.
 
 Other session formats such as tutorials, workshops, and hangouts are
-welcome as well, especially considering all that is going on around
-the world, in case you would find those other formats preferable to
-a traditional talk format.  If you are interested in these or other
+welcome as well, in case you would find those other formats preferable
+to a traditional talk format.  If you're interested in these or other
 session types, please get in touch with us publicly or privately.
-We will be happy to work something out with you.
+We'll be happy to work something out with you.
 
 * Office hours
 
-We are aware that it can be a bit intimidating to submit a proposal to
-a conference, so we thought we would try and help!  This year, we are
+We're aware that it can be somewhat intimidating to submit a proposal
+to a conference, so we thought we'd try to help!  This year, we're
 opening up the doors of our virtual offices for you to come talk to us
 about your proposals with hopes of helping you with any hurdles you
 may be facing with preparing your proposal.
 
-We would like to publish a schedule of availabilities of volunteers
-for holding office hours.  Currently these volunteers consist of some
-of the EmacsConf organizers, but we would love to have the help of
-other members of the Emacs community as well for the office hours.
-If you are a more experienced Emacs user and would like to help with
-this, please get in touch!
+We'd like to publish a schedule of availabilities of volunteers for
+holding office hours.  Currently these volunteers consist of some of
+the EmacsConf organizers, but we'd love to have the help of other
+members of the Emacs community as well.  If you are a more experienced
+Emacs user and would like to help with this, please get in touch!
 
 Our first office hour this year is planned for Saturday, August 14,
 from 3pm to 4pm UTC with zaeph (Leo Vivier) at the following
@@ -127,7 +126,7 @@ BigBlueButton room: https://bbb.emacsverse.org/b/ban-qye-fd1-5kw.
 
 * Submitting your proposal
 
-Once you are ready to submit your proposal, the [[https://emacsconf.org/2021/submit/][submit]] page has the
+Once you're ready to submit your proposal, the [[https://emacsconf.org/2021/submit/][submit]] page has the
 instructions on how to submit your talk.
 
 We use an anonymized submission process to reduce bias and encourage
@@ -136,16 +135,16 @@ submissions by a conference organizer who will not participate in
 talk selection.  The anonymized submissions will then be reviewed by
 a selection committee.
 
-If your talk is approved, we would love it if you could help us make
-sure the conference runs smoothly.  After we email you with the time
-alloted for your talk, we will ask you to:
+If your talk is approved, we'd love it if you could help us make sure
+the conference runs smoothly.  After we email you with the time
+allotted for your talk, we'll ask you to
 
-- prepare a prerecording of your talk, or record it with our help
-  if that would be easier for you; and
-- schedule a short tech-check if you would like to answer questions
-  in a live session.
+- prepare a prerecording of your talk, or record it with our help if
+  that'd be easier for you; and
+- schedule a short tech-check if you'd like to be able to answer
+  questions in a live session.
 
-Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list, [[https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-discuss][emacsconf-discuss]],
+Don't forget to subscribe to our main mailing list, [[https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-discuss][emacsconf-discuss]],
 for discussion and announcements about the EmacsConf conference.
 
 We look forward to your ideas and submissions!
@@ -154,13 +153,15 @@ We look forward to your ideas and submissions!
 
 If you would like to help with the conference (planning the sessions,
 reviewing proposals, helping with infrastructure, making sessions more
-accessible, editing video transcripts, etc), see our [[https://emacsconf.org/2021/planning/][planning]] page and
-come say hi to us at =#emacsconf= on =irc.libera.chat=.
+accessible, editing video transcripts, etc.), see our [[https://emacsconf.org/2021/planning/][planning]] page
+and come say hi to us at =#emacsconf= on =irc.libera.chat=.
 
-Subscribe to our mailing list, [[https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-discuss][emacsconf-discuss]], for discussions and
-announcements about the EmacsConf conference.
+In addition to the [[https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-discuss][emacsconf-discuss]] list, feel free to subscribe to
+[[https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/emacsconf-org][emacsconf-org]] as well, for discussions related to organizing the
+conference by the EmacsConf organizers and volunteers.
 
-We look forward to your ideas and submissions!
+We'd really appreciate your help in making EmacsConf 2021 the best one
+so far!
 
 
 * Commitment to freedom
@@ -172,7 +173,8 @@ of [[https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html][free software]], much like pre
 * COMMENT Copyright & License
 
 Copyright (c) 2020 Amin Bandali, Sacha Chua, David Bremner
-Copyright (c) 2021 Amin Bandali, Sacha Chua, Leo Vivier
+Copyright (c) 2021 Amin Bandali, Sacha Chua, Leo Vivier,
+Sebastian Crane
 
 The EmacsConf 2021 Call for Proposals is part of the EmacsConf wiki,
 and is dual-licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons