[[!meta title="Notes on Preparing Your Talk"]]
[[!meta copyright="Copyright © 2019 Amin Bandali"]]

This page contains notes for our speakers on preparing their talks and
presentations.  Please read through the list and consider it while
preparing your talk.  If you have any questions, concerns, or
suggestions please write to <emacsconf-submit@gnu.org> or email me
directly at <bandali@gnu.org>.

Note: being part of a wiki, this page is subject to change (including
by you!); please check back every now and again for any changes and
updates.

### Code of conduct

First and foremost, we ask that you review our [[code of
conduct|conduct]] when preparing your talk to make sure we're all on
the same page and strive to make the event a great experience for all.
We would be happy to chat with you if you're unsure about whether your
talk or presentation style meets the guidelines laid out in the code
of conduct.  You can email Sacha Chua at <sacha@sachachua.com> to chat
more about this.

### Prerecording of lightning talks

If you're giving a lighting talk, we ask that you please prepare a
prerecorded version and send it to us by **October 19** the latest,
two weeks before the conference.

See the [[**tips**|tips]] page for more on how to record a screencast.

Per GNU Project's [Guide to
Formats](//audio-video.gnu.org/docs/formatguide.html), we prefer to
receive prerecorded videos in formats unencumbered by software
patents, such as:

- `video/ogg`: video files encoded with the Theora video codec,
  encapsulated in an Ogg transport layer, with `.ogg` or `.ogv` file
  extension.
- `video/webm`: WebM-encoded video files, with `.webm` file extension.

However, if for one reason or another you're unable to send us your
prerecorded video in one of the above formats, you may submit them in
other formats, like MPEG-4 (`.mp4`), and we will try to convert them
to our preferred formats on your behalf.

Send your prerecording(s) to <bandali@gnu.org>.  Please make sure to
name a free license of your choosing for your video to be released
under, as explained in the next section.

Note: If your email happens to exceed the message size limit of the
gnu.org mail server, please send me another email to arrange for an
alternative submission method.

### License for talks and presentations

We believe in free culture and that creative works everywhere should
be free.  See the following to learn more about free culture and free
works:

- <https://questioncopyright.org/what_is_free_culture>
- <https://freedomdefined.org/Definition>
- <https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/freeworks/>

As such, we would like to release video recordings from the conference
under a free license, such as [CC BY-SA
4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).  If you're
giving a lightning talk, please name a free license of your choosing
to release the video under when sending us (pre)recordings of your
talk(s).  If you're not giving a lightning talk and/or not sending us
prerecorded video(s), we still need you to let us know which license
to release the recording of your live presentation under.

If you have any questions about licenses and choosing a license for
your talk, don't hesitate to write to <bandali@gnu.org>.

### Office hours for video call tech-checks

We are planning on using [Jitsi Meet](https://meet.jit.si) for the
video calls with speakers delivering their presentations.  Jitsi Meet
is an in-browser web application, so you wouldn't need to install
anything else besides a web browser.

We would like to hold 'office hours' for speakers who want to try out
using Jitsi Meet with us before the conference.  The office hours will
likely be on Saturdays or Sundays, but we'd be happy to try and work
out another time if that doesn’t work for a speaker.

To schedule a short tech-check, email one of the people on this list:

- Amin Bandali <<bandali@gnu.org>>
- Damien Cassou <<damien@cassou.me>>
- Greg Farough <<gregf@gnu.org>>

If you'd like to help out with the tech-checks, feel free to add your
name and email to the above list, and email me so we can coordinate.

### Official Zürich satellite/sister event

The awesome folks at 200ok have talked to us and put together a
satellite/sister event for EmacsConf 2019 at their Zürich office on
the day of the conference!  As the official EmacsConf2019 Zürich
satellite, they will be following and watching the livestream
remotely, and can feature a selection of additional live talks
parallel to the main track as well.  See the [announcement on
emacsconf-discuss](//lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacsconf-discuss/2019-09/msg00010.html)
or on the [200ok
blog](//200ok.ch/posts/2019-09-17_announcing_the_official_emacsconf_zurich_satellite.html).

If you'd like to present your talk at the Zürich track, please email
<bandali@gnu.org> _and_ <alain@200ok.ch> as soon as possible so we can
arrange the schedules.

Since space in the Zürich location is limited, if you'd like to attend
in person please **make sure to RSVP** either by emailing
<emacsconf-register@gnu.org> or using the meetup link on the 200ok
announcement blog post.  When sending your RSVP, please also include a
copy of your submitted proposal.